The Federal government and other entities are adjusting to and planning for the impact of the spreading COVID-19 coronavirus. […]
With COVID-19 dominating the national conversation, there has been growing discussion about how to reduce crowds and lines at polling places during the 2020 election cycle. One possibility is to enable voting via smartphones. However, cybersecurity experts remain incredibly cautious given security concerns. […]
Following reports of a possible cyberattack late Sunday night, officials at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and at the Department of Defense (DoD) prep Federal networks for an uptick in cyberthreats as employees move to telework to fight the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. […]
Verily Life Sciences plans to begin offering online COVID-19 coronavirus screening and information services to parts of the San Francisco area today, separate from virus information site efforts by its sister company Google. […]
More than 65 communications service providers have signed on to the Keep Americans Connected Pledge issued by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to promote sustained connectivity during disruptions caused by the coronavirus. […]
The Department of Defense (DoD) released the final version of its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) in January 2020, but without certification processes in place, third-party entities are offering fraudulent CMMCs to contractors interested in working with the department. […]
It was a fast-moving weekend for the Federal government and its evolving responses to, and planning for, impact of the spreading COVID-19 coronavirus. Here’s a quick look at some of the top developments of interest to the Federal IT community: […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in a memo dated March 15 asked Federal agency and department heads to offer “maximum telework flexibilities” to all current telework-eligible Federal employees in the National Capital Region (NCR). […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued instructions to Federal agency and department heads on March 14 to limit any travel by Federal agency employees to “mission-critical” situations due to the COVID-19 coronavirus. […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a reminder today of security considerations regarding the use of virtual private network (VPN) solutions as telework ramps up due to spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. […]
The COVID-19 outbreak has created a flood of information to sift through for the Federal workforce. MeriTalk will attempt to collect and disseminate information as clearly as possible regarding the Federal workforce and IT policies as they relate to the Coronavirus. […]
The Office of Management and Budget released guidance dated March 12 to all heads of Federal departments and agencies to “maximize telework flexibilities” for the portions of the Federal workforce that are most at risk of severe illness from the COVID-19 coronavirus. […]
The director of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and government scientists from countries around the world are calling for publishers to make COVID-19-related research available to the public including in formats where they can apply artificial intelligence (AI) to the task of analyzing the data. […]
Despite tech and efficiency benefits, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) – which oversees Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the 11 Federal Home Loan Banks – documented “third-party, information security, and business resiliency risks” in its transition to and use of the public cloud. […]
President Donald Trump signed the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019, solidifying $1 billion in funding for smaller telecommunications providers to rip out and replace equipment from Chinese firms, such as Huawei and ZTE. […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) requested $706 million in appropriated funds for Fiscal Year 2021. An increase of $76 million from the FY2020 enacted level, the agency aims to improve its internal IT infrastructure and its Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics (STAA) audit team. […]
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) today released a toolkit broadcasters can use in their response to COVID-19. […]
“We didn’t think that we needed to invent a new agency when we got one [CISA] that’s working,” said Solarium co-chair, Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, “But we did think that there was something missing and that was leadership from the top.” […]
The General Services Administration (GSA) is cancelling the Federal Acquisition Service Training (FAST) 2020 conference and all associated Program Management Review meetings. […]
The Department of Defense (DoD) has a renewed focus on modernizing its hiring process and investing in cyber education to improve recruitment and retention stats as it looks ahead at its Fiscal Year 2021 budget. […]
Sen. Mark Warner sent a letter to the acting director of national intelligence (DNI) and the director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to issue clear guidance ensuring that security clearances will not be jeopardized due to financial impacts of COVID-19. […]
The first round of cybersecurity job opportunities for graduates of the Federal Cyber Reskilling Academy has been posted on the USAJobs Open Opportunities site, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Chief Information Officers Council, and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced March 11. […]
Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., said today they introduced legislation that would ban the use of the TikTok app on Federal government-provided devices out of concern that the company providing the service – ByteDance – has close ties to the Chinese government and could be compelled to share user data with the government. […]
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized two rules that would help give healthcare patients more control over their health data. […]
House members voted 395-13 on March 10 to adopt recommendations from the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress on establishing a centralized human resources (HR) system and modernizing House IT resources. […]
Implementing a proposed Federal grant program designed to improve state and local government cybersecurity would cost a total of $2.89 billion over the next six years including both expected grant totals and the cost to run the program, according to an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office. […]
Despite high salaries and growth potential, the tech industry is struggling to hire enough cybersecurity experts. […]
The Cyberspace Solarium Commission’s long-awaited report on how the U.S. can better defend itself against cyber threats focuses on a handful of major themes: […]
The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs passed multiple cybersecurity bills, including the Cybersecurity Vulnerability Identification and Notification Act of 2019 and the Cybersecurity State Coordinator Act of 2020 at a March 11 markup. […]
Office of Management and Budget and NASA Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement are cohosting the second annual Best-in-Class (BIC) Fair on March 18 to teach participants the value of BIC category management principles. […]