FederalDaily - September 26, 2006
Laptops Missing From Commerce Department
Federal officials promise to do a better job keeping track of government laptop computers after recent
disclosures show more than 1,100 laptops have disappeared from the Department of Commerce since 2001—including
some which contain sensitive personal data. The report came in response to a request from House Committee
on Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va. Davis said Sept. 22 that the department told him 1,137
laptops had been lost, misplaced or stolen since 2001. It also is missing 46 "thumb drives" and
16 hand-held computers. Davis said 672 of the missing laptops were from the Census Bureau. Of those,
246 contained personally identifiable information, he said. With its disclosure, the Commerce Department
is the latest federal agency to admit in recent months that it had lost laptops with sensitive personal
data. “We are viewing this process with the spirit of actively rooting out the problems and addressing
them immediately,” said Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez. To see the Davis press release,
go to: http://tomdavis.house.gov/cgi-data/news/files/265.shtml.
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OPM Awards Retirement Systems Contract
The Office of Personnel Management awarded the last of three contracts that is part of a program to
digitize employee retirement records and help bring federal retirement benefits processing into the
21st century. Integic, a Chantilly, Va.-based subsidiary of Northrop Grumman, won the contract to convert
paper retirement records into electronic files in the agency's massive Retirement Systems Modernization
(RSM) project, OPM Director Linda Springer said Sept. 21. After the conversion, federal employees,
retirees and authorized agency officials will have online access to their retirement records and benefits
elections. The base contract and the first option year are valued at $12.8 million. The second option
year, if picked up by OPM, will cost an additional $14.5 million, OPM said. Earlier this year, OPM
awarded two other RSM contracts—Hewitt Associates won a 10-year, $290 million, performance-based
contract to process retirement claims electronically and Accenture won a $40 million contract for business
technology services. To see more, go to: www.opm.gov/news/opm-awards-final-contract-for-retirement-systems-modernization-program,1093.aspx.
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GAO: DoD Background Screenings Need Improvement
The Department of Defense (DoD) and its contractors need to improve their comprehensive background
screening process for U.S. and foreign nationals working as contractor employees in support of U.S.
military forces in combat hot zones, a new government report says. Such screenings, which can root
out terrorist cells masquerading as friendly workers, are compromised because of a lack of resources
and inaccurate, missing, or inaccessible data, said a Sept. 22 Government Accountability Office (GAO)
report. Furthermore, DoD's biometric screening programs are not as effective as they could be, because
the databases used to screen contractor employees include only limited international data, and some
systems do not make all data accessible, the report said. Combat military officials already have recognized
the potential screening shortcomings and have taken useful steps to mitigate the risks contractors—particularly
non-U.S. contractors—pose, GAO said. For example, officials from most of the units contacted
by GAO agents said contractor employees routinely are searched as they enter and leave installations,
the report noted. To see an abstract, go to: www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-06-999R.
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