A Type Resources sponsored workshop presenting techniques to reduce conflict and improve effectiveness through an innovative model of personality types

Louisville, KY (PRWEB) February 21, 2012

To help career coaches, therapists, and others make teams and other workplace and personal relationships more productive and enjoyable—and less stressful—Type Resources will present a workshop with prominent Jungian Analyst Dr. John Beebe, M.D. on May 18-19, 2012.

Based on Dr. Beebe’s eight function-attitude, eight archetype model, the workshop is titled "The Battle Continues...Winning the War Within" to emphasize the inner—and usually unconscious—processes that create conflict and personality clashes.

Grounded in the depth psychology of Carl Jung, Dr. Beebe’s model is intended to provide a deeper, clearer, more detailed way of understanding and dealing with personality types and their interactions than the older Myers-Briggs (MBTI) system, which has until recently been more familiar outside Jungian circles.

“We need to figure out which part of us is engaging what part of another person,” says Dr. Beebe. “Only then can we understand the interactions that don’t work for us, and get clearer how to use our function-attitudes more wisely.”

“Most of what goes on in interpersonal dynamics is unconscious,” adds Bob McAlpine, president of Type Resources. “We tend to assume that others react to what we say and do the way we would, which isn’t necessarily the case. As a result, the messages we intend to send—both overtly and by implication—often differ from what’s received. That can lead to misdirection, hurt feelings, resentments…not what you want in the workplace or your personal life.”

According to McAlpine, who will be co-facilitating the workshop, “It’s ideal for career and life coaches, psychotherapists, team facilitators and business and organizational managers, but anyone can benefit from it. The principles work in any relationship, from marriages and friendships to the largest enterprises.”

David Hughey, a former newspaper publisher and the founder and president of the Transition Leading consultancy in Durham, NC, says he has been impressed with Beebe’s approach. “It’s helped me help my clients—both organizations and individuals—to work more effectively and enjoyably. I expect this workshop to be as outstanding as the previous ones.”

Type Resources will offer early registrations at a discounted rate of $495 through February 29, after which the price will rise to $695. The firm has also partnered with the Breckinridge Inn in Louisville, where the event will be held, to offer rooms at a special rate of $69 per night. Registration instructions and additional details can be found on the Type Resources website (type-resources.com).

About John Beebe:

John Beebe, M.D., is a Jungian analyst and a former president of the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco. He is the founding editor of The San Francisco Jung Institute Library Journal and was the first American co-editor of the London-based Journal of Analytical Psychology. Dr. Beebe has written several articles and book chapters regarding Jungian theory and is the author of Integrity in Depth, a book about the nature and development of integrity.

About Type Resources

Type Resources (http://www.type-resources.com) provides a variety of products and training to enhance individual and organizational performance through the application of personality theories. Customers include career and life coaches, psychotherapists, human resources professionals, corporations, government agencies and individuals interested in personal growth.

Contact:

Bob McAlpine

President

Type Resources

Phone: 502-893-3677

bmcalpine(at)type-resources(dot)com

###

Bob McAlpine
Type Resources
502-893-3677
Email Information

See the original post:
Better Workplace and Personal Relationships Start in the Unconscious Mind, Says Jungian Analyst

Rexam (Dusseldorf: 948922.DU - news) ticked higher as the maker of drinks cans put its personal care business up for sale, but the benchmark index retreated amid scepticism over the Greek bailout.

Rexam, which makes Red Bull and PepsiCo (Euronext: PEP.NX - news) cans as well as packaging for food, healthcare and cosmetic products, said it had decided to hive off the undperforming personal care unit as it did not expect a turnaround in the near term. The unit has been hit by rising costs and lower volumes.

While Rexam did not put a price tag on the unit, or give a timeframe for its sale, analysts have said the business could fetch up to £350m.

Rexam leapt 7.4pc, but the blue-chips as a whole were on the wane as investors speculated that yesterday's bailout deal for Greece has merely averted a messy default in the short term, rather than put an end to the eurozone debt saga.

Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the Greek bailout was "more of a reprieve rather than a rescue ... it does not necessarily solve the long-term problem.

"Probably, the biggest question that has remained unanswered coming out of it is the implications for other nations."

Volumes on the FTSE 100 (Euronext: VFTSE.NX - news) were thin, highlighting concerns among investors about injecting cash into the market when fears about longer-term issues over Europe (Chicago Options: ^REURUSD - news) 's debt situation remained, and the index fell 11.65 points to 5,916.55.

