TRICARE data breach shows (again) why encryption of removable media is essential

The Department of Defense’s TRICARE program disclosed last week that backup tapes containing medical records on nearly 5 million active-duty and retired military personnel and their dependents were stolen from the car of a contractor who…

Supreme Court will hear case on GPS tracking, warrants, and the 4th Amendment

The U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments for November 8, 2011 in United States v. Jones, an appeal by the government of an August 2010 D.C. Circuit Court ruling that continuous monitoring of a GPS…

VA decision to allow iPad use without FIPS certification provides good example of risk-based decsion making

The decision by Department of Veterans Affairs CIO Roger Baker to allow users to connect mobile devices such as the Apple iPad and iPhone to the agency’s computing network provides a good example of the trade-off…