DHS on Track to Meet CDM Capabilities CAP Goal
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Strengthen Federal Cybersecurity Cross-Agency Priority (CAP) goal plan is likely to meet its fiscal year 2019 target for Federal agencies having capabilities to manage user access and privileges that will be monitored on the Federal CDM Dashboard.
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House Homeland Security Staffer: Cyber Advisor Key to Achieving Cyber Goals
In a panel at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Cybersecurity Summit today, House Committee on Homeland Security (CHS) Aide Moira Bergin stressed Chairman Bennie Thompson’s, D-Miss., desire to reestablish the White House cybersecurity advisor position.
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CISA Releases First ICT Task Force Report
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Supply Chain Risk Management Task Force’s first interim report, which details the groups’ progress since its formation.
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State Improving on IT Modernization, but Lagging Behind PMA Goals
The State Department is making progress in its IT modernization effort, but not meeting the goals it set for fiscal year 2019 as part of the President’s Management Agenda, an update to the agency’s priority goals shows.
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PMA Update Shows New Shared Services Approach on Track
The White House’s new approach to shared services remains on track for full implementation during fiscal year 2020, according to an update to the Sharing Quality Services cross-agency priority (CAP) Goal on the President’s Management Agenda (PMA) released September 19.
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Sen. Warner Calls Huawei 5G Threat “Unprecedented”
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said today that the threat posed by Chinese government-supported network equipment makers including Huawei to the global 5G communications ecosystem is unprecedented. One solution to displace Huawei equipment from communications networks, the senator said, may be government-industry cooperation to make cheaper communications gear available to carriers.
CDM Central: Navigating the Cyber Roadmap
Top cyber experts struggle to pinpoint the coordinates for successful risk management. DHS’ CDM program is helping agencies locate which direction cybercriminals and attackers are headed. This includes increased focus on securing beyond the perimeter, safeguarding mobile devices, and protecting sensitive data in the cloud.
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IT Modernization CAP Goal Update Shows Mostly Progress
Agencies are mostly making progress on the White House’s IT modernization goals – with many goals completed, most remaining goals on track, and a few challenge areas – according to a President’s Management Agenda (PMA) update released September 19.
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Federal Cyber Leaders Prioritize IT Modernization, OMB Guidance Implementation
Federal cyber officials from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Cybersecurity of Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) highlighted today that IT modernization and implementing OMB’s guidance are some of their biggest priorities.
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Krebs Says O’Brien Will be an Ally in 2020 Election Security
As the 2020 election cycle revs up, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Christopher Krebs said today that he believes new National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien will take security seriously and will allow CISA a great opportunity to continue improving cybersecurity efforts.
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Stopgap Spending Bill Clears the House, Moves to Senate
The House voted this afternoon to approve a nearly two-month stopgap spending bill that would push current Federal funding levels beyond the Oct. 1 start of the new fiscal year. The bill, H.R. 4378, passed in a vote of 301-123. The Senate is expected to pass the bill next week, sending it to the White House for President Trump’s signature.
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Rep. Thompson Pushes to Bring Cyber Coordinator Position Back
More than a year after the White House Cybersecurity Coordinator position was eliminated, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., is urging the Trump administration to reestablish the role, according to a statement released Sept. 18. The recent push comes as President Trump named Robert O'Brien as his new National Security Advisor, following the resignation of John Bolton.
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Federal Cyber Officials Tackling Workforce Challenges
Federal cybersecurity officials spoke about the strategies they’re pursuing to address workforce issues within their agencies during a Sept. 18 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Cybersecurity Summit panel.
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Bipartisan Bill Introduced to Revive OTA
A bipartisan group of senators and representatives are looking to address gaps in Congress’ technology expertise by bringing back the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) and making it responsive to member needs, according to a Sept. 18 press release.
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Sen. Blackburn Echoes Calls for Federal Data Privacy Legislation
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., on Sept. 18 expressed general support for Federal data legislation to protect consumer privacy and to preempt state-level data privacy laws, but also cautioned that she does not want to see the U.S. copy the European Union’s General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR) framework.
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SSA OIG Suggests Tweaks to Improve Fraudulent Claims Controls
A Social Security Administration (SSA) audit to determine the effectiveness of controls identifying potentially fraudulent Internet Claims (iClaims) found the controls to be “generally effective,” but also said that the number of undetected fraudulent iClaims is unknown.
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CISA Chief: Ransomware Attacks ‘Pretty Close’ to Large-Scale Cyber Event
The head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said today that the spate of ransomware attacks that hit school systems in Texas and Louisiana over the past month “got pretty close” to qualifying as a “large-scale cyber event,” which he said begs the need to further develop Federal doctrine about how to respond to major events.
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Federal Data Privacy Law Unlikely This Year, Bill Sponsor Says
Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., a long-time advocate for stronger data privacy rules and current sponsor of the Information Transparency and Personal Data Control Act, said today it’s unlikely that Congress will take action on this issue this year.
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IRS Needs to Improve BYOD Policies, TIGTA Finds
The Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy opens the agency up to more vulnerabilities, data exfiltration, and uneducated users accessing sensitive information, according to a September 12 report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).
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AI Legislative Consensus Still Developing on Capitol Hill
Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies – and their potentially huge impacts on the economy and the American workforce – are generating plenty of buzz on Capitol Hill but not yet enough to solidify any large-scale legislative agendas that would impact the technology and its use.
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CISA Launches President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced the first-annual President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition, an interagency effort to identify, challenge, and reward the “best personnel supporting cybersecurity and cyber excellence” in the government.