News Releases
GSA Awards Task Order to Improve Information Security in Federal AgenciesGSA # 9936 March 25, 2002 Washington, DC -The U. S. General Services Administration awarded a task order to provide Web enabled software patch authentication and dissemination capabilities to federal agencies. The contract, awarded to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) for one base year with four one-year options, will provide support to the Federal Computer Incident Response Center (FedCIRC), under the Program SAFEGUARD. This award enables FedCIRC, a program of the Federal Technology Service (FTS), to help agencies in their daily attempts to prevent efforts by hackers. FedCIRC will serve as a central point for federal agencies to receive notification of pending software patches that correct known vulnerabilities. Follow-up notifications will be provided when the patches are received and validated. The validation process will ensure that the patches supplied by vendors correct the intended vulnerability. SAIC's offering includes technology from Vigilinx Digital Security Solutions. "FedCIRC is preparing a range of security tools for agencies. The patch dissemination capability is one such tool that will help managers by filtering out patches that do not apply to their network and letting them concentrate on patches they really need," said Sallie McDonald, Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Information Assurance and Critical Infrastructure Protection with FTS. "It is no secret that most security incidents could be avoided if managers apply patches for known vulnerabilities. The automatic patch dissemination capability will make it easier for security managers to handle the abundance of patches available for commercial software." This contract is expected to yield multiple benefits. "FedCIRC has enhanced its ability to reduce the government's vulnerability to cyberattacks," said FTS Commissioner Sandra Bates. "Making these types of services available to the federal community at no cost to federal agencies represents one more piece in a strategy to save money and improve security. Bringing function based systems and services together under one program offers �economies of scale,' enabling all agencies and departments to cut down on the overhead required to manage individual systems, freeing up available resources to focus on other areas. That's smart government." FedCIRC is the central coordination and analysis facility dealing with computer security related issues affecting the civilian agencies and departments of the Federal government. For additional information about FedCIRC, visit www.FedCIRC.gov. GSA is a centralized federal procurement and property management agency created by Congress to improve government efficiency and help federal agencies better serve the public. It acquires, on behalf of federal agencies, office space, equipment, telecommunications, information technology, supplies and services. GSA, comprised of 14,000 associates, provides services and solutions for the office operations of over 1 million federal workers located in 8,300 government -owned and leased buildings in 1,600 U.S. communities.
Last Reviewed 3/10/2008
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