The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on July 14 voted to approve the Civilian Cyber Security Reserve Act which would establish a pilot program to create a civilian reserve of cybersecurity experts that could be deployed to the Federal government as “surge capacity” in the event of significant security incidents. […]
The Department of Justice (DoJ) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have launched a one-stop shop at StopRansomware.gov for individuals, businesses, and organizations to help combat the increasing trend of ransomware attacks, the DoJ announced today. […]
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is finishing up a 90-day sprint geared toward further cloud service adoption, and the agency’s acting CIO advised other organizations during MeriTalk’s virtual Cloud Cafe event on July 15 to toss out the on-prem rulebook when planning for their own cloud transitions. […]
Michael Brown, who now heads the Defense Department’s (DoD) Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), has requested that his name be withdrawn from consideration as the nominee for Under Secretary for Acquisition and Sustainment at DoD. […]
With many more people teleworking in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, cyberattack surfaces changed and expanded, and as many worked from home with Internet of Things (IoT) devices abandoned at the office, threat actors took advantage. Part of the fallout from those realities, according to two Zscaler studies, was that malware attacks on IoT devices connected to corporate networks increased by 700 percent year-over-year in 2020, compared to the firm’s 2019 study. […]
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Denis McDonough has called the recent VA Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) reports highlighting the Electronic Health Records Modernization (EHRM) program missteps “extremely disappointing,” but told members of Congress on July 14 that he is proposing a new approach for the program he hopes will get VA’s efforts “back on track.” […]
The Department of Defense’s (DoD) efforts to defend the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure in the U.S. require a stronger implementation strategy in its collaboration efforts with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), according to an audit by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). […]
Women have climbed the career ladder in government and achieved success through various strategies, from negotiation skills to networking and mentoring, but there’s still further to go. Female Federal leaders discussed the obstacles women face in achieving success, and the best practices to achieve success in the workplace, on July 14 during a Women in Leadership Forum hosted by the American Council for Technology-Industry Advisory Council. […]
Women don’t yet have the highest representation in leadership roles in the Federal government – especially in the senior executive ranks – and several women leaders in government offered advice for women looking to advance in the Federal government, encouraging them to create their own opportunities and pay it forward to others. […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded in a new report that Federal law enforcement agencies need to have better awareness of the facial recognition systems that are used by their employees so they can better assess risks involving privacy and accuracy. […]
Federal cyber leaders are working to keep mission-critical data secure and available to employees working from home, in the office, and in the field at the tactical edge. Despite progress and intense focus, a boom in cybersecurity breaches is commanding national attention and highlighting the need for IT and security modernization throughout the Federal government. […]
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee today approved two bills that aim to improve the cybersecurity of K-12 education institutions and to train Federal employees to better protect supply chains. […]
The Senate Budget Committee’s agreement reached late July 13 on a $3.5 trillion “soft” infrastructure funding package will help pave the way for Congress to consider the $1.2 trillion bipartisan compromise infrastructure agreement reached last month between the White House and a group of ten senators from both parties. […]
The General Services Administration has launched its new Digital.gov Innovation Adoption Community of Practice (CoP) to learn, share, and adopt innovative approaches and new ways of working within organizations. […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an emergency directive on July 13 ordering Federal agencies to disable the Microsoft Windows Print Spooler service, after discovering a vulnerability that allows attackers to remotely take over systems and enable adversaries to compromise the entire identity infrastructure of an agency. […]
The Department of Defense is making investments in artificial intelligence (AI) a “top priority” and will invest around $1.5 billion in AI projects at the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) over the next five years, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said July 13. […]
Women’s equal participation and leadership in government are essential to achieving diversity inclusion in the public sphere, but women remain underrepresented at various levels of government worldwide. Female leaders in government discussed the best practices for women to navigate the career ladder in government, and overcome the barriers placed in their way during a GovLoop webinar on July 13. […]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) successfully adapted to a flexible telework schedule for employees during the COVID-19 pandemic and plans to retain hybrid training and development opportunities for employees beyond the public health crisis, according to a DHS official. […]
President Biden has nominated Alan Estevez to become Under Secretary for Industry and Security in the Department of Commerce – a position that helps decide which U.S.-made technology products cannot be exported to foreign countries, ensures treaty compliance, and promotes continued U.S. strategic technology leadership. […]
Recent cyberattacks on critical infrastructure have elevated cybersecurity in the national discourse. For everyday citizens all the way to Congress and the White House, cybersecurity is top of mind. […]
A Defense Department official charged with helping to figure out the Pentagon’s next set of moves on large-scale cloud contracts said today that the Pentagon hopes to award new cloud service contracts as early as the Spring of 2022. […]
The House Appropriations Committee spent July 13 marking up the fiscal year 2022 (FY2022) budgets for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Defense (DoD). […]
The Treasury Department has issued another update in its search for a vendor for the department’s TCloud enterprise cloud contract. […]
As the migration to the cloud for Federal agencies has evolved and matured over the past decade, many agencies have learned valuable lessons that have allowed them to put their data to use efficiently. […]
According to a notice of intent posted on the SAM website, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plans to make sole-source contract awards to seven vendors to modernize its immunization information system (IIS). […]
Websites on the dark web associated with ransomware gang REvil disappeared on July 13, according to analysts. It is not immediately clear who is responsible for the takedowns. […]
The United States Military Academy at West Point (West Point) is searching for a cloud-based common application platform to collect application data and provide the information to open files on candidates applying to the school. […]
NASA is looking for a contractor who can provide cybersecurity and privacy support for all of its centers and facilities, according to a recent request for proposals (RFP) on SAM.gov. […]
The Senate on July 12 voted unanimously to confirm Jen Easterly as director of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Easterly will assume the role following a wave of recent cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure and businesses. […]
Federal IT leaders want to see their agencies achieve enterprise-wide artificial intelligence (AI) proficiency in the next three to four years, according to a recent survey from MeriTalk underwritten by Dell Technologies and NVIDIA, “From Pilots to Proficiency: Operationalizing Federal AI.” […]