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federal government posts

Filed under: Internet, web 2.0

U.S. government jumps for cloud computing in a big way

Apps.Gov

The federal government -- alongside everyone else with web access and a pulse -- seems to have taken a sudden interest in adopting cloud computing technologies. Late yesterday saw the launch of Apps.Gov, an internet portal built to allow government organizations quick and painless access to purchasing cloud services for their operations.

Partnering with companies like Google, VMware, and Salesforce.com, Apps.Gov aims to provide government agencies a streamlined method of purchasing, provisioning, and maintaining cloud-based applications. This is achieved in part by the fact that the applications featured on Apps.Gov have already gone through the federal examinations necessary to allow for procurement, saving agencies time and duplicate effort.

Apps.Gov is starting out small and will expand as they collect feedback and usage metrics; however, the Feds are looking at a very tall goal of reducing the number of taxpayer dollars required to operate the various IT departments that keep the government running.

[via ZDNet]

Filed under: Internet, Security

Job seekers get hacked, Fed says phishing to result

People applying for federal jobs recently had their personal information stolen by a crafty hacker that nailed the USAJobs web site, operated by the Office of Personnel Management. Some 146,000 job applicants hoping to get a job with the fed instead may find themselves the victims of identity theft. Although the fed insists no social security numbers were compromised, the information stolen is still quite valuable.

Security experts (people who, like O.J., speculate how they would've accomplished an illegal feat "if they did it") believe that the information stolen will be used to phish additional information from Monster.com subscribers (the USAJobs web site is powered by Monster--the inspiration for our blue friend in the picture). So, if you've applied for a federal job recently using USAJobs, it might be wise to use caution when corresponding with Monster by e-mail or web. Office of Personnel Management is sending letters to subscribers to alert them of possible counterfeit e-mails. Individuals who receive a suspicious e-mail regarding a federal job search should forward the e-mail to mayday@fedjobs.gov.

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