Resiliency has taken on new meaning for government agencies as they accommodate new ways of working due to COVID-19 and as a result, grapple with an exponentially larger attack surface. MeriTalk sat down with former Navy CIO and DoD Deputy CIO, Robert Carey, now VP/GM of Global Public Sector Solutions at RSA Security, to talk about steps agencies can take to ensure they meet their missions in the short term, as well as in the longer term as we navigate toward the “new normal.” […]
Microsoft released seven “privacy principles” for technologies developed for the COVID-19 pandemic, including the standard to delete data as soon as it is no longer needed for the emergency, and called for Federal privacy legislation. […]
The United States Agency for International Development operates in over 100 countries, providing foreign aid and humanitarian assistance. On March 2, approximately 65 percent of the overseas workforce logged in to their computers at USAID facilities while just 22 percent of the nearly 7,000 overseas staff logged in remotely or teleworked. […]
House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., is requesting a switch to remote voting amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in an April 21 letter to Chairperson of the Committee on House Administration Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Chairperson of the Rules Committee Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass. […]
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are seeking submissions for research concepts in the technical domain of disrupting machine vision systems without in-depth knowledge of how they were built or trained. […]
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has moved almost entirely to telework, an EPA spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk. […]
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is not releasing the text of its cybersecurity audits during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic citing increased cyber activity. […]
Steven Nguyen, Vice President and General Manager-Public Sector at Citrix, has charted a career path that could serve as a virtual roadmap for informing and supporting the Federal IT industry enterprise over the past three decades. […]
The novel coronavirus pandemic has touched many aspects of business in the United States, including how we communicate with our colleagues. […]
The Federal Communications Commission approved an application from Ligado, which will allow the company to operate in an adjacent spectrum band to Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, a move that defense leaders fear could disrupt military operations. […]
Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., introduced legislation today that would warn consumers before they download an app from countries that “pose a national security risk.” […]
The Principal Deputy Chief Information Officer for the Department of Defense will retire June 30, according to a department spokesperson. […]
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Defense Department (DoD), and Federal Electronic Health Records Modernization (FEHRM) program office launched a modernized health data sharing capability which will enhance both VA’s and DoD’s ability to securely exchange records with community health care partners. […]
One of our favorite Feds, Jay Huie, is leaving the General Services Administration (GSA) to become CIO at D.C. Government’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education – OSSE – the office responsible for improving education outcomes for D.C. residents. […]
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has expanded telecom access for essential workers, including public safety and national security professionals. CISA said that as of April 19, it has provided priority telecom services to 65,606 additional public safety and national security professionals, in both the public and private sectors. […]
Amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, more patients and healthcare providers are switching to telehealth to reduce the spread of the virus. […]
Since the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) instructed all employees who could to work from home just over a month ago, the agency is now reporting that 95 percent of their employees are currently teleworking, a senior HUD spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk. […]
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) hasn’t implemented any priority recommendations made by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2019 and now GAO has identified three additional recommendations, including one involving cybersecurity. […]
The State Department workforce is at about 90 percent telework, with the remaining 10 percent performing duties not transferrable to telework such as driving, CIO Stuart McGuigan announced at the April 21 AFCEA breakfast. […]
While the concept of artificial intelligence (AI) has been around for decades, research shows only 12 percent of Federal agencies use highly sophisticated AI today. […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) are prepping Federal agencies to start sending employees back to the office, as outlined in a memo released today. […]
Here’s an overview of some of the latest developments on the government and tech fronts due to COVID-19. […]
With over 400 free online courses offered by Ivy League schools, there are no shortage of learning opportunities, especially for people interesting in learning more about technology. […]
The Defense Department (DoD) said today that coronavirus-related concerns have closed about one percent of the companies that it considers “prime” in the defense industrial base (DIB), and that DoD is working to help affected companies to reopen. […]
As the government begins to issue COVID-19 stimulus payments, cyberattackers are looking to scam individuals out of their money, a Check Point report released today found. […]
We’re all looking for guidance in these uncertain times. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., will join MeriTalk for an online Town Hall Meeting this Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. to discuss Federal workforce, telework, and IT modernization issues in the COVID-19 pandemic. Connolly will speak to all Federal employees and contractors – so tune in and bring your questions. […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is asking Federal agencies to consider reimbursing paid leave to Federal contractors to keep them in position to mobilize in a timely manner, as needed to complete government missions. […]
The Department of Education has implemented three priority open recommendations that were identified by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in April 2019, including improving information security. […]
While the sudden transition to mass telework may have created some initial hurdles for Federal agencies, Federal CIO Suzette Kent said that the President’s Management Agenda (PMA) IT modernization initiatives remain in full swing. […]
Diverse factors – such as a growing mobile workforce, emerging technologies (artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, etc.), increased field operations, and hybrid IT environments – are all driving Federal networks to the edge. And, as the definition of the edge expands, so does the attack surface. […]