Leading the laggards was Vedanta Resources (EUREX: VR9F.EX - news) as the miner succumbed to profit-taking, falling 5.02pc.

Supermarket giant, Tesco (LSE: TSCO.L - news) , came under pressure, easing 2.3pc as Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER - news) switched its rating to "underperform".

"Tesco has format and brand/offer issues in the UK that will take time to fix; and international performance remains mixed," said analysts.

Further down the market, Cove Energy (Berlin: LPC.BE - news) soared 25.6pc as Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) - up 0.5pc - made a £992.4m bid for the explorer. Shell has offered 195p-per-share in cash, which Cove's directors said they would recommend to shareholders.

"The 195p proposed offer is unlikely to face a challenge in our view and, having been longstanding fans of the Cove story, we downgrade to Hold," said analysts at Investec (Frankfurt: A0J32R - news) .

"There may be more bids in E&P-land. In terms of laterals, we expect further acquisitions and highlight Ophir and Gulf Keystone (LSE: GKP.L - news) as the two most likely bid targets in our view," they added.

Here is the original post:
FTSE 100: Rexam rises as puts personal care business up for sale

Ripple Effects’ Software Discreetly Gives Children of Alcoholics Personal Support While Preserving Peer Relationships

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) February 22, 2012

In recognition of Children of Alcoholics Week, Ripple Effects’ CEO, Alice Ray opens up about how her personal experience as a child growing up in an alcoholic home inspired her to create Ripple Effects (http://www.rippleeffects.com), the leading digital provider of student social-emotional learning and self-directed mental health guidance tools, and how the software discreetly offers hope and personal support to children of alcoholics today. Motivated by both scientific research and her own experiences, Ray has created a school-based software program that gives children facing discipline and behavioral issues the opportunity to discreetly lookup and define their problems. Once they choose a topic, children can then get professionally vetted answers and solutions through multi-media tutorials with true video stories and games that provide skill building, problem solving and personal guidance. As a result, teachers and school administrators are seeing positive change and lasting outcomes in children that have historically been a challenging group to reach and help.

Over the last 10 years, Ripple Effects has found that when children in discipline settings are allowed to privately use the innovative software program to explore what THEY think are the reasons underlying behavior problems, 18% of students in second to fifth grade lookup the words “alcoholic parent” and 18% lookup the word “beaten.” These same students secondarily lookup the words “angry” and “afraid.” But these same students rarely speak up to trusted adults at school and present behavior problems to offset attention to their home situation. As students get older, the focus on alcoholic parents continues to be high; but they also explore topics such as “dating abuse,” “domestic violence,” and “depression,” as well as “anger” and “fear”.

According to Ray, “Children themselves intuitively know what scientists discovered 15 years ago with the landmark Study of Adverse Childhood Events (ACE): living with alcoholism, domestic violence, and abuse, can result in social-emotional and cognitive impairments that lead to life-long negative health outcomes. Kids also know from their own lives the connection that scientists have only recently confirmed: social-emotional impairments that follow in the wake of adverse child experiences also have a major impact on school performance, both academic and behavioral.”

Childhood trauma has a social and emotional impact that hurts grades and behavior. The ACE Study calls for “an integrated approach to intervene early on behalf of children growing up with alcohol abuse in the home and the abuse, violence, neglect, and the other ACEs that frequently co-occur in these homes.” Emerging educational policy calls for school-based, early intervening services for students who carry these risks. But how can you deliver these services without further stigmatizing children who may treasure school as their only sanctuary from difficult family circumstances? How do you make sure that all kids have access to the most effective strategies for building their resilience, while not compromising their privacy? And how do you make it affordable?

These are some of the questions that prompted Ray to co-found Ripple Effects and develop the social-emotional intervention software that is now listed on the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP) as a comprehensive children’s mental health intervention, with documented positive impact on both grades and resilience assets of empathy and problem solving.

For Ray, mitigating the impact of adverse childhood experiences has never been an esoteric challenge. She says, “My father’s alcoholism was the trigger for a cascade of awful personal circumstances that nearly swamped me. School was a sanctuary for me. The last thing I wanted was for some well-meaning teacher or counselor to drag my horrible family experiences into the only place that was clean of them. On the few occasions they did, I reacted by acting out to divert attention anywhere else. Still, it would have helped so much to know that my experiences were not so very uncommon, and that I could learn coping skills, including eventually talking to a trusted adult, that would have made things easier.”

