The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program has been a key tool for managing cybersecurity risks since Federal employees began maximum telework in March by helping to maintain situational awareness on networks, said Federal CISO Grant Schneider at MeriTalk’s CDM Central: Tales from the Frontlines digital event today. […]

The Departments of Commerce and Health and Human Services are teaming up to take down websites that sell opioids illegally online through a new pilot program with three domain name registries. […]

Bo Berlas, CISO at the at the General Services Administration (GSA), lauded the Department of Homeland Security’ (DHS) government-wide cybersecurity program and its effects in automating cybersecurity tasks for GSA. […]

Since the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program launched the minimal viable product version of its new dashboard last month, more Federal agencies have seen the value in choosing a cloud-hosted dashboard due in part to the need for more scalability in light of the coronavirus pandemic, CDM Project Manager Judy Baltensperger said today at MeriTalk’s CDM Central: Tales from the Frontlines virtual event […]

COVID-19-related spending by Federal agencies grew to a total of $15.5 billion as of early June, up from a total of $13 billion as of May 22, according to data obtained from the Federal Procurement Data System. […]

The House Armed Services Committee on June 5 released its markup schedule for the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act – a must-pass piece of legislation that normally features plenty of technology-related provisions. […]

Election security experts at the Brennan Center for Justice released a new guide June 5 on how to protect elections during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically calling attention to existing resources from Federal agencies and the need for more Federal funding. […]

A new ACT-IAC study found that of 109 solicitations that have completed the General Services Administration (GSA) In-Scope Review (ISR) process, 79 included the move or expansion of Ethernet or Voice Over IP (VOIP). […]

Unified Platform, a software platform designed to consolidate cyber capabilities and data processing led by the U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM), is set to cost five times its initial program estimate and the program has skipped over key assessments, according to a June 3 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. […]

Federal privacy legislation that has stalled in Congress for months has a new impetus, as questions about the use of location and health data during the pandemic are bringing privacy considerations to the fore. […]

Two bicameral, bipartisan bills intended to strengthen U.S.-based AI research initiatives were introduced this week. Both bills are focused on maintaining the United States’ global leadership and promote public and private sector collaboration. […]

Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., wrote letters to ten Federal agencies in an effort to seek answers as to what those agencies are doing to modernize IT systems before the next crisis, like COVID-19, occurs. […]

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is working with about 60 clinical institutions affiliated with the Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program to support the analysis of electronic health records in a new cloud-based database. […]

Laura Stanton said this week that she will take over on Monday as acting assistant commissioner of the Office of Information Technology Category for the General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service. […]

When an April tweet about pandemic relief funding from President Trump jolted an 8,000 percent increase in traffic on the Small Business Administration website, the agency was ready to take the strain, having moved the site from on-prem to cloud a year earlier. […]

The COVID-19 pandemic has driven Federal agencies to leap to maximum telework capacity on short notice. While many were able to kick telework into high gear in only a matter of days because of previous or ongoing IT modernization investments, the requirement to change fast and on the fly underscores the vital need for modernization – in the case of a pandemic or not. […]

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a $10 million grant to the Pervasive Technology Institute at Indiana University (IU) to deploy a distributed cloud computing system that will help support on-demand research, AI, and enhanced large-scale data analyses for the United States. […]

Assessors for the new cybersecurity standard for contractors of the Department of Defense have not yet been selected, but a Department of Homeland Security official praised DoD’s efforts and said his department is looking toward their example. […]

Just over two months after the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, officials at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) credit the legislation with expediating the acquisition process to ease the telework transition. […]

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) entered phase one of its reopening plans on June 1 for its offices in the National Capital Region – D.C., Maryland, and Northern Virginia – a spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk. […]

Keith Bluestein is set to be appointed CIO at the Small Business Administration (SBA), knowledgeable sources confirmed today. […]

The Department of Defense(DoD) announced June 3 that it is expanding its 5G experimentation and testing to seven new military bases. […]

The Cyberspace Solarium Commission has added two new recommendations to its wide-ranging cybersecurity policy report to address the challenge of disinformation on social media. […]

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is working on a program inventory to catalog its project spending, starting with documentation of CARES Act funding, Acting Director Russell Vought confirmed at a June 3 Senate Budget Committee hearing on his nomination to become permanent director of OMB. […]

Underpinning the delivery of citizen services, funding, and an all-important sense of normalcy during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal IT enterprise has provided firm footing in uncertain times. As the nation takes its first steps on the road to recovery, MeriTalk is chronicling the untold stories and lessons of the ongoing IT odyssey. In the latest chapter of CIO Crossroads, we explore the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s IT operations three months into the fray.  […]

Kevin Cox, program manager for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program, confirms that Federal agencies are increasingly integrating CDM into their overall security operations for greater visibility and control. That’s in line with findings from MeriTalk’s latest research, which found 59 percent of agencies incorporating CDM into their broader cyber strategy, rather than viewing it as a standalone function. […]

With more people working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic, the need to secure Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as in-home wireless routers has become a topic of interest for the group tasked by Congress to shore up the nation’s cyber defenses. […]

The Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is looking to connect the dots across government to keep the country protected from cyberattacks, and to relay those threats in “plain English” to decision makers, CTIIC’s director said this week. […]

The U.S. Air Force’s AFNet Sustainment and Operations branch (HNIB) has expanded the service branch’s network capacity to 200,000 teleworkers, and Air Force official said. […]

Russell Vought and Craig Leen shared their priorities as nominees for the permanent director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and inspector general at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), respectively, at a June 2 Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing. […]