Federal Times - Federal Times https://one.sightlinemg.com/federaltimes/ Federal Times Sat, 08 Aug 2026 18:13:17 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.4 https://one.sightlinemg.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/favicon-fed.png?w=32 Federal Times - Federal Times https://one.sightlinemg.com/federaltimes/ 32 32 255331619 Cryptocurrencies — a growing issue for military, intel agencies and law enforcement https://one.sightlinemg.com/federaltimes/cyber/2017/06/19/cryptocurrencies-a-growing-issue-for-military-intel-agencies-and-law-enforcement/ https://one.sightlinemg.com/federaltimes/cyber/2017/06/19/cryptocurrencies-a-growing-issue-for-military-intel-agencies-and-law-enforcement/#respond Mon, 19 Jun 2017 07:00:00 +0000 https://one.sightlinemg.com/federaltimes/uncategorized/2017/06/19/cryptocurrencies-a-growing-issue-for-military-intel-agencies-and-law-enforcement/ https://one.sightlinemg.com/federaltimes/cyber/2017/06/19/cryptocurrencies-a-growing-issue-for-military-intel-agencies-and-law-enforcement/feed/ 0 14130 0 If you have not heard of or understand cryptocurrencies, you are not alone; but that had better change. Cryptocurrencies — a technology whose time seems to have come — has grown significantly as of late. The total dollar value of all cryptocurrencies exceed the gross domestic product of all but 84 countries in the world, according to the CIA World Factbook. That means the total value of all cryptocurrencies exceed the GDP of 145 individual countries, based on the CIA World Factbook! While many have not heard of or understand cryptocurrencies, you had better take notice — that is for sure! This is a powerful technology whose ramifications mandate that military, intelligence organizations and law enforcement must monitor and understand it.

According to Investopedia, a cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography for security. A cryptocurrency is difficult to counterfeit because of this security feature. A defining feature of a cryptocurrency, and arguably its most endearing allure, is its organic nature; it is not issued by any central authority, rendering it theoretically immune to government interference or manipulation.

You can track the cumulative total U.S. dollar value of each individual cryptocurrency and the sum of all 863 individual cryptocurrencies using this online source.

About six weeks ago, the delivery of a cryptocurrency training webinar attracted a few thousand professional participants worldwide and was highly rated. That is a clear indicator of the interest in this subject matter, for sure. It is extremely difficult to calculate the military and intelligence ramifications.That being said, one has to wonder how much human trafficking, illegal drugs sales, arms sales, militia financing and terrorist activity support is represented in the figures above. One has to wonder about the cryptocurrency dollar value on the dark web. It is surely a national security issue!

]]> Staffing our national cyber defense https://one.sightlinemg.com/federaltimes/home/2016/12/27/staffing-our-national-cyber-defense/ https://one.sightlinemg.com/federaltimes/home/2016/12/27/staffing-our-national-cyber-defense/#respond Tue, 27 Dec 2016 11:00:00 +0000 https://one.sightlinemg.com/federaltimes/uncategorized/2016/12/27/staffing-our-national-cyber-defense/ https://one.sightlinemg.com/federaltimes/home/2016/12/27/staffing-our-national-cyber-defense/feed/ 0 23964 0 To say there is a heightened concern over the ability to recruit skilled cyber resources to defend the nation is a woefully inadequate description. The defense industry, the critical infrastructure intelligence community, the military, local, state and federal authorities, and businesses in general are all competing for the limited number of resources that are available today, as well as those currently going to school with a focus on cybersecurity. That being the case, you know that competition will be extremely high. That has given birth to some very interesting conversations within all those that find themselves competing for the resources.

After looking into current recruiting techniques, both internally and through professional recruiters, a few initiatives became evident. Some organizations have basically decided to try and compete based on salary and benefits. Others talk about career advancement and use their brand to attract cyber talent. One of the conversations that keeps circling is a special cyber draft — which has a number of complications. It seems that everyone is talking about how to maintain the flow of candidates necessary to support their mission or business model.

Instead of talking about how best to compete for these resources as most are doing today, some organizations are beginning to take a much more strategic approach. They are asking: “How do we grow cybersecurity resources that we will need to be a part of our organization in three to five years?” One approach toward evolving is for organizations to create or partner to create their own cybersecurity training program. Building your own pool of cybersecurity resources is thought to have some very interesting benefits. That is certainly a trend that all those in this field should monitor as it moves ahead.

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