“This acquisition is at the center of our strategy of providing trusted services and solutions, free of organizational conflict of interest, to the United States Government,” said George Melton, Wyle chairman, CEO and president. “CAS will significantly enhance and diversify our core business with critical customers and markets such as the U.S. Army and Huntsville. We trust CAS will excel as part of a dedicated government services company. ”

CAS, Inc., employs more than 1,100 employees at 26 locations across the nation and worldwide. The organization, now named Wyle’s CAS Group, joins Wyle’s Aerospace Group, Integrated Science and Engineering Group, and Information Systems Group.

Image: Wolfgang Kraus

CACI International Inc has been recognized for Excellence in Innovation by the Profiles in Diversity Journal as part of the publication’s Innovations in Diversity Awards competition.

The CACI program honored was Deploying Talent – Creating Careers, which was created to expand the company’s diversity by reaching out to members of the Armed Forces. It was specifically developed to provide meaningful careers for talented veterans with disabilities.

According to Bill Fairl, CACI president of U.S. operations, hiring qualified, motivated workers is a top priority at the company, which means it actively establishes relationships with, and recruits from, a diverse pool of potential candidates.

“As we grow our workforce, we consider people not only for what they bring to our company, but for what they can contribute to our customers’ missions,” he said.

Developing a diverse pool of talented professionals expands CACI’s innovative solutions to provide the best possible support to its customers, said CACI CEO and President Paul Cofoni.

“Our Deploying Talent – Creating Careers program brings those who served our country back into the workforce to continue to support our nation’s critical priorities as they enjoy the opportunity to advance their careers with our company,” he said.

The Raytheon system will significantly improve data rates from the old system, enabling LASD to extend its desktop capabilities and applications to the vehicles.

With the implementation of the new service, the department’s vehicle systems will have access to applications such as the Sheriff’s Data Network, mug-shot downloads, fingerprint programs, geo-positioning systems, email, and online access.

“This mobile data computer system will improve the capabilities of the department by allowing deputies to quickly share information more efficiently in the field, resulting in a safer environment for the deputies and the public,” said Bill Iannacci, director of civil communications, Raytheon Network Centric Systems. “In addition, our relationship with LASD is off to a great start as a result of last month’s successful program kick off.”

Under the contract, Raytheon will replace the LASD’s existing mobile digital terminals with mobile data computers. The new system will improve the knowledge, support, services and safety of patrol deputies by migrating data communications from the current private network to a commercial wireless broadband service.

In his new role, Bohannon will lead Red Hat’s worldwide team representing the company’s interests before policymakers in government, industry consortia, and other venues regarding issues related to technology and innovation policy, open source and standards adoption, intellectual property legislation, government technology initiatives, and tax regulation.

“Mark brings a wealth of experience in technology policy at the state, national and international government levels,” said Michael Cunningham, executive vice president and general counsel at Red Hat. “His expertise will be a valuable asset to Red Hat in working effectively with global policy makers on key issues affecting the company.”

Bohannon joins Red Hat from the Software & Information Industry Association, where he has served as senior vice president of public policy. During his 10 years at the company, Bohannon was responsible for the association’s government relations agenda. He worked with leading software companies on strategic trends affecting company products and services.

Bohannon’s earlier career includes serving as chairman of the Executive Committee of the United States Information Technology Office. He also was a senior official at the Department of Commerce, serving as chief counsel for technology and counselor to the undersecretary for technology. He provided strategic advice on technology, trade, intellectual property, computer security, encryption and competitive initiatives and facilitated public-private partnerships and technology joint ventures.

Bohannon also served on numerous U.S. government delegations to bilateral negotiations and multilateral bodies such as The Hague, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law and the World Trade Organization. He served as vice chair of the OECD’s Working Party on Information Security and Privacy.

Photo: Ritu Jethani

The White House has launched the new Challenge.gov, an online tool provided by the General Services Administration that allows federal agencies to post contests aimed at increasing public involvement with the government.

As part of the Obama administration’s call for an open government, agencies were called upon to leverage challenges and prizes to spur citizen engagement. This new site allows all agencies to post challenges in one place–for free.

“GSA continues to help the administration move toward a more open, citizen-centered government by providing tools that simplify the engagement process for both agencies and citizens,” said Dave McClure, GSA’s associate administrator for citizen services and innovative technologies. “By providing agencies with a no-cost, easy, ready-to-use solution through Challenge.gov, GSA has built upon the successes agencies have already had in using challenges and provided a platform that offers even more uniformity and consistency in how the public engages with their government.”

GSA teamed up with New York-based small business ChallengePost to develop technology and design for the new engagement platform, and paved the way for agencies to leverage the tool free of charge.

Nearly 40 challenges from 16 agencies will debut on Challenge.gov. The site features two GSA challenges:

·         The USA.gov GovGab blog asks members of the public to submit guest blog posts on ways to use government information. Five winners will be chosen and featured one per day during the week of GovGab’s third birthday.

