The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) co-chaired the second meeting of their Joint Ransomware Task Force (JRTF) on Dec. 14, with a CISA leader saying that the task force effort is yielding “unifying” effects in the fight against ransomware-driven cyber attacks. […]
The Biden Administration has reactivated a government website that will allow Americans to request free Covid-19 tests ahead of what is expected to be an uptick in coronavirus cases this winter. […]
President Biden today signed into law a short-term continuing resolution (CR) budget measure that will fund Federal government operations at Fiscal Year 2022 levels through Dec. 23. Government funding under a previous CR signed in September had been set to run out at midnight tonight. […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is responding to a data breach at Healthcare Management Solutions, LLC (HMS) – a subcontractor to CMS – that may have exposed personally identifiable information of up to 254,000 Medicare beneficiaries. […]
Widespread use of telehealth services proved their worth during the COVID-19 pandemic, and health experts and lawmakers are considering implementing telehealth provisions on a more permanent basis as they look beyond the pandemic, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., said during a Dec. 14 Axios webinar. […]
The Department of the Air Force (USAF) wants to become a “cloud-first” agency and is committed to making continued investments in cloud computing and migration, according to USAF Chief Technology Officer Jay Bonci. […]
The Federal government’s Chief Data Officer (CDO) Council has made measurable progress over the past two years in helping strengthen the government’s use of data-based evidence in policymaking, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). […]
Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Roger Marshall, R-Kan., introduced new legislation on Dec. 14 that would apply to the cryptocurrency industry existing laws that aim to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. […]
With the Defense Department (DoD) cranking up its Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) capability to gain a decision advantage over adversaries, the Pentagon is looking to edge computing as a key enabler in that effort, military and private sector experts said during a Dec. 15 webinar from MeriTalk and Red Hat. […]
As Federal agencies undergo IT modernization, they confront unique challenges, including the added complexity of multiple physical locations managing IT and cybersecurity functions in silos. New initiatives aim to develop enterprise cybersecurity models to increase safety, security, and effectiveness while reducing costs. MeriTalk recently sat down with Aruna Mathuranayagam, chief technology officer at Leidos, to discuss how agencies can approach IT modernization to achieve the speed, scale, and security they need. […]
Building on the May 2021 Cybersecurity executive order, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memorandum M-22-09 sets out ambitious timelines for Federal agencies to improve cybersecurity. However, many agencies may be closer than they realize to the mandates laid out in M-22-09, particularly regarding multifactor authentication (MFA). […]
Cybersecurity experts at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) today praised Federal agencies for their progress and cost savings as reflected in the latest FITARA Scorecard issued by the House Oversight and Reform Committee today, but said agencies need to do better in speeding their transition to Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) communications contracts, and do more to empower their chief information officers (CIOs). […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has released a new “progress report” on the state of cybersecurity across Federal agencies, just in time for the 15th edition of the FITARA Scorecard issued today by the House Oversight and Reform Committee. […]
Both the chairman and the ranking member of the House Government Operations Subcommittee complained today – to varying degrees – about a lack of new and detailed information on Federal agency cybersecurity performance data to inform the 15th version of the biannual FITARA Scorecard released today by the House Oversight and Reform Committee. […]
IT-related gradings for the largest Federal government agencies moved moderately higher on the 15th edition of the FITARA Scorecard issued today by the House Oversight and Reform Committee. […]
The United States can learn important cybersecurity lessons from Ukraine in its war with Russia, a conflict that has not come close to revealing Russia’s full cyber warfare capabilities, a top U.S. Navy cyber official said on Dec. 14. […]
A consortium of universities is leveraging Federal grants to produce research on the “nexus” of terrorism and cybersecurity, one top academic said at Splunk’s GovSummit on Dec. 14. […]
Following up on the May 2021 executive order (EO), which requires Federal agencies to adopt zero trust, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued memorandum 22-09 (M-22-09) in January 2022. It sets forth a Federal zero trust architecture strategy, requiring agencies to meet specific cybersecurity objectives by the end of 2024. M-22-09 also provides specific direction for implementing identity-driven security measures such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) to prevent sophisticated online attacks. […]
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is utilizing capabilities from Splunk to see “into the future” in an attempt to answer questions such as whether or not the agency will hit telehealth capacity, a VA official explained today. […]
Top officials at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC) are “demystifying” how the Federal government maintains critical infrastructure security and resiliency by partnering and sharing information with organizations across the globe, panelists said at Splunk’s Dec. 14 Government Summit in Washington, D.C. […]
To help fend off ever-increasing cyberattacks, Splunk is helping organizations to build a foundation of cyber resilience so they can have visibility into cyber threats, accelerate operations, and meet their mission. […]
Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations committees said late Tuesday night that they have reached a “framework agreement” on Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations that they hope will lead to final spending bills to fund Federal government operation through September 2023. […]
Communications sector experts from the private, nonprofit, and state government sectors told senators on Dec. 13 that the “once-in-a-generation” broadband expansion funding approved last year by Congress will only close the digital divide when underserved communities gain full connectivity – but there are still many obstacles to overcome in reaching that goal. […]
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NITA) is seeking public comment on a grant program that will invest $1.5 billion to support the deployment of open, interoperable, and standards-based radio access networks (RAN) for wireless communications, according to a Dec. 13 Federal Register notice. […]
“You can’t secure what you can’t see” is a common refrain in cybersecurity circles. It’s echoed in multiple Federal IT mandates, including the zero trust strategy and the event logging memo from the Office of Management and Budget. Gaining comprehensive visibility across agency networks, devices, applications, and identities is no mean feat in today’s diverse and ever-changing IT environments. […]
Amid the recent rush at the Federal and state levels to ban or curtail use of the China-based TikTok social media app, at least one U.S. senator says that those actions would not be sufficient to prevent China interests from accessing personal data on United States citizens. […]
The 2022 National Defense Strategy identifies China as the most comprehensive and serious challenge to U.S. national security and the Department of Defense’s (DoD) current pacing challenge, according to DoD Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks. […]
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) said today that it is transitioning away from its supply chain management system – the Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support (DMLSS) – and is in the market for a new solution contract. […]
The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) awarded CACI International and Peraton parallel $2.25 billion contracts for fieldwork support services as the agency moves to a new case processing system. […]
Federal and private sector experts will break down the future of data management at the Defense Department (DoD) as the Pentagon builds on its Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) strategy, during a Dec. 15 webinar from MeriTalk and Red Hat. […]