The Department of Justice (DoJ) is launching a four-month effort to reevaluate its strategies to combat cybersecurity threats in light of increases in ransomware and supply-chain attacks and the tendency of attackers to use U.S.-based infrastructure to launch their exploits, said the United States Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco on April 30 at a security conference in Germany. […]
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., reintroduced the Consumer Data Privacy and Security Act, which is intended to provide Federal standards and regulations for American businesses that collect, process, and use consumers’ personally identifiable data. […]
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) issued a request for information (RFI) to explore emerging technologies and data-driven solutions, and how the VA can work with contractors to develop and integrate these technologies to deliver better services. […]
The National Security Agency (NSA) is recommending that National Security System (NSS), Defense Department (DoD), and Defense Industrial Base (DIB) network owners perform a detailed risk analysis before creating cross-domain connections and currently connected operational technologies (OT). […]
A bipartisan group of senators has reintroduced the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2021, which would expand coverage of telehealth services through Medicare and make permanent COVID-19 telehealth flexibilities. […]
Federal government officials earned a collective pat on the back last week when the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released its 2020 OPM Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS). The annual survey shows Federal employee job satisfaction ticked up by three points, to 72 percent, during 2020 despite the dislocations in work life caused by the coronavirus pandemic. […]
Within minutes of a vehicle slamming into a security barrier at a U.S. Capitol checkpoint on April 2, local and Federal officers arrived on the scene. In rapid fashion, a U.S. Park Police helicopter arrived and landed on the north side of the building – a multi-faceted response that not many had seen before. […]
Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., said today he’s hopeful Senate Democrats and Republicans can come together to pass an infrastructure package that will include funding for broadband and emerging technologies. […]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced Thursday the application window for the second round of its COVID-19 Telehealth Program is now open until May 6. […]
A bipartisan group of senators has reintroduced the Rural STEM Education Act, which would provide Federal support for STEM training in rural schools and instruct the director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to provide grants to support training for rural STEM teachers. […]
Artificial Intelligence Operations (AIOps) provides a wide range of benefits for agencies, but Fed IT experts say agencies face several challenges to make the most of their AI capabilities, such as data readiness and misinformation surrounding the new technology. […]
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is reporting progress in addressing at least one of several cybersecurity-related issues reported to it by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) last year. […]
As Federal agencies look to modernize their cyber defenses and move to zero trust architecture, Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) 3.0 guidance will help push them along the path, with help from a zero trust use case that is in the pipeline, the TIC program manager said on April 29. […]
Senate Democrats and Independents reintroduced legislation this week to expand the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) 2.5 GHz Rural Tribal Priority Window. […]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced the start of the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program, which will allow eligible households to receive a monthly discount off broadband service costs from an approved provider as of May 12, 2021. […]
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is looking to partner with the private sector to enhance its cloud-based app to monitor physical markers – such as heart rate and heart rate variability – using smartphone technology. […]
Federal government agencies need to implement zero trust security architecture and work with private sector partners to improve supply chain security in the wake of the SolarWinds Orion hack that penetrated nine Federal networks and dozens more in the private sector, government and industry security experts said in a MeriTV interview. The call to embrace […]
President Biden announced this week that Celeste Drake will serve as the first-ever director of the newly created Made in America Office at the White House. […]
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is looking to protect critical infrastructure and seeking more information on securing and monitoring data flows in a large enterprise environment like its own, according to a request for information (RFI) posted to Beta.SAM.gov. […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released a new graphic novel on National Superhero Day, but its superhero might not possess your typical superpowers. The fictional story Bug Bytes intends to educate the public on the dangers of dis- and misinformation campaigns, with cybersecurity and journalism skills saving the day. […]
President Biden plans to nominate Geraldine Richmond as Under Secretary for Science at the Department of Energy (DOE), and Cathy Harris as the nominee for Chair of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), the White House announced April 28. […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in testimony to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee that the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) hasn’t provided BIE-funded schools with guidance on distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. […]
Numerous tech-related issues were front and center in President Biden’s address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night, as he delivered pitches backing up his infrastructure-themed American Jobs Plan issued in late March, the American Families Plan unveiled this week, and a preliminary Fiscal Year 2022 budget wish-list made public on April 9. […]
The General Services Administration’s 10X organization has chosen its next 22 ideas that will receive funding and further development work with an umbrella goal of improving how the Federal government uses technology to better serve citizens. […]
A judge on the Court of Federal Claims has rejected a motion filed by the Department of Justice and Microsoft which sought to dismiss Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) complaint that the Trump administration interfered with the award of the $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud contract to Microsoft. […]
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation advanced a number of bipartisan bills out of committee in an executive session today including four with tech implications. Those bills are a telecommunications workforce bill, one on tech research, one that would map broadband connectivity and maternal health outcomes, and another to protect victims of domestic violence. […]
Members of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission are asking the chair and ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee to increase funding for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) by at least $400 million, with some of that funding intended to make sure that CISA’s Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program can quickly deploy security tools. […]
The General Services Administration (GSA) is looking to serve as a “proving ground” for cloud adoption in the Federal government, to lead the way in digital transformation and to serve as a model for other agencies, GSA CIO David Shive said today. […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced that .gov top-level domains will be available at no cost for qualifying organizations beginning immediately – a move that should help on the cybersecurity front especially for smaller governmental entities. […]
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee today approved the nomination of Kiran Ahuja to become the next director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). […]