·         Kids.gov seeks creative “infographics” from children that answer the question, “How to Become President?” The goal of the contest is to educate kids on the process of electing president and inspire children to new heights.  The prize is $5,000 (split between one adult and one child).

Image: Christopher Hall

CSC has announced that Edward Meagher has joined the company as senior executive adviser and vice president for its North American Public Sector Civil and Health Services Group, reporting to NPS Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Robert Wah.

Meagher’s new duties will include developing strategy and managing account teams as they identify, pursue and deliver opportunities in government health services, such as the Department of Veteran Affairs and the Department of Defense.

“Ed will be a tremendous asset to our healthcare clients and partners,” Wah said. “His expertise and background are an ideal match as we bring CSC’s global healthcare experience and expertise to government clients.”

Prior to joining CSC, Meagher served as the director of strategic initiatives for healthcare for SRA International. Before SRA, Meagher was the subject-matter expert adviser to the presidential transition agency review team for the VA, where he provided advice and guidance on the department’s IT programs. At the VA, Meagher served as deputy assistant secretary, deputy chief information officer and chief technology officer.

Meagher also has previously held positions at the Department of the Interior, as well as served as policy adviser to the presidential transition agency healthcare policy team at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Photo: NatUlrich

EHS Corporate Care

As one of the oldest-known cultivated fruits, apples are associated with everything from wisdom to temptation to fertility. Legends of the apple began as early as 8,000 B.C. when Norse mythology credited the goddess Iounn with giving apples to the gods for eternal youthfulness.

Luckily for us, the mythology of the apple isn’t too far from the truth. With no fat, cholesterol or sodium, the nutrients in apples have been widely studied and are proven to provide a long list of health benefits.

How does this 80-calorie snack gain so much credit? Apples contain a long list of phytonutrients that function as antioxidants. This list includes quercetin, catechin, phloridzin and chlorogenic acid. The flavonoid antioxidants found in apples also helps prevent excessive and unwanted inflammation, which ultimately stops excessive clumping of blood platelets, regulates blood pressure, and minimizes overproduction of fat in liver cells. Thus, flavonoids assist in lowering the risk of future heart disease and even improve existing symptoms of heart disease.

Another reason for busy executives to snack on an apple is because multiple studies indicate that apples reduce the risk of several types of cancer. In one study of 10,000 people, researchers found that people who ate the most apples had a 50 percent lower risk of developing lung cancer. Cornell University studies found that rats eating one apple per day reduced their risk of breast cancer by 17 percent, while rats fed three apples per day reduced their risk by 39 percent and those fed six apples per day reduced their risk by 44 percent. Another study found that rats fed an extract from apple skins had a 43 percent lower risk of colon cancer and a 57 percent lower risk of liver cancer. These lucky rats also benefited from quercetin, as researchers found it may protect brain cells from the types of free radical damage that is thought to lead to Alzheimer’s disease.

Antioxidants aren’t the only reason to eat apples. Apples are contain both soluble and insoluble fiber with about 4 grams of dietary fiber in a medium-sized apple–accounting for nearly 15 percent of the Daily Value (DV) for fiber. Studies have shown that both types of fiber can help keep LDL cholesterol levels under control.

Managing diabetes is yet another health benefit. The pectin in apples supplies galacturonic acid, which lowers the body’s need for insulin. For female executives, French researchers found that a flavanoid called phloridzin that is found only in apples may protect post-menopausal women from osteoporosis and may also increase bone density.

The amount of apples to eat depends on the health benefit you are seeking. In some studies, eating one medium-sized apple three days per week can provide heart benefits, while eating two apples per day may lower cholesterol by as much as 16 percent. And according to a Brazilian study, three apples per day facilitated a higher weight loss in women while dieting. To take full advantage of the apple, it’s important to eat the skin as it contains more antioxidants and fiber than the flesh, as well as being the only part of the apple that contains quercetin.

Keeping the doctor at bay isn’t the only reason to eat apples. To learn more about which foods can best improve your health, contact your doctor at EHS Corporate Care for a full dietary plan custom-tailored to your needs.

Authorized for use by John P. Mamana, M.D.

EHS Corporate Care

703-230-6990

DrM@ehsdocs.com

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME)

Following a six-month, bipartisan study, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) have concluded that by following simple precautions like using and updating anti-virus software, average internet users can help secure America’s information networks.

“Simply put, computer users must practice active cyber self-defense,” the senators wrote in an editorial on cnn.com. “This means that if users would allow automatic, and generally free, software updates and maintained up-to-date anti-virus software, most cyber threats could be defeated.”

Almost 20 percent of cyber attacks originate from within the United States, three times more than any other country in the world.  This doesn’t necessarily mean the cyber criminals behind these attacks are U.S.-based (the problem of attribution in cyberspace is a major headache for security professionals), but it does mean criminals hijack more computers in the United States than anywhere else.

