FAA modernization attains a key milestone; the IRS steps up the fight against cyber crime and identity theft; CIA director, John Brennan, shakes up the CIA with a Directorate of Digital Innovation; and the Navy releases its new cyber strategy. These are the stories we’re keeping an eye on this week at Federal Technology Insider.
FAA Modernization Effort Reaches Key Milestone
The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) is in the midst of a system-wide overhaul that will improve the management and coordination of flights between the 20 regional control centers. This week, agency leadership announced that the first milestone, the full deployment of the En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) was now complete. The system will give air traffic controllers more visibility into high altitude flights in U.S. air space and hopefully stem criticism from Congress about the pace of modernization within the agency.
IRS Launches Dedicated Cyber Crime Unit to Combat Identity Theft
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has a new cyber crime unit tasked with combatting cyber crime related to tax fraud, including data theft that is then used to create fraudulent tax returns. With over a thousand cases of digital identity theft being recorded each year primarily via phishing campaigns that lure users into downloading malware which then syphons data from their computer to cyber criminals primarily based in Eastern Europe. The new investigation unit will tackle the toughest of these cases and contribute to the agency’s contribution to recent successful multi-agency cyber prosecutions.
CIA Director Pushes Emerging Tech Adoption
For the first time in fifty years, the CIA has added a new directorate to the organization. The Digital Innovation Directorate will be responsible for incorporating digital information from social media, big data analytics, and cyber security into intelligence briefings and operations to give agents at home and in the field the broadest possible perspective on threats to U.S. interests. For Director Brennan this is just the first step of an agency-wide overhaul to address recent lapses and create a truly 21st Century intelligence agency.
Navy Shares New Cyber Strategy
Last week, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command released its five-year strategy to combat the on-going cyber threat from nation-state adversaries. The 2013 hack of Navy systems by Iranian agents and its persistence in naval systems changed the perspective of leadership on the role of cyber and shaped the five year strategy. Each of the plans’ five goals is tied to a near-term benchmark to ensure that the strategy can be adapted to the rapidly changing cyber-threat landscape.