“I was a lucky one and thrived despite my circumstance. Others in my family were not so lucky. Seeing the lifelong crippling effects of early emotional injury on a brother has been a continuing motivation to prevent other children from experiencing those outcomes. Efficacy research is showing that we are meeting that goal, at a level beyond what I thought was possible.”

Previously failing students who privately used Ripple Effects, in lieu of math or language arts just twice a week for seven weeks, saw their grades go up more than a full point within a single semester. They stayed in school at higher rates. Discipline problems went down. In addition, students who were exposed to Ripple Effects for universal, social-emotional skill building saw scores for empathy and problem solving (resiliency assets) go up. More than 4000 schools across the US are already using Ripple Effects as a cost-effective, personalized intervention for children with social-emotional challenges.

ABOUT RIPPLE EFFECTS

Based in San Francisco, Ripple Effects (http://www.rippleeffects) is the leading digital provider of student social-emotional learning and self-directed mental health guidance tools for children and teens. Ripple Effects’ line of award-winning, evidence-based software programs use peer narration and interactive gaming to reach vulnerable students and positively change behavior. These media-rich programs are used in more than 600 school districts, after-school, and community programs nationally, and have garnered 30 major awards.

###

Karie Stern
Mill Valley Partners
415-608-9195
Email Information

See original here:
Software Entrepreneur Leverages Personal Experience To Help Next Generation Of At-Risk Kids

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Villanova University has canceled a workshop on personal narrative by a gay performance artist, saying his shows aren’t in keeping with its Catholic values.

Artist Tim Miller, once dubbed the “patron saint of the gay performance world” by the Los Angeles Times, said he was scheduled to lead the five-day workshop for students in April but the university abruptly scrapped it on Sunday. He said his workshops focus on personal narrative and the students guide the direction they take but topics often include issues such as faith, sexuality, self and truth.

Miller said he thinks his being gay played into Villanova’s decision to cancel.

“The thing that they worry about, I think, is that I am a gay person,” he said. “Being a gay person with political opinions.”

Miller said on Tuesday he has done similar workshops at Chicago’s DePaul University, the nation’s largest Catholic university, and other schools. He said Villanova, a Catholic private university with about 10,000 students just outside Philadelphia, did not tell him why it was canceling his workshop.

“This is not my first time at the dance,” Miller said, noting the cancellation came after blog postings that were critical about him. “It’s clearly homophobia and panic.”

In a statement, Villanova said it had concerns that Miller’s workshops “were not in keeping with our Catholic and Augustinian values and mission.”

“Therefore, Villanova has decided not to host Mr. Miller on our campus,” the statement said. “Villanova University is an open and inclusive community and in no way does this singular decision change that.”

A spokesman said the university would not answer questions beyond the statement on Tuesday.

Miller gained notoriety in 1990 when he and three others had grants vetoed by the National Endowment for the Arts. His work is frequently provocative, and he has been arrested in the past for demonstrating for AIDS research funding. He said some of his performances have featured nudity but there has been no nudity for about a decade.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Like this:

Be the first to like this post.

Continued here:
Villanova Cancels Gay Artist’s Show, Cites ‘Catholic Values’ As Reason

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rLg6PYJ7n4

02-09-2011 23:02 THIS WAS AN UP CLOSE, AND PERSONAL PERFORMANCE AT THE CITY WINERY IN NEW YORK CITY ON TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2011 (EARLY SHOW)

Here is the original post:
DICKEY BETTS - "JESSICA" (8/30/11) - Video

Beverley Head
Tuesday, 21 February 2012 09:50

Business IT - Technology

A registration backlog is still choking the performance of the $33 million Personal Property Security Register, with the Government admitting that it had not made as much progress as had been hoped over the weekend and delays were still occurring.

The PPSR was built by Fujitsu for the Attorney General’s department and was launched at the end of January. Data from 23 Commonwealth, State and Territory registers was transferred before the national PPSR started operations on 30 January.

After a fraught first fortnight the system’s operation has improved, but users are still plagued by sluggish performance and workarounds.

An update posted late yesterday on the PPSR website indicated there were still delays as a result of the backlogs, which would take a few more days at least to clear.

Users have also been hampered by the transition of the ASIC property registers across to the PPSR. The PPSR was designed to use a single identifier – the Australian Company Number – for search purposes.

ASIC’s data however used Australian Business Numbers as well as ACNs which has led to confusion, and required people to search by company name as well as ABN and ACN. Each separate search costs $3.70.

