The Federal government has been growing technology-related research and development in recent years, but at the same time is seeing the bulk of that R&D effort centralize in five Federal agencies, according to a new report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). […]

Veteran Federal government cybersecurity expert Cheri Caddy has joined the Office of the National Cyber Director as deputy assistant national cyber director for cyber technology, research, and development. […]

President Biden on Dec. 21 signed into law the SBA Cyber Awareness Act, which aims to require the Small Business Administration (SBA) to improve its cyber defenses. […]

Chief information officers (CIO) from the Departments of Justice (DOJ), Energy (DoE), and Agriculture (USDA) discussed their agencies’ best IT and security moments of 2022, and their top priorities going into the new year. […]

Military personnel who complete advanced cyber training – which can take more than a year and cost the Defense Department (DoD) hundreds of thousands of dollars – may not remain in the service for a significant time after their training, a Dec. 21 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found. […]

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has appointed Randy Nixon director for the agency’s open-source enterprise, according to a Dec. 21 LinkedIn post. […]

The U.S. Senate voted 57-35 on Dec. 20 to confirm Rob Shriver as the new deputy director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). […]

In response to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said it plans to step up digitization of processes and customer service functions as part of plans to improve its performance in 2023, the agency told GAO. […]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has several initiatives underway to help U.S. critical infrastructure providers reduce risks – with partnerships between the public and private sectors positioned as the key to ensuring success of those initiatives, an agency official said this week. […]

With the holiday season upon us, we at MeriTalk wanted to spread some holiday cheer. We’ve gathered up photos of our furry friends dressed in festive attire, meeting Santa, or just enjoying some winter weather. […]

President Biden today signed into law legislation to set the Federal government on the path to defending against quantum computing-enabled data breaches that will become more of a threat as quantum tech advances in the coming years. […]

The Department of the Navy has awarded a five-year contract worth nearly $724 million to Amazon Web Services (AWS) that will provide the Navy with access to AWS’s commercial cloud environment, AWS Professional Services, and AWS training and certification courses. […]

One of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) mainstay cybersecurity protection programs got an extended lease on life, along with $91 million of funding, in the fiscal year (FY) 2023 omnibus appropriations bill released by the House and Senate Appropriations committees on Dec. 20. […]

A recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that several Federal agencies have yet to meet guidelines issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that outline agencies’ responsibilities for accepting digital access and consent forms. […]

Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., urged the National Science Foundation (NSF) in a Dec. 20 letter to secure Americans’ information within the National Secure Data Service (NSDS) platform using advanced encryption technology.  […]

Open-source intelligence (OSINT) must be become the intelligence “of first resort” for the intel community, according to a white paper released by the Intelligence and National Security Foundation (INSF) earlier this month. […]

The Department of Defense (DoD) has officially blasted off with its mission to identify what the military calls “anomalous phenomena” in space, air, land, or sea. […]

NASA has awarded a $516.9 million financial support services contract to Aeyon subsidiary MM Technologies to help modernize the agency’s financial management system. […]

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is looking to industry for insight into how the agency can develop an overarching cloud-based enterprise management system capable of automating its data collection and dissemination, according to a request for information (RFI) issued Dec. 12. […]

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is in line to receive a 12 percent funding increase under Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations legislation unveiled today – a spending hike that Capitol Hill leaders said will help the agency boost its ability to prevent cyberattacks and secure critical infrastructure. […]

TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social media apps in the world, sucking users into its irresistible, infinitely looping feed of videos personally curated to their interests. However, Federal employees may now need to wait until they get home to watch the app’s latest dance craze or viral pasta recipe. […]

The House and Senate Appropriations committees today unveiled a $1.7 trillion spending bill that would fund Federal government operations for the remainder of Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 that ends next September 30. […]

The U.S. Army is beginning to roll out new virtualized desktop capabilities that will enable more military personnel to use their own devices to access their work environments. […]

The Federal government remains largely unprepared to implement “accelerating technology trends most likely to cause disruption over the next 18 to 24 months,” a new report from Deloitte says. […]

The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) said today it will make $14.6 million of new funding awards to build and improve digital services at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB). […]

Private sector tech firms that help the Federal government improve tech and security capabilities are viewing last week’s FITARA Scorecard as a further call to action on the cybersecurity and IT modernization fronts. […]

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced the fourth revision to its Digital Identity Guidelines draft on Dec. 16. […]

The General Services Administration (GSA) is granting a two-year deadline extension to the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to transition to Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) communications services contracts. […]

The majority staff of the Senate Committee on Aging urged in a new report on Dec. 14 – Unlock The Virtual Front Door – that the Justice Department (DoJ) resume critical oversight for digital and technological accessibility for people with disabilities, older adults, and veterans. […]

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. […]