| MOST POPULAR The Newest Theater of War
Well, it’s not new, exactly, but Iran, or those alleging to be acting on its behalf, have struck back against the U.S. for the recent drone strike that killed Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani by targeting American government websites. While many people have noted an uptick in attempted hacks sourced in Iran, this week saw both a federal website and a Texas Department of Agriculture portal disrupted with words and images connected to Iran. Experts recommend additional monitoring, multi-factor authentication, robust backups and response plans as countermeasures. City Targeted as CES Kicks Off
As conventioneers gathered nearby for the annual Consumer Electronics Show, the city of Las Vegas had a cyberscare of its own, confirming to Government Technology that its network had been compromised. Officials said the cause of the incident was a malicious email, noting that any delays to service delivery would be as a result of IT staff working to secure their technical infrastructure. GT’s Lucas Ropek was at CES this week, reporting on tech innovations that touch the public sector, like U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao’s keynote on how the federal government is working toward safely incorporating autonomous vehicles onto public roadways. New Roads for AVs?
In other AV news, Georgia’s Department of Transportation is testing a new kind of highway striping that it hopes will improve safety for self-driving cars and the vehicles they share the road with. On its highway testbed on Interstate 85, the state is working with several private-sector partners to pilot various technologies that can pave the way for more connected vehicle technologies. CIO Shuffle
This week’s jobs news included two significant announcements: the departure of New York state’s top cyberofficial, CISO Deborah Snyder, who left after almost three and a half decades with the state; and San Jose Chief Innovation Officer Shireen Santosham, who ended a four-year stint leading Mayor Sam Liccardo’s Office of Technology & Innovation. | 