The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) is looking to develop practices that will ease the migration from public-key cryptographic algorithms to replacement algorithms that are resistant to quantum computer-based attacks. […]

With President Biden’s Cybersecurity Executive Order adding urgency to requirements for Federal agencies to improve cybersecurity by further implementing core tenets of the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program, a new survey from MeriTalk and Elastic finds that the continued rollout of the next generation of CDM dashboard technology will go a long way toward addressing agency security gaps. […]

Organizations need a cybersecurity strategy to protect both infrastructure and customer data from growing cybersecurity threats. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) developed the Cyber Essentials as a guide for small businesses and local government leaders to develop an actionable understanding of where to start implementing organizational cybersecurity practices. […]

Ransomware has rocketed to the top of the Biden administration’s agenda as cyberattacks launched from the soil of U.S. adversaries have started to bite into key critical infrastructure. […]

Katie Arrington is currently on leave as the Department of Defense’s (DoD) chief information security officer (CISO) for acquisition and sustainment, a DoD spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk. […]

A Data Decrees memo signed by Defense Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks set the five Department of Defense (DoD) priorities for how it should use data, and a pair of Chief Data Officers (CDO) said this memo has helped enable change by codifying the importance of data inside the Pentagon. […]

Brig. Gen. Jeth Rey has been appointed the new director of the U.S. Army’s Network Modernization Cross-Functional Team (CFT), succeeding former director Maj. Gen. Peter Gallagher, who retired from the Army in May. […]

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, agencies have had to adjust to working in remote environments and understanding the impact of the health crisis to make data-driven decisions. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has worked to leverage data as a strategic asset to ensure the government continued to operate. […]

The Department of Interior needs to do more to share data across several systems that it uses to oversee oil and gas development on leased Federal lands, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a new report. […]

The House Oversight and Reform Committee today approved by voice vote the Federal Rotational Cyber Workforce Program Act, along with other important bills, which will now head to the full House for consideration. […]

The House of Representatives on Monday evening passed by wide margins two potential and complementary alternatives to the Senate-approved United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 (USICA), both of which would funnel tens of billions of new research funding to Federal government agencies. […]

A report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has clearly defined roles and responsibilities for coordination with healthcare organizations to support cybersecurity efforts. However, GAO found areas where HHS could improve collaboration. […]

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released an updated definition for “critical software” in response to a directive to do so in the Biden administration’s executive order (EO) on cybersecurity. […]

Senators Maggie Hassan D-N.H. and John Cornyn R-Texas, have introduced the  Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Expansion Act which aims to help strengthen U.S. cyber defenses and bolster the Federal government’s cyber workforce. […]

The SolarWinds breach, the Colonial Pipeline, the JBS meatpacking ransomware attacks, and most recently a ransomware attack on a House of Representative email vendor have Federal cybersecurity and IT leaders wondering what’s next. […]

As cyberattacks become more frequent and prevalent, the National Security Agency’s (NSA) Director of Cybersecurity Rob Joyce says the biggest vulnerability for both the private and public sectors is technical debt. […]

President Biden on June 25 signed an executive order (EO) that aims to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) for the Federal workforce. […]

President Biden on June 26 pledged his support for a separate voting track in Congress for legislation containing a $1.2 trillion compromise infrastructure agreement that the White House reached last week with a bipartisan group of senators. […]

The National Science Foundation (NSF), in coordination with a consortium of 35 wireless communication corporations, announced the fourth testbed in a diverse portfolio of large-scale wireless research platforms located throughout the United States. This wireless research platform is intended to drive innovation in rural broadband connectivity in Ames, Iowa. […]

While zero trust may be the latest buzzword in cybersecurity, the security principles behind a zero trust architecture aren’t new. Adoption across the Federal government has been slow as agencies deal with legacy systems, budget issues, competing priorities, and a shortage of security experts. […]

Cybersecurity experts from Federal, state, and local governments agree that in wake of increased cyberattacks during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s increasingly important to protect healthcare data through an elevated cybersecurity posture. […]

President Biden announced that two nominations for the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) had been sent to the Senate. If both are confirmed, the board would have a quorum for the first time since 2017. […]

Federal employees that have been fully vaccinated and have completed the two-week efficacy period can travel for personal and professional reasons without self-quarantining and testing before returning to work, according to new guidance from the White House COVID-19 Response Team on June 24. […]

Reps. Tom O’Halleran, D-Ariz., and John Curtis, R-Utah, have introduced the Accelerating Rural Broadband Deployment Act, which would increase internet access in rural America by relaxing government regulations. Sens. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Steve Daines, R-Mont., introduced a companion bill in April of this year. […]

The House Appropriations Committee has implied its support for President Biden’s 2.7 percent pay increase for Federal employees, according to its FY2022 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) funding bill approved by a House subcommittee this week. […]

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) is preparing to upgrade its biometrics collection system (BASS) to Bass 3.0, according to a June 23 request for information (RFI).  […]

Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., is calling on Inspectors General (IGs) from select agencies to assess the impact of telework agency missions, employee performance, and service during the pandemic. […]

Department of Defense (DoD) and public sector experts agree that in order to better leverage cloud for the warfighter, it is vital for organizations to be smart about their cloud migrations and focus on specific service offerings, as opposed to racing to move everything to the cloud. […]

An infrastructure deal reached today by the White House and a bipartisan group of senators features a potentially huge Federal funding bump for cybersecurity as part of a larger “resiliency” section of the agreement, although details of the scope of the cybersecurity portion remain murky until further information about the plan becomes public. […]

Federal Chief Data Officers (CDOs) are the stewards of the government’s most vital asset, data. These leaders strive to improve the management, use, protection, dissemination, and generation of data in government decision-making. On June 24, a panel of Federal CDOs, on an AFFIRM webinar, discussed the challenges they face when dealing with data and the importance of data governance and management. […]