Despite this impost the Attorney General’s department, noted that; “Searches need only be conducted on the one register, rather than multiple registers in multiple jurisdictions levying different fees.”

According to the statement published on the PPSR website yesterday; “The Registrar proposes to publish a verification statement under section 158 of the PPS Act in respect of the registration events which occur as a result of the aforementioned process to register the grantor identified by ACN and remove the grantor identified by ABN.”

In terms of the overall performance of the 6.5 terabyte (and growing) PPSR database a spokesperson from the Attorney General’s department said: “As we foreshadowed, there was very strong initial demand for the PPSR in the opening weeks, which did impact its overall performance.  While there is still room for improvement specifically in relation to bulk-uploads to the Register, users are now consistently reporting very good response times.”

Please enable JavaScript if you wish to view comments.

Go here to read the rest:
Registration backlog chokes PPSR

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Villanova University has canceled a workshop on personal narrative by a gay performance artist, saying his shows aren't in keeping with its Catholic values.

Artist Tim Miller, once dubbed the "patron saint of the gay performance world" by the Los Angeles Times, said he was scheduled to lead the five-day workshop for students in April but the university abruptly scrapped it on Sunday. He said his workshops focus on personal narrative and the students guide the direction they take but topics often include issues such as faith, sexuality, self and truth.

Miller said he thinks his being gay played into Villanova's decision to cancel.

"The thing that they worry about, I think, is that I am a gay person," he said. "Being a gay person with political opinions."

Miller said on Tuesday he has done similar workshops at Chicago's DePaul University, the nation's largest Catholic university, and other schools. He said Villanova, a Catholic private university with about 10,000 students just outside Philadelphia, did not tell him why it was canceling his workshop.

"This is not my first time at the dance," Miller said, noting the cancellation came after blog postings that were critical about him. "It's clearly homophobia and panic."

In a statement, Villanova said it had concerns that Miller's workshops "were not in keeping with our Catholic and Augustinian values and mission."

"Therefore, Villanova has decided not to host Mr. Miller on our campus," the statement said. "Villanova University is an open and inclusive community and in no way does this singular decision change that."

A spokesman said the university would not answer questions beyond the statement on Tuesday.

Miller gained notoriety in 1990 when he and three others had grants vetoed by the National Endowment for the Arts. His work is frequently provocative, and he has been arrested in the past for demonstrating for AIDS research funding. He said some of his performances have featured nudity but there has been no nudity for about a decade.

Original post:
Villanova University cancels gay artist's workshop

February 21, 2012, 6:28 PM EST

By Aaron Ricadela

(Updates with comments by CFO Gladden in 10th paragraph.)

Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Dell Inc. forecast fiscal first- quarter revenue that missed analysts’ estimates as lackluster demand from consumers and governments eroded growth at the world’s third-largest maker of personal computers.

Revenue for the period ending in April will decrease 7 percent to $14.9 billion, Round Rock, Texas-based Dell said in a statement today. That missed the average $15.1 billion estimate of analysts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The shares fell in late trading after the report was released.

Sales in the consumer division fell 2 percent last quarter, evidence that Apple Inc. is winning over buyers with its Mac and iPad devices. Revenue in the business that caters to governments slipped 1 percent amid “weakness” in purchasing by U.S. federal agencies and governments in Western Europe, Dell said.

“When do we see revenue growth for the company start to show up?” said Abhey Lamba, an analyst at Mizuho Securities USA Inc. in New York, who initiated coverage of Dell this month with a “buy” rating. “They’ve been able to grow earnings because of cost management and supply-chain improvements. But you can do that for only so long. At a certain point, revenue needs to start growing or else earnings will come down.”

Dell is suffering from competition with Apple at the high end of the market and Lenovo Group Inc. and Acer Inc. at the low end, Shaw Wu, an analyst at Sterne Agee & Leach Inc., wrote in a Feb. 15 research note.

Dell slumped 4.7 percent to $17.37 in extended trading after gaining less than 1 percent to $18.21 at the close.

Consumers’ Wallets Shut

Consumers are keeping their wallets closed amid a slow economic recovery or opting for iPads instead of traditional notebook computers. Global PC shipments last year declined 4.9 percent, the worst performance since 2001, according to research firm IDC. In addition, hard disk drive production was crimped after last year’s flooding in Thailand.

The supply disruption will continue into the period that ends in October, Gladden said on a conference call with media.

Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 8 operating system, due later this year, may provide a lift to consumer sales. Dell is also selling more of its own data storage and networking gear instead of relying on products made by such companies as EMC Corp.

