Author Archive
Aliya Sternstein
Senior Correspondent
Aliya Sternstein reports on cybersecurity and homeland security systems. She’s covered technology for more than a decade at such publications as National Journal's Technology Daily, Federal Computer Week and Forbes. Before joining Government Executive, Sternstein covered agriculture and derivatives trading for Congressional Quarterly. She’s been a guest commentator on C-SPAN, MSNBC, WAMU and Federal News Radio. Sternstein is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.
Science & Tech
The NSA Is Using Bomb-Defusing Software to Grow the Next Generation of Analysts
This year’s codebreaking contest has a twist: the college teams must remotely locate and neutralize a roadside bomb.
- Aliya Sternstein
Science & Tech
The Military’s Supermarket Goes Shopping for Better Encryption
Computer-generated passwords are stored beside personal and financial data. Security should be tighter than that, a report from the Defense Commissary Agency says.
- Aliya Sternstein
Science & Tech
At Least One State Rejects Feds' Offer to Help Cybersecure Voting Machines
Some security experts say it wouldn't even take Russian government-backed hackers to manipulate actual votes in some of America's antiquated tallying systems.
- Aliya Sternstein
Science & Tech
There’s a Big Loophole in the Pentagon’s Guide to Eavesdropping
The new rules reflect a shift in intel-gathering from phone-tapping to capturing conversations on the internet.
- Aliya Sternstein
Science & Tech
Maybe the Secret Service Should Start Protecting Candidates’ Email As Well
Some private cyber investigators say it’s time the agency expand its reach beyond mere physical security.
- Aliya Sternstein
Science & Tech
Obama Finally Decides Who’s In Charge When America Comes Under Cyberattack
For years, there’s been confusion in the private sector and among agencies about who does what when hackers hit the homeland. Not anymore.
- Aliya Sternstein
Science & Tech
Pentagon Wants to Automate Social-Media Checks on Clearance Holders
The program would analyze public posts to help determine an employee's suitability for Defense Intelligence Agency classified work.
- Aliya Sternstein
Science & Tech
Like Battlebots, Except These Robots Automatically Patch CyberSecurity Holes
Hacking teams and their algorithms will square off in a Las Vegas arena, in a contest sponsored by DARPA.
- Aliya Sternstein
Science & Tech
White House Wants 3,500 ‘Critical’ New Cyber Jobs Filled In 5 Months
One of the administration’s short-term moves calls for agencies to more than double the number of new people hired in 'critical cybersecurity and IT positions’ since October 2015.
- Aliya Sternstein
Science & Tech
Check Out The US Military's Sandbox of Silly-Putty That Predicts Disasters and War
Analysts are using what they call a ’tangible landscape' to predict the path of everything from forest fires and floods to movement of adversaries in war games.
- Aliya Sternstein
Science & Tech
OPM Updates Data Breach Information Website
The Office of Personnel Management has updated its website on the historic 2015 background check cybersecurity breach to make it easier for those affected to access information about the incident.
- Aliya Sternstein
Science & Tech
Virtual Reality Comes to US Military's Mapping Agency
U.S. officials abroad may soon be able to use their smartphone cameras to help swiftly reconstruct a bomb scene for eyes wrapped in Oculus 3-D headgear back in Washington.
- Aliya Sternstein
Science & Tech
The Pentagon Is About to Launch A Big Database for Screening National Security Workers
The new DISS will merge two tools as part of the effort to reform the security clearance process.
- Aliya Sternstein
Science & Tech
US Homeland Security Could Get Its Own Cyber Defense Agency
A panel of House lawmakers want to turn the existing National Protection and Programs Directorate into the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Agency.
- Aliya Sternstein
Science & Tech
US Spies Are Building Software to Spot Your Suspicious Behavior In Live Video
The program is called Deep Intermodal Video Analytics—or DIVA—and it seeks to locate shooters and terrorists before they strike.
- Aliya Sternstein
Science & Tech
The Military Is Building an Employee Database to Predict Traitors
The “DoD Component Insider Threat Records System” is part of the U.S. government's response to the 2010 leaks of classified diplomatic cables by former Pfc. Chelsea Manning.
- Aliya Sternstein
Science & Tech
Here’s How One Navy IT Team Is Teaching Sailors the Risks of Social Media
Sometimes it’s easier to show, not tell.
- Aliya Sternstein
Science & Tech
The Pentagon Wants to ‘Fingerprint’ the World’s Hackers
By tracking their tools and behaviors, DARPA aims to solve one of the thorniest problems of cybersecurity: attribution.
- Aliya Sternstein
Science & Tech
What’s Your ‘Insider Threat Score?’ It Could Determine If You Keep Your Clearance
The new National Background Investigation Bureau thinks screening people with classified access can determine their likelihood of going rogue.
- Aliya Sternstein
Threats
Lawmakers Want the Pentagon's Red Team Hackers to Be More Like China and Iran
It's all part of a push to make training more realistic and much more frequent, year by year.
- Aliya Sternstein