“In the long-running Real ID staring match, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ended up being the first to blink. Homeland Security announced Wednesday that all 50 states and the District of Columbia will be technically Real ID-compliant by the May 11, 2008 deadline–even though many states actually have rejected the concept and have zero [...]

“LaserCard Corporation (NASDAQ:LCRD), a leading provider of secure ID solutions, today announced that it has received a purchase order to supply a next generation card encoding solution for the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) U.S. Permanent Resident Card (“Green Card”) Program.” (Earth Times)

“Northrop Grumman Corp. has completed testing and production of the first onboard infrared system to protect civilian airliners from shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles.” (GovExec)

“Workers operating networks supporting the nation’s critical infrastructure such as telecommunications and transportation need better training on how to manage backup systems in case cyberattacks take down main systems, said a top Homeland Security Department official Thursday.” (GovExec)

“The chief of the Strategic Command hinted Wednesday during a Senate hearing that the Pentagon has plans to conduct warfare in space as well as in cyberspace, strategies the Defense Department has been reluctant to discuss openly in the past. Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, testified before the Senate [...]

“The private sector owns more than three-quarters of the country’s critical infrastructure. A large-scale, successful, coordinated attack could cripple the country’s economy. A cyberattack can originate in one country and pass through several others before reaching its target.” (Federal Computer Week)

“The U.S. government will conduct a series of cyber war games throughout next week to test its ability to recover from and respond to digital attacks. Code-named ‘Cyber Storm II,’ this is the largest-ever exercise designed to evaluate the mettle of information technology experts and incident response teams from 18 federal agencies, including the CIA, [...]

“The Navy has developed systems using floating radio antennas and buoys that will provide submerged submarines with two-way communications for the first time in history, a top official at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center said at a news briefing on Tuesday.” (GovExec)

“One of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s most prominent Real ID cheerleaders made a more timid than usual push on Tuesday for states to adopt the controversial identification card standards. Stewart Baker, the department’s assistant secretary for policy, has touted what he perceives as the privacy-protective, identity theft-preventive features of the congressionally mandated Real [...]

“More than half of government IT professionals know of violations in security protocols, according to a recent survey. Funding challenges hinder agencies’ ability to put proper security measures in place, while lack of systems and requirements standardization creates confusion in the market, said an industry official.” (GovExec)