McCain Calls for Committee on Cybersecurity

A look at the week of July 18 in public advocacy for the IT channel: This week, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) proposed creating a Senate committee on cybersecurity to draft comprehensive cybersecurity legislation.  A recent report shows the Internal Revenue Service has been remiss in notifying taxpayers when their information has been compromised.  Analysts believe federal agencies are likely to continue federal CIO Vivek Kundra’s cloud-first policy after he steps down next month.

McCain Calls for Committee on Cybersecurity — In a letter to Senate leaders, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) proposed creating a temporary Select Committee on Cybersecurity and Electronic Intelligence Leaks in order to produce comprehensive cyber legislation.  McCain believes that with so many agencies and the White House moving forward with cybersecurity proposals, a committee is required to provide congressional leadership, The Washington Post says.

Government Guilty of Data Breach Notification Delays — The Obama Administration has recommended that companies move more quickly to alert customers when their personal data is compromised. Now internal auditors are  recommending the federal government listen to its own advice, says Nextgov.com.  In a recent report, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration criticized the IRS for not notifying taxpayers in a timely fashion — or at all — when their personal information was inadvertently exposed.

Analysts Believe Cloud-First Policy Will Continue after Kundra — Evidence has emerged that federal agencies are not necessarily as eager to consolidate physical datacenters into computing clouds as the Obama Administration’s current cloud-first policy would need in order to succeed. But analysts at IDC and Forrester agree: there are sufficient drivers already in place to keep the cloud rolling into the federal government after Vivek Kundra steps down next month, reports Government Health IT.