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From its inception in 2002, the Federal Information Security Management Act, better
known as FISMA, has contributed tremendously in improving the security all US government
information systems. From the start, the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) was tasked with the mission of developing both FISMA-based standards
and guidelines in accordance to the law, and they have been able to deliver.
From where things were before FISMA to where we are now, there has been quite a
leap forward not only in terms of clear and applicable processes, guidance and standards,
which were badly needed, but also in terms of coordination among the various departments
and agencies. Now, this is all great, but FISMA has been slow in producing
the results it is capable of. It is our believe, one of the main reasons for
this is the lack of software tools that truly specialize in this area. There
are a few generic tools that have been modified to support FISMA, but there are
close to none that really make FISMA their primary business. xbasics, LLC
is driven to change this.
xbasics, LLC makes FISMA and the security of US federal information systems its
primary business through the development of software tools built from the ground
up to tackle real problems faced by government security professionals and consultants
throughout the course of the FISMA certification and accreditation (C&A) life
cycle. Information assurance is not a once in a while activity, but a continuous
one that requires specialized security professionals and the tools needed to back
them up. Based in Northern Virginia, xbasics, LLC is a minority-owned company
founded with the goal of improving the output of FISMA-based certification and accreditation
efforts through the development of advanced, easy to use, FISMA-compliant tools.
This path has been driven by its founder and president, Alex Alvarez, based on his
experience as a security officer.
For over a decade, Alex has work diligently within the security field protecting
the security of local and federal agencies both in the area of Information and
Electronic Security. Throughout his professional career, he has accumulated
a vast amount of experience in the area of security design and implementation, as
well as certification and accreditation, while working for local and federal government
organizations, including the Department of Justice, Department of Defense, Department
of Commerce, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Agriculture and the
Department of Labor, among others. Alex holds an MS in Computer Science from
James Madison University, a BS in Electrical Engineering from New York Institute
of Technology and a Professional Certificate in Unix/C/C++ from George Washington
University. He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).
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