Profit in the fourth quarter declined to $764 million, or 43 cents a share. Sales rose 2 percent to $16 billion, in line with analysts’ $16 billion estimate. Per-share earnings excluding certain items will exceed $2.13 in fiscal 2013, compared with analysts’ $2.06 estimate.

‘Strong’ Business Demand

Business computing demand is “pretty strong,” Dell Chief Financial Officer Brian Gladden said in an interview after the results. Sales to large corporations rose 5 percent, while the unit that sells to small- and midsized businesses got a 6 percent boost, the company said.

Dell’s stock has outperformed the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index this year, rising 24 percent, compared with an 8.3 percent rise in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

Dell and rival Hewlett-Packard Co. are counting on sales of thin, lightweight laptops called “ultrabooks” to spur sales. Dell’s new ultrabook, called the XPS 13, starts at $999. It’s made of aluminum, carbon fiber and glass, sports a 13.3-inch screen, and will go on sale later this month.

The company is also diversifying beyond PCs. It bought computer networking company Force 10 Networks Inc. last August for an undisclosed price and storage maker Compellent Technologies a year ago for $856.1 million. On Feb. 2, it hired former CA Inc. CEO John Swainson to head a new software group.

Dell may be scouting for a software acquisition worth $1 billion to $3 billion, Peter Misek, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. said. Misek has a “hold” rating on Dell shares.

Computer and data-management software makers Quest Software Inc. and CommVault Systems Inc. are possible targets, he said. BMC Software Inc., which makes tools to manage servers, may be too large with is $6.4 billion market value.

Dell plans to hold a Feb. 27 event in San Francisco with CEO Michael Dell to discuss its data-center products.

--Editors: Tom Giles, Nick Turner

To contact the reporters on this story: Aaron Ricadela in San Francisco at aricadela@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net

Read the original post:
Dell Misses Estimates Amid Sluggish Personal Computer Sales

A few weeks ago, a friend showed up for a run with a CamelBak — one of those humplike backpacks with a tube that allows you to sip liquid — and a belt containing food to eat along the way. Every 20 minutes or so as we ran, he stopped to eat and drink, sprinting afterward to catch up.

Now that is unusual, I thought. Does it really help to eat so often during a 16-mile run?

Certainly a lot of athletes believe they need constant nourishment. My friend and running partner Jen Davis, who has entered more races and run more than I ever have, once went on a 30-mile training run with a guy wearing a CamelBak and bearing snacks. He stopped every 20 minutes along the way and then, about halfway through the run, pulled out a turkey sandwich.

“I’m not sure if he ever actually ran an ultra race,” Jen said. “He may have gotten injured after carrying that heavy pack on those long runs.”

There is no end to the crazy foods people will eat at endurance events. At the J.F.K. 50-Mile in Maryland, boiled potatoes and chicken broth are provided at aid stations. At the Rocky Raccoon Endurance Trail Run in Texas, runners can choose rice and beans or pasta, along with snacks like pretzels, cookies and candy.

At a 100-mile bike ride my husband and I have done several times, pumpkin pie is offered about 25 miles from the finish line. (My husband tried it one year and felt ill the rest of the ride.)

For the athlete determined to munch on the go, there are shelves worth of prepackaged “energy gels” and bars, even jelly beans, promising to raise performance.

But most athletes are not running 30 or 50 or 100 miles, nor are they doing the equivalent amount of exercise in another sport, like cycling or swimming or skiing. So most of us really do not need to keep eating during a race to maintain energy and stamina, said Nancy Rodriguez, a sports nutritionist at the University of Connecticut.

Dr. Rodriguez reviewed published studies on nutrition and performance as part of a group of experts who wrote a position paper on the topic for the American College of Sports Medicine. Runners, for example, competing in a 5- or 10-kilometer race, she said, “don’t need the CamelBaks and don’t need to have that Hershey bar or Powerade or Clif shot.”

Even athletes who are fast and competitive may not always need to eat during a workout. There’s no set rule on what they should eat and drink before, during and after exercise, said Melinda M. Manore, a sports nutritionist at Oregon State University who was an author of the position paper.

“People have gotten the message that they have to eat something,” Dr. Manore said. They guzzle an energy drink or eat a sports bar, but that doesn’t help. And for the many who are trying to lose weight, the habit just adds extra calories.

