The FISMA Focus IPD

From: FierceMobileGovernment

By Dibya Sarkar

As 911 call centers transition to next-generation systems that are connected to the Internet, concerns about cybersecurity among emergency professionals and first responders will grow, a Washington state government technology official recently said during a podcast interview.

Bill Schrier, who is senior policy adviser in the state’s office of the chief information officer, also said earlier this month during the IWCE’s Urgent Communications Podcast that storing data in the cloud, authenticating first responders, and wireless connectivity are other issues facing 911 centers and emergency personnel.

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From: CFO

Many regulators consider the growing tide of cyber incidents to be more of an abdication of corporate responsibility than a threat to national security.

Tom Reagan

With the number of data breaches continuing to mount, regulators were very active in policing cyber risks in 2014. Given the current cyber risk landscape and the fact that regulatory intervention in cyber security and privacy issues is one of the few areas of possible cooperation across the political aisle, U.S. companies should expect regulatory oversight to expand significantly over the next several years.

Editor’s Note: For more information about cyber contingency planning, see What will you do when the Internet collapses?

From: US GAO | WatchBlog

Since 2013, our Government Data Sharing Community of Practice has hosted a series of public discussions on challenges and opportunities related to sharing data in government. Read on for the findings of our latest forum on how government can use data to improve responses to natural disasters.

4 Ways Data Can Improve Disaster Response

From: The Associated Press via Arkansas Online

By FELICIA FONSECA and DAVID A. LIEB

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — When vandals sliced a fiber-optic cable in the Arizona desert in February, they did more than time-warp thousands of people back to an era before computers, credit cards or even phones. They exposed a glaring vulnerability in the nation’s Internet infrastructure: no backup systems in many places.

Because Internet service is largely unregulated by the federal government and the states, decisions about network reliability are left to the service providers. Industry analysts say these companies generally do not build alternative routes, or redundancies, unless they believe it is worthwhile financially.

From: Forbes

Trefis Team

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Based on our calculations, we arrive at an estimated cost of $176 per compromised record in recurring expenses or a total cost of approximately $10 billion to be incurred by the end of the decade. On account of disruptions in business and lost business, we expect a modest 6% fall in EBITDA going into 2017, which is expected to once again reach it’s forecasted levels by the decade-end as consumers regain confidence in the retailer. The management’s candidness in the face of adversity, and the steps that they have taken to mitigate the chances of such an attack in the future, in terms of investment in cyber security, could recoup confidence among existing customers and also increase appeal among new ones. We expect higher capital expenses as the retailer continues to invest in cyber security enhancements, such as enhanced encryptions and EMV Chip-and-PIN technology. Taking all these factors into account, we anticipate a modest 4% downside to our current price estimate on account of the breach for Home Depot.