One common misconception is that by moving applications – or IT Services – to the cloud, one somehow absolves oneself from properly managing that platform and application. Cloud platforms do not make 40+ years of institutional IT knowledge and learnings suddenly obsolete. In Symantec’s recent State of Cloud Survey, many traditional core IT disciplines were highlighted as being problem areas for cloud adopters. Ironically, many of the issues cited, like rogue IT and backup complexity, are commonly encountered with on-premise IT, so it’s no surprise to see these issues replicated on cloud platforms.

The Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association's (AFCEA) DC chapter hosted the 4th Annual Cybersecurity Symposium on Friday February 22nd. Industry experts joined federal officials from cybersecurity agencies in interactive panels and keynote speeches. This was a joint update on the status of our nation’s cybersecurity efforts.

Adaptive brake lights are a great feature hampered by the fact that the real audience doesn't know it exists and doesn't know how to interpret it - expertly specified, elegantly executed, completely useless. How did this get from need to requirement to execution, yet turn out so badly? For obvious reasons, my mind went immediately to my 10+ years of system operations experience, supporting web applications.

In this edition: Big Data Saves Money & Lives; FEMA Aims to Bring Geospatial Data into Cloud Environment; Symantec Finds Stuxnet Worm Traces from 2005; Connecticut Increases Power Grid’s Cybersecurity; Seven Actions for Governors on Cybersecurity.

Good post from Dan Risacher on acquiring systems versus providing services in the DoD. Applies widely to all government acquisition and dovetails with my views. Maybe that's why I like Dan.

We’re writing to you from the cybersecurity focused RSA Conference in San Francisco. Although we have two days left, we’ve already attended a lot of sessions and seen a lot of presentations you’ll want to know about. Next week we’ll do a full break down, including our key takeaways, for you. For now, here are a few links to articles summarizing interesting points made during the first couple days.

Red Hat released Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.4 last Thursday. I want to make you aware of an upstream behavioral change that could cause authentication and other issues. The credit for this goes to a customer and friend who called me after updating to RHEL 6.4 to fix a kernel problem they were hitting.

In this edition: Red Hat’s Big Data Strategy; NetApp’s FlashRay to Disrupt Enterprise Storage; Federal IT at “High Risk”; Open Data Success Requires Streamlining and Standardization; The Case for Paying for Open Source.

SolarWinds, a leading provider of powerful and affordable IT management software, recently released the results of their 2013 SolarWinds Security and Compliance Survey. Over 160 IT professionals were polled and their answers revealed fears about the present and future, on both cybersecurity and the influx of new technology.

Over the past few months our “situational awareness” with respect to cybersecurity has been enhanced by events including attacks on the New York Times, Twitter, and Facebook; the release of compelling evidence that much of our “CyberPain” can be traced to foreign, state-sponsored organizations; and the President’s timely Executive Order for Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity. Have we reached a tipping point?