What they need depends on what they ate before they started and how hard their workout is going to be, among other things, she explained. “If you can run six-minute miles or five-minute miles and you are going out for an hour, you do not need to be eating an energy bar during the workout,” Dr. Manore said.

Moderate athletes need to eat and drink after the workout, she said, but a healthy meal with plenty of fluids is sufficient. Indeed, for most of them, the most common error is to eat too much.

Dr. Manore follows her own advice. She hikes for an hour in the hills every morning, four to five miles. All she has before she goes out is a cup of tea with milk.

But anyone exercising for two hours or more does need to get carbohydrates, the muscles’ fuel, according to the position statement. That means eating before, and perhaps during, the workout.

Those who try to skimp can end up with a poorer performance, said Dan Benardot, a sports nutrition researcher at Georgia State University. A long workout, like a run that lasts more than two hours, is “an enormous drain on blood sugar,” he said.

If the body runs out of glucose for fuel, it will start breaking down muscle, which is counterproductive. Dr. Benardot’s research indicates that athletes do best when they never let themselves have more than a 400-calorie deficit during the day. That is, if you expend 1,500 calories on a two-hour run, you offset it with at least 1,100 calories in food that day.

That means it is a disadvantage to eat most of the day’s calories at one time — at night, for example. But athletes should make dietary changes gradually so their bodies can adapt to more frequent fueling, he said. Those who try sudden changes sometimes pay a price.

Dr. Benardot tells the story of a distance runner who was doing well and felt great the morning of a big marathon. Before the race began, she saw her chief competitor put packs of a sugary gel into her running bra to eat during the race.

The distance runner did the same, even though she had never before eaten during races or long runs. It was a disaster: She had diarrhea during the event.

The gels “were anything but a competitive advantage,” Dr. Benardot said.

“You have to let your body adapt,” he added. “And you have to find out what works for you.”

This post has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: February 21, 2012

Earlier versions of this post misspelled the surname of a sports nutrition researcher at Georgia State University. He is Dan Benardot, not Bernadot or Benradot.

Read more:
Personal Best: Workouts May Not Be the Best Time for a Snack

VA performance dashboard failed to protect personal data, OIG says

The Veterans Affairs Department wrongly allowed more than 20 employees and contractors access to veterans’ sensitive personal and financial information in a recent information technology dashboard project, according to a new report from the Office of Inspector General.

The security violation occurred in the VA’s Systems to Drive Performance Dashboard while it was in development last year, Belinda Finn, assistant inspector general for audits and evaluations, wrote in the Feb. 13 report.

“We determined that more than 20 system users had inappropriate access to sensitive (dashboard) information,” Finn wrote.

The VA dashboard was being created to track cost accounting data. The agile development project was being managed by the VA’s assistant secretary for management, and the dashboard development group consisted of members of the management office, Office of Information & Technology and the contractor.

In March 2011, the development team populated the dashboard with veterans’ personally-identifiable information, including birth date, age, sex, race, ethnicity, county of residence, zip code, and financial information.

For the next 35 days, “more than 20 system users had inappropriate access to the sensitive data hosted in the Systems to Drive Performance development environment,” Finn wrote.

The report did not indicate how many veterans’ personal data was vulnerable, or what actions had been taken to inform them, if any.

In mid-April, access was terminated for most dashboard users, she added.

In addition to allowing the inappropriate access, the VA did not handle the user access requests consistently, and did not report the unauthorized access as a security violation as required, Finn added.

The problems were attributed to lack of awareness, failure to implement existing policies and poor oversight, Finn wrote.

“Project managers were not fully aware of VA’s security requirements for system development and had not formalized user account management procedures,” the report said. “Inadequate Information Security Officer oversight contributed to weaknesses in user account management and failure to report excessive user privileges as security violations. As a result, VA lacked assurance of adequate control and protection of sensitive STDP data.”

Finn said the improper access qualified as a security “event” but there was no evidence of a breach.

“While we did not discover indications of actual information security breaches and recognize the system is not publicly accessible via the Internet, project management should have reported excessive user permissions as a security event in accordance with VA information security policy,” she wrote.

Finn recommended that the Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology, and the Assistant Secretary for Management ensure that all project managers receive training on protecting sensitive information, along with two other recommendations.

VA officials agreed with the findings and recommendations.

About the Author

Alice Lipowicz is a staff writer covering government 2.0, homeland security and other IT policies for Federal Computer Week. Follow her on Twitter: @AliceLipowicz.

View post:
VA performance dashboard failed to protect personal data, OIG says