August 21, 2017
Navy Under Attack?
The Navy destroyer collided early today with an oil tanker off of Singapore.
10 sailors are missing and there is significant hull damage.
This is the 4th known accident just this year of our Navy vessels in Asia waters.
And previously I wrote incredulously about the last Navy collision with a massive container ship in June that resulted in 7 dead.
How do U.S. Navy ships with the most advanced sensors, navigation, weapons, and command and controls systems in the world--that are supposed to be protecting us--just simply collide with other ships like toys in a bathtub?
These Navy ships are a vital projection of U.S. might, and are supposed to be able to keep the worst foes away and keep our dedicated men and women warfighters safe at sea--whether from bomb-laden terrorist attack speed boats to anti-access/area denial missiles and all threats from on, above, or below.
Yet, they just keep crashing...
There was supposedly some buzz online about a stealthy new cyber weapon that is attacking our ships and making them useless and helpless pieces of (G-d forbid) floating junk at sea or perhaps enabling them to be hacked and electronically commandeered and controlled in order to crash them.
Either way, how many collisions does it take for this to become a concerning problem with our Navy's ability to manage the ships under their command and be ever war-ready.
Our ships are a major element of our national strength and security, and loss of control implies a potentially great risk to our nation.
We need our Navy and their tremendous people, assets, and expertise to safeguard our people, freedom, and democracy.
A few months ago, there was a hackathon to test the Navy's systems' security--and most certainly, this is a crucial type of test that we potentially face every day in real life.
These are challenging times for everything cybersecurity, so let's make sure we have all the capabilities we need and are fully up to the task to defend ourselves and take out our enemies--it's not just our Navy in the spotlight and at risk. ;-)
(Source Photo: With attribution to CNN and adapted from here)
July 30, 2011
Federal Register On Steroids
Federal Register On Steroids
November 3, 2010
5 Lessons For Implementing Mobility Solutions
[Pictured from Left Kevin Brownstein, McAfee; Andy Blumenthal, ATF; John Landwehr, Adobe; Jack Holt, DoD]
Today, I participated on behalf of my agency at the Adobe Government Assembly: Engage America on a panel for mobility solutions.
I shared the lessons learned from our experience and pilot of mobile devices, including:
1) Be prepared to give the end users as many apps as possible—they want it all just like on their desktops.
2) In mobile devices, size and resolution matters. Although people like miniaturized devices, they want the display of the information and graphics to be clear and visible.
3) Users did not like using a stylus for navigation.
4) Users in the field don’t have time or patience to decipher complicated instruction guides—it’s got to be intuitive!
5) While security is critical, usability is key and it’s a balancing act.
5 Lessons For Implementing Mobility Solutions