CDM Program Chief Charts Progress on AWARE Scoring
Kevin Cox, program manager for the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program, today discussed the program’s progress in generating AWARE (Agency-Wide Adaptive Risk Enumeration) algorithm scores for Federal agencies to track relative security status, and about how the program plans to refine the scoring process in the future.
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CIO Kent: Shared Services Approach Eyes Implementation Stage
The Federal government’s new approach to shared services, outlined in the Sharing Quality Services cross-agency priority (CAP) goal, is moving from planning stages to implementation, while emphasizing customer focus and placing an emphasis on a marketplace model, said Federal CIO Suzette Kent.
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White House OSTP Issues National Strategic Computing Initiative Update
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) released an update to the National Strategic Computing Initiative today.
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NOAA Issues AI and Cloud Strategies
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released draft versions of its strategies on cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) today, setting the stage for the agency’s adoption of the emerging technologies.
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HHS Explains its Biometric Identity Login Partnership With DISA
In the agency’s latest effort to protect sensitive information, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) partnered with the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to develop biometric and behavior-based access credentials for employees.
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OPM, GSA Issue RFIs on App Replacement
As part of its Centers of Excellence (CoE) initiative, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is looking to replace the application it uses for annuity claims and move from legacy software to a new web app, according to two requests for information released November 12.
Veritas Public Sector Vision Day
Government is laser-focused on understanding its federated data and working toward enterprise-wide visibility so it can act with insight.
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USCIS Provides Updates on Paperless Transition
As the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) continues working toward a paperless future, the agency has already completed online filing systems for several documents and, and is touting successes with its online account system.
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OIG Report: NASA Vulnerable to Cyberattacks
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a target for cybercriminals, but the agency is failing to adequately protect itself, according to a Nov. 13 report by the NASA Office of the Inspector General (OIG).
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Data Management: Why Saving Everything Is a Risky Strategy
Amid new mandates for government data use and cloud migration, data management is top of mind for agency leaders. But cost, infrastructure modernization and threat prevention remain a challenge. MeriTalk spoke with David Bailey, senior director of U.S. Public Sector Technical Sales at Veritas, about how agencies can plan their first steps toward a cohesive, sustainable data strategy, as well as the factors behind today’s unprecedented data growth.
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Senate Commerce Clears Bill To Boost Federal Cyber Workforce
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee approved by voice vote today the Harvesting American Cybersecurity Knowledge through Education Act (HACKED Act) (S 2775), which aims to boost the Federal cybersecurity workforce with new guidelines for agencies, clearer career paths for the workforce, and improved coordination between agencies.
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Bipartisan House Bill Supports New NIST CoE, Election Security Research
A bill introduced by Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., on Nov. 8 would establish a new Center of Excellence (CoE) and fund elections systems research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
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House Bill Calls for FCC Transition to Machine-Readable Files
Rep. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., introduced a bill in the House on Nov. 8 that would direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to enact regulations requiring public inspection files to be available online in a machine-readable format.
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Election Security Remains Enduring Priority, CISA Official Says
Election security will remain an operational priority for the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA) “for the foreseeable future,” a CISA official said at a Nov. 12 event.
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CISA-Pioneered Interagency Cyber Workgroup to Meet Early Next Year
A Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA) interagency workgroup – focused at least in part on supply chain and control systems security issues – aims to have an executive committee meeting early next year to discuss cybersecurity challenges in both the public and private sectors.
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QC, Cyber, Workforce Top Public Sector AI Use Cases, Study Finds
A new study from consulting firm Deloitte finds that the lion’s share of artificial intelligence (AI) technology use cases being pursued by public sector organizations involve quality control, cybersecurity, and workforce management applications.
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Brennan Center Argues Election Tech Vendors Must be Held to Higher Standards
The Brennan Center for Justice argued in a Nov. 12 report that the Federal government needs to hold election technology vendors to higher cybersecurity standards in order to receive Federal certification. To that end, the Center offered up a new framework for oversight.
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NIST, DoD Officials Preview Supply Chain Security Guideline Work
Officials from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Department of Defense (DoD) previewed their agencies’ latest efforts on supply chain security guidelines at the CyberCon 2019 conference today.
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FEVS Shows Low Employee Satisfaction With Promotions, Shutdown
The results of the annual Federal Employee Viewpoints Survey (FEVS) show a continued discontent with the Federal government’s career advancement processes, and a negative impact on agencies from the partial Federal government shutdown that spanned 35 days and ended Jan. 25.
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Microsoft to Honor ‘Core Protections’ of California Privacy Law Nationwide
Microsoft said on Nov. 11 that it will “honor” throughout its U.S. operations the “core protections” contained in the California Consumer Privacy Act that is set to take effect in January 2020.
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Sen. Wyden Urges DoD and NSA Audit of Voatz app
In a Nov. 7 letter, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., urged Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and National Security Agency (NSA) Director Gen. Paul Nakasone to conduct a cybersecurity audit of mobile voting app Voatz to “determine whether it can reliably protect the votes of U.S. servicemembers against foreign hacking.”