Last updated at Mon, 24 Jul 2017 14:49:04 GMT

Happy last Friday of 2013 everybody! I sincerely hope all of you have had a great holiday season, as it is rapidly coming to a close. My stockings were hung by the chimney with care for about 8 hours this year and the tree dried out in record time too. That just makes instant firewood, so the gifts keep on coming!

Speaking of gifts, we got two little nice ones this week. In an article in the Washington Post from last Sunday, Deltek's John Slye hinted at some cyber specific hiring increases within the DoD in 2014. He also mentioned some potential changes on the horizon at DHS. The proposed amendment to the Homeland Security Act of 2002 would most likely bolster the need for more cybersecurity professionals by requiring DHS to regularly analyze the readiness and capacity of the cyber workforce within the agency. DHS has the responsibility of protecting the nation's federal civilian ".gov" domain.

Meanwhile over at DoD:

  • Army
    • Expects to have 1,500 cybersecurity professionals call a new cyber command center based at Ft. Meade home.
      • This would be the lead center for a cyber corps of 21,000 uniformed and civilian professionals.
  • Air Force
    • Plans to add an additional 1,000 uniformed cybersecurity professionals to the 6,000 already assigned to Space Command.
  • Navy
    • Will be adding a mix of uniformed and civilian cyber-employees to the 800 they already have in place, bringing them to a head count of 1,000 by 2017

To keep the good news flowing, the Commander in Chief signed the budget deal sent to him after passing both the House and the Senate. What buckets these dollars will ultimately fall into will be determined in the coming weeks. While it's not to the spending levels most agencies would like, simply knowing that there won't be a shutdown for the next two years is very reassuring and should provide some balance by taking a major weapon for political brinkmanship off the table for the next 24 months.

As for me, I will be on vacation next week and so will Federal Friday. I'll be doing my best Cousin Eddie impression as I clean out my 2013 hard drive and get ready to come into 2014 with a clean slate and a renewed vigor to take on 2014.

Also, don't forget to take advantage of Rapid7 when we come to DC for our Security at the Crossroads seminar Feb. 11th. The session will feature industry experts discussing today's and tomorrow's threat landscapes, as well as Metasploit Tips & Tricks. Best of all, it's all FREE!!!

Happy New Year!

"Mornin. 'Puter's full!"