cybersecurity
FCC, Chinese suppliers

The Federal Communications Commission voted on Feb. 17 to seek public comment on possible changes to how it implements a $1.9 billion program to help network service providers replace equipment in their networks made by China-based Huawei, ZTE, and any other providers that the Federal government may deem as risky to national security. […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) updated its Technology Assessment (TA) Design Handbook to include more recently published literature, recent GAO team experiences, and submitted comments from external experts and the public. Per GAO, the Technology Assessment Design Handbook is meant to give GAO staff and other users tools and guidance when designing technology assessments. It […]

AI

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., plans to update and reintroduce his Algorithmic Accountability Act, a bill that is designed to fight AI bias, and that would require tech companies to audit their AI systems for discrimination. […]

employee workforce federal worker-min

The House Government Operations Subcommittee has scheduled a hearing for Feb. 23 at 11 a.m. EST on ways to “rebuild” the Federal workforce after four years of bruising under the Trump administration, including a late 2020 bid to establish a new classification for policy-related Federal positions. […]

American hack

The leader of the Federal government’s investigation of the Russia-backed hack of government and private sector networks via SolarWinds Orion products said Feb. 17 that the attack “compromised” nine Federal government networks – matching with earlier estimates from Federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies that “follow-on” activity by the hackers after initial breaches via software downloads were seen in “fewer than 10” Federal agencies. […]

cybersecurity

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is asking the FBI and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide more information on the recent attempt by cyber criminals to poison the water supply at an Oldsmar, Fla. water treatment facility. […]

In a draft report to Congress by the National Security Commission on AI (NSCAI), the commission detailed that Federal AI R&D funding should be scaled up by establishing a National Technology Foundation (NTF) and increasing the funding by doubling it annually to reach $32 billion per year by FY2026. […]

voting booth, election security

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced Federal, state, and local governments to adopt a hybrid cloud environment quickly, but their hybrid strategies have not been able to keep pace with the new accelerated reality of government. The bottom line: most agencies have a strategy in place, but are having trouble executing on it fully. […]

broadband 5g -min

Members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology agreed at a Feb. 17 hearing that the COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed the “equity gap” in broadband access, and called for both expanding service access in rural areas of the United States, and creating more affordable service access in urban areas of the country. […]

Lumen

Nick Andersen, who held senior cybersecurity positions at the Department of Energy (DoE) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) over the past few years, has joined communications services provider Lumen as the chief information security officer for the public sector. […]

DoD Pentagon Military

Kevin Smith has taken over as CIO of the Federal Housing Finance Agency in Jan. 2021, according to his LinkedIn page. Smith has a wide range of Federal experience, having served for five years as the CIO of the U.S. Census Bureau and six years with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as Deputy CIO […]

General Services Administration GSA

The General Services Administration (GSA) announced today that a new version of Regulations.gov will launch on Feb. 18. The new website, which has been in beta testing since July 2019, will help improve the integrity of the public commenting process, GSA explained in a press release. […]

FedRAMP
General Services Administration GSA

The General Services Administration (GSA) announced several key leadership positions today, including Laila ElGohary as White House Liaison, who brings substantial technology experience to the position. […]

What’s the biggest lesson to be learned from the recent thwarting of an attempt by cyber criminals to poison the water supply in Oldsmar, Fla.?

According to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the hackers likely took advantage of an outdated operating system to gain access, and the agency said “continuing to use any operating system within an enterprise beyond the end of life status may provide cyber criminals access into computer systems.” […]

Pentagon Military Defense DoD

Persistent Defense of Department (DoD) delays in getting large enterprise-wide cloud projects up and running are getting in the way of long-term Pentagon objectives on cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI), and forcing some DoD operations to seek cloud work-arounds in the meantime. […]

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) created a Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Profile using its Cybersecurity Framework that can be used as part of a risk management framework to assist organizations in managing risk to systems, networks, and assets that use PNT services. […]

Medical IOT
Budget Federal spending
Internet of Things IoT sensors devices internet-connected smart city

With IoT devices exploding in popularity and use in recent years, Reps. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., and John Katko, R-N.Y., reintroduced a bill that would direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to collect data from devices that connect to the Internet to ensure there is enough spectrum capacity. […]

Cybersecurity

In an audit of the Defense Department’s (DoD) cybersecurity requirements for weapon systems in the operations and support (O&S) phase of the DoD acquisition lifecycle, the DoD Inspector General (IG) highlighted five weapon systems that have been successfully updating cybersecurity requirements and meeting Risk Management Framework requirements. […]

USDA

MeriTalk sat down with Jeff Grunewald, Force 3’s data center practice manager, and talked about all things data – from migrating to the cloud to crucial monitoring protocols. Having spent over 35 years working in the industry, Jeff knows a thing or two about data centers. Today, Jeff shares his insight on migrating data to the cloud and the critical importance of continuing monitoring protocols. […]

Categories