The leader of the Federal government’s investigation of the Russia-backed hack of government and private sector networks via SolarWinds Orion products said Feb. 17 that the attack “compromised” nine Federal government networks – matching with earlier estimates from Federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies that “follow-on” activity by the hackers after initial breaches via software downloads were seen in “fewer than 10” Federal agencies. […]

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is asking the FBI and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide more information on the recent attempt by cyber criminals to poison the water supply at an Oldsmar, Fla. water treatment facility. […]

In a draft report to Congress by the National Security Commission on AI (NSCAI), the commission detailed that Federal AI R&D funding should be scaled up by establishing a National Technology Foundation (NTF) and increasing the funding by doubling it annually to reach $32 billion per year by FY2026. […]

The chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) this week urged the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government for dependable Federal funding to ensure election security ahead of the 2022 election. […]

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced Federal, state, and local governments to adopt a hybrid cloud environment quickly, but their hybrid strategies have not been able to keep pace with the new accelerated reality of government. The bottom line: most agencies have a strategy in place, but are having trouble executing on it fully. […]

Taking advantage of cloud-based technology in an organization’s architecture requires a dual understanding from two different perspectives – those of the solutions architect, and the enterprise architect, a Defense Department technology official said on Feb. 17. […]

Members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology agreed at a Feb. 17 hearing that the COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed the “equity gap” in broadband access, and called for both expanding service access in rural areas of the United States, and creating more affordable service access in urban areas of the country. […]

Nick Andersen, who held senior cybersecurity positions at the Department of Energy (DoE) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) over the past few years, has joined communications services provider Lumen as the chief information security officer for the public sector. […]

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), FBI, and the Treasury Department have issued a joint cybersecurity advisory about North Korean malicious activity known as “AppleJeus.” […]

The Defense Department’s (DoD) Office of the Director, Operational and Evaluation (DOT&E) emphasized in a new report that DoD needs to conduct cybersecurity testing on commercial cloud platforms that are used by the Defense Enterprise Office Solution (DEOS) cloud environment. […]

Kevin Smith has taken over as CIO of the Federal Housing Finance Agency in Jan. 2021, according to his LinkedIn page. Smith has a wide range of Federal experience, having served for five years as the CIO of the U.S. Census Bureau and six years with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as Deputy CIO […]

The General Services Administration (GSA) announced today that a new version of Regulations.gov will launch on Feb. 18. The new website, which has been in beta testing since July 2019, will help improve the integrity of the public commenting process, GSA explained in a press release. […]

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., on Feb. 11 reintroduced the Chai Suthammanont Remembrance Act, a bill which is designed to protect Federal employees who must return to the workplace from COVID-19 by requiring government agencies to publish safety plans to guide their return. […]

The General Services Administration (GSA) announced today that it has revamped the FedRAMP website to “further empower agencies to use innovative cloud technologies and to continue driving security and protection of Federal information.” […]

The General Services Administration (GSA) announced several key leadership positions today, including Laila ElGohary as White House Liaison, who brings substantial technology experience to the position. […]

What’s the biggest lesson to be learned from the recent thwarting of an attempt by cyber criminals to poison the water supply in Oldsmar, Fla.?

According to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the hackers likely took advantage of an outdated operating system to gain access, and the agency said “continuing to use any operating system within an enterprise beyond the end of life status may provide cyber criminals access into computer systems.” […]

Persistent Defense of Department (DoD) delays in getting large enterprise-wide cloud projects up and running are getting in the way of long-term Pentagon objectives on cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI), and forcing some DoD operations to seek cloud work-arounds in the meantime. […]

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) created a Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Profile using its Cybersecurity Framework that can be used as part of a risk management framework to assist organizations in managing risk to systems, networks, and assets that use PNT services. […]

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is turning to the private sector to help it collect, store, and disseminate medical images and data related to cancer screening. […]

The House Energy and Commerce Committee completed its portion of the budget reconciliation process, voting late on Feb. 12 to transmit the final part of the legislative language it was considering. […]

With IoT devices exploding in popularity and use in recent