These hijacked computers, or “bots,” are grouped together into “botnets” by professional hackers, often overseas, and used to carry out large-scale attacks. Attacks that use botnets include “distributed denial-of-service” (DDoS) attacks to bring down Internet service by simultaneously requesting massive amounts of data from targeted networks, and “phishing” attacks to steal personal data or create new “bots” by embedding malicious code known as “Trojans” or “worms” into spam email messages sent to millions of unsuspecting recipients.

In other words, the computer you’re using to read this post might be distributing malware to thousands of other computers, and you would have no way of knowing.

Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to keep your computer out of botnets. In fact, most of the bugs used to exploit computers in this way have already been fixed through free software updates and most malware can be spotted by off-the-shelf anti-virus software. Problem is, even though most software updates are free and off-the-shelf consumer, anti-virus software costs about $50 per year (compared with more than $1,000 for a new laptop), many Internet users don’t take the basic precautions that can prevent most of these attacks.

The senators write, “according to a recent report by Symantec, one-third of all Internet attacks between April and June 2010 sought to exploit a vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer for which a patch has been available since 2004. The attack remains popular with hackers because six years later, many computers are still not patched.”

In other words, surfing the web with an un-updated browser and no anti-virus protection is like “hit[ting] the road in a car with bad brakes, no seat belts and worn tires:” an accident waiting to happen. In the same way a single careless driver can cause a 20-car pileup on the Beltway and claim innocent lives, a single unsecured computer can start a botnet that could take down a piece of critical infrastructure and cause millions of dollars in damage.

Moore’s law tells us that processing power doubles every 18 months, and that has held true since the 1970s, and Nielsen estimates there were 250 million Internet users in America on Dec. 31, 2009.  In other words, there are at least 250 million potential bots in America, and each one has more computing power than cutting-edge microprocessors had 10 years ago. While there is no way to determine how many American computers are currently unwitting partners in botnets, the Mariposa botnet that was broken up this year had 12.7 million personal computers at its disposal.

Brute force defense against cyber crime isn’t feasible when criminals have such massive numbers at their beck and call. But if every American just kept their anti-virus software, operating system and web browser up-to-date, millions of computers could be taken out of these illicit networks. At the very least, if we apply the solutions we already have to cyber vulnerabilities, we can force hackers to spend their time working on new exploits instead of counting the billions of dollars they make annually dealing in stolen intellectual property and personal information.

In fact, when they’re not using them, hackers rent out their botnets for an average of $67 per day. It’s only a matter of time before terrorist organizations figure out they can do massive damage with little fear of reprisal by hiring hijacked American computers to damage American computer networks.

While targeted attacks on corporations and defense networks are long-term affairs that involve skilled hackers writing custom malware and playing cat-and-mouse with network administrators, the bulk of the cyber threat consists of tried-and-true viruses exploiting vulnerabilities in personal computers for which there is already a patch.

Keeping your software updated won’t just make your computer run smoother and faster; it’s the most important step every citizen should take in the fight against cyber threats.

Amy Alving, SAIC

SAIC Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President Dr. Amy Alving will be speaking at the third annual Plenary Panel of Technology Executives for the 10th annual Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, held Sept. 28-Oct. 2 in Atlanta, Ga.

The Plenary Panel of Technology Executives will also include Kelli Crane, senior vice president and chief information officer at Thomson Reuters; Romea Smith, SVP at CA Technologies, Support; and Kalpana Margabandhu, director of Websphere Development, IBM India.

Moderated by Rebecca Norlander of Illuminate Ventures, the theme of the panel is “Collaborative Leadership in Driving Innovation”.

For five days, the conference will bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. Leading researchers and industry experts discuss their current work, while special sessions focus on the role of women in today’s technology fields, including computer science, IT, research and engineering. This year, the theme of the conference is “Collaborating across Boundaries.”

As CTO, Alving leads SAIC’s Office of Technology and is responsible for the creation, communication and implementation of the company’s technical and scientific vision and strategy. She has a diverse background in government and academia, with more than 15 years in the fields of technology and national security.

Photo: Mate 2nd Class Daniel J. McLain

As part of its ongoing damage tolerance research contract with the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency, Rockwell Collins has demonstrated the first unmanned aerial vehicle to fly aerobatics with position tracking.

The all-attitude control technology supplies UAVs with damage tolerance and the ability to fight and to counter threats such as missiles, said Dave Vos, senior director of Rockwell Collins Control Technologies and Unmanned Aircraft Systems.

“This technology will also enable UAVs to fly at low altitude, in urban environments and even in confined places such as inside buildings and caves,” he said.

The technology is now set to be ported to an operational UAV, Vos said. He added that while others have flown aerobatics of autonomous UAVs, the most recent DARPA test was the first UAV to fly aerobatics with position tracking with a fixed aerobatic trajectory in space.

The demonstration is part of the third phase of a damage tolerance contract awarded to the aerospace and defense contractor.