Expert's View:
The Age Penalty and Early Retirement
With early retirement opportunities popping up in the Postal Service and the usual speculation about them elsewhere, a lot of employees are confused about how the age penalty would affect them if they were to retire before reaching their normal retirement age.
When it comes to retiring early, FERS employees have a big advantage over their CSRS counterparts. . . writes benefits expert Reg Jones.
IT Management Qualification Standards Released
OPM has released draft qualifications standards for the IT management series, 2210, covering two-grade interval administrative positions that manage, supervise, lead, administer, develop, deliver, and support IT systems and services. More
OMB Updates Desktop Computer Configuration Guidance
OMB has issued updated guidance on the secure configuration of federal desktop computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system.
A memo from OMB last March, "Implementation of Commonly Accepted Security Configurations for Windows Operating Systems," had directed agencies with Windows XP through Vista to adopt the federal desktop core configuration – FDCC, to standardize the security configurations of the government’s computers.
To coincide with the release of FDCC "major version 1.0, a new "Security Content Automation Protocol" - SCAP - has also been made available. More
Certification Requirements Spelled Out
Both industry and government IT providers must use SCAP validated tools with FDCC Scanner capability to certify their products operate correctly with FDCC configurations and do not alter FDCC settings, according to OMB memo M-08-22.
It said agencies will use SCAP tools to scan for both FDCC configurations and configuration deviations approved by department or agency accrediting authority. More