Blog entries

Building a Trust-Based Relationship with your Cloud Vendor: The Dating Game

Parham Eftekhari — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 06:29:43 +0100

Abstract: Creating trust with your vendor is a lot like dating, it takes time, communication, and above all knowing what you want.

A relationship with a Cloud vendor built on a foundation of trust is a critical component to a mutually beneficial engagement for both parties. While programs like FredRamp and countless other initiatives in the federal government have given incredible guidance & resources on how to select the right Cloud vendor (see the liRead More...

Securing a BYOD Environment: Adopting a Comprehensive Approach

Jessica T Pohlonski — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 06:22:59 +0100

The federal bring-your-own-device (BYOD) strategy, a component of the federal digital strategy, is rapidly gaining ground. Having proven to increase efficiency and effectiveness, this movement, although not a mandate or policy, promises to be widely adopted at the federal level. In fact, a recent Forrester Consulting study indicates that 44% of employees now use smart phones at work; this is a 300% increase over the past three years. But despite its many benefits, this nRead More...

Securing the Federal IT Supply Chain: A Mammoth Task? Absolutely. An Impossibility? Absolutely Not.

Jessica T Pohlonski — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 19:20:19 +0100

Who said that securing our Federal IT supply chain was an impossibility? No one. But many -- from NASA to NIST -- are noting the tremendous challenges associated with such a feat.

The innovative and global nature of today’s IT environment, with its accelerated speed and vast scale, results in a very complex and diverse supply chain. This, coupled with the en-vogue purchasing of Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and software makes the visibility and detectability of threaRead More...

Securing the New Federal IT Ecosystem: Contracts & Supply Chains

Parham Eftekhari — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 07:42:26 +0100

Abstract: As the Federal IT community moves deeper into the outsourced model, a CIO and their CISO’s security strategy must increasingly focus on contracts and supply chain management in order to mitigate their risk as buyers of commodity services

As the Federal IT community moves deeper into an outsourced model where applications, storage, networks, and services are procured from a myriad of providers and data is stored in a web of clouds and devices, the Federal IT EcosystemRead More...

Open Standard Protocols for VA Networks

Parham Eftekhari — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 09:02:25 +0100

GTRA would like to highlight a Memo from the VA CIO on “Open Standard Protocols for VA Networks”, which marks an important shift if the agency’s strategy and shows its commitment to innovative uses of technology to support our nations veterans while navigating todays fiscal climate.

Department of Veterans Affairs

Office of Information and Technology

It’s hard to believe that another SecureGOV Council Meeting has come and gone, but it has and all I can say is WOW! Despite one of the toughest fiscal climates in recent memory, I am proud to announce that attendance at this year’s SecureGOV was over 50 percent greater than 2010! Even more exciting is the fact that this year’s meeting included dozens of new faces who experienced GTRA for the first time and are now part of the ever-Read More...

Robert Brese (Deputy CIO, Energy) Receives Secretary of Energy's Honor Award for Excellence

Parham Eftekhari — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 05:18:40 +0100

Just a quick post to congratulate my good friend Robert "Bob" Brese on receiving the Secretary of Energy's Honor Award for Excellence. This tremendous honor is bestowed annually to three leaders within the Department of Energy and anyone who knows Bob can attest to how deserving he is of this recognition. Not only is he a true visionary with tremendous talent, but his humility, dedication and ability to make everyone feel like a peer make him one of the most beloved membersRead More...

Why VanRoekel is the Type of Leader We Need

Parham Eftekhari — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 20:29:15 +0100

The Bottom Line: A true leader isn’t afraid to build on someone else’s good work. Lucky for us the new Federal CIO understands and embraces this.

Why All IT Leaders Should Care About the Success of Health IT

Parham Eftekhari — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 02:05:34 +0100

As part of GTRA’s new HealthTech initiative, I have spent the past several months conducting research with Health IT leaders from health care organizations, governments and technology providers in order to better understand the needs of this new and growing community of IT practitioners.

While still in its infancy (and some claiming it has not even been born yet!), the application of information technology to the field of human care provides one of the most exciting, practical aRead More...

How to Get What you Want… More $$$!

Parham Eftekhari — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 23:32:49 +0100

The Bottom Line: Each and every one of you who is asking for budget needs to accept the fact that you are a sales person! Focus on selling the problem, not the fact that you need money. Once you get leadership to understand how the problem affects them and the business, you will have a much easier time getting the support and resources you need!

In conducting research for the upcoming GTRA SecureGOV Council Meeting, it quickly became clear that one of the biggestRead More...

The Problem with Cybersecurity Legislation

Parham Eftekhari — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 22:08:40 +0100

In doing research for an upcoming book on defending cyberspace, I have had the opportunity to dive into the world of Cybersecurity legislation and better understand what we have, why existing laws are not getting the job done, and most importantly what we can do to improve the quality and efficiency of the laws we pass moving forward.

The good news is that this year alone we have seen over 50 pieces Cybersecurity legislation proposed to Congress (although I’m noRead More...

IPv6 and IPv4 Monitoring: Will You be Ready?

Tom Zlockie — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 01:59:30 +0100

IPv6 and IPv4 Monitoring: Will You be Ready?

In the 30+ year history of the Internet, the move to IPv6 will be the largest single upgrade. The clock is ticking on the availability of IPv4 addresses, and experts say IPv4 addresses will begin running out as early as December 2011. Many organizations are putting concrete plans in place to complete the migration over the next few years, and the Federal Government is leading the charge with a conversion mandate thaRead More...

Sneak Preview: CXOs Perspectives on Federal IT Reform

Parham Eftekhari — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 20:49:34 +0100

Sneak Preview: CXOs Perspectives on Federal IT Reform
Here is a preview of GTRA’s Summer 2011 Research Brief, which focus entirely on how the Federal IT community views 25-Point Reform six-months after it was originally announced.

In a few weeks, GTRA will publish it’s Summer 2011 Research brief which will focus entirely on how the Federal IT community views 25-Point Reform six-months after it was originally announced. While we’re not ready to share the full details Read More...

Privacy in a Digital World: It Takes Two to Tango

Parham Eftekhari — Wed, 04 May 2011 02:10:12 +0100

Privacy in a Digital World: It takes Two to Tango
Summary: Both Consumers & Technology Providers are responsible for privacy. In this month's blog I attempt to support my theory, as well as provide guidance on what each party should do if they are serious about protecting privacy.

Given the public outcry at the recent discovery that cell-phone providers collect data on GPS-enabled Smartphone users’ whereabouts, it is clear that privaRead More...

Parallelized Data Mining Security

K.S.Abhiraj — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 18:49:12 +0100

Parallel Data Mining (PDM) is currently attracting much research. Objects involved with ‘Parallel Data Mining' include special types of entities with the ability to migrate from one processor to another where it can resume / initiate its execution.

In Read More...