This week in Technically News: Absolute Security is a Myth; NIST Cybersecurity Framework: Don’t Underestimate It; Government IT and the Promise of Agile Development; How a Cybersecurity Expert Protects His Smartphone; Cyberthreats For 2014.

The first three practices are all about helping you identify all systems under management, standardizing the way you manage these devices, and protecting them from harmful changes. Let’s now build upon this by talking about the remaining two and why they are important. These practices support the thesis that you can eliminate the leading cause of network downtime: simple human error.

This week in Technically News: What To Do When Your Computer Gets Kidnapped By Ransomware; Why the US Government Needs a “Digital Core”; Google or Microsoft? Army Users Get Choice; 8 Areas for Improvement in Securing Critical Infrastructure; Stabilizing DHS Cybersecurity Leadership

Paul Laurent, Oracle’s Director of Cybersecurity Strategy, Public Sector, talks to us about public sector cybersecurity for National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. The following Q&A is part two of a three-part series where we talk citizen privacy & Identity-as-a-Service.

This week in Technically News: NetApp Outlines Strategy for Data Management Across Clouds; Major Changes Ahead as NIST Cybersecurity Framework Nears Oct. Publication; State Finds Power in Data Center Consolidation; More Than 1 in 5 Cyber Jobs Vacant at Key DHS Division; Cybersecurity Depends on Smarter Design, NIST Fellow Says.

Last week, SolarWinds, working alongside SANS, released the results of an information security survey, involving more than 120 government IT professionals. It was conducted to identify the impact of cybersecurity threats and the use of security analytics and intelligence to resolve those threats. We’ve reviewed their report and have identified these five interesting takeaways:

This week in Technically News: Army Admits To Major Computer Security Flaw; Secure Data, Not Devices; NIST Issues Preliminary Cybersecurity Draft Framework; Red Hat Unveils New Offerings, Cloud Certification at VMworld; Investment Capital Floods Cybersecurity Market.

This week in Technically News: Civic Hackers (the good kind) Help Local Governments; Agencies Hot for Big Data, But Plans, Resources Are Lacking; NIST, DHS Push Security Automation to the Next Stage; Amazon’s Invasion of the CIA is a Seismic Shift in Cloud Computing; Google & Red Hat Collaborate on App Engine in Private Clouds; DLT Solutions & Oracle to Save Navy $60 Million

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has published the fourth revision of the cybersecurity guide, Security and Privacy Controls for Federal information Systems and Organizations - or "SP (Special Publication) 800-53". Here are a few thoughts.

This week in Technically News: NIST Releases New Security Controls; State & Local Governments Collecting Data, Not Analyzing; Zero-Day Explorer Hack Targets Nuclear Weapons Researchers; Officials Preparing for More Mobile Government; DLT Solutions Named North American Partner of the Year for Google Maps for Business