Daisy Thornton

2 months ago | federalnewsnetwork.com | Daisy Thornton

I encourage you to continue submitting your Federal Employee Health Benefit (FEHB) questions and I’ll include answers, like the one below, in future columns. Question: Why should I even bother signing up for Medicare if I qualify for FEHB? Once I’m enrolled in Medicare, it becomes my primary insurance and my FEHB is secondary. Isn’t it true that some medical facilities and physicians don’t accept Medicare?

2 months ago | federalnewsnetwork.com | Daisy Thornton

The ability of the U.S. military to deter war and prevail if it happens — few are taking that for granted anymore. Executive Director of the Baroni Center for Government Contracting Jerry McGinn in fact warned the Senate Armed Service Committee about it just this month. His concern centers on the ability of the defense industrial base to mobilize, he told the Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

2 months ago | federalnewsnetwork.com | Daisy Thornton

Federal agencies working with sensitive information need specialized ways to share that data and foster collaboration internally among employees with different clearance levels, as well as externally with other agencies, industry and even foreign partners. That requires a balance between fostering the information sharing necessary to complete the mission and protecting that sensitive data from adversaries and insider threats. “It’s a twin challenge.

2 months ago | federalnewsnetwork.com | Daisy Thornton

Agencies that regularly dealt with classified information faced perhaps the biggest challenges in establishing hybrid workplaces. Segregating classified from unclassified information while still fostering the necessary amount of collaboration to execute on the mission requires a delicate balance. Classified information has to be handled in a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF), and electronically only through specific systems.

2 months ago | federalnewsnetwork.com | Daisy Thornton

Conversations about cybersecurity often involve a balancing act: the need to balance security with user experience to avoid fatigue, the need to balance new capabilities with efforts to curtail complexity. But Jane Rathbun, chief information officer of the Department of the Navy, said during an AFCEA West panel that there’s one situation where striking a balance is the wrong move. “The question about how do you balance innovation with cybersecurity? It’s not a balance. It is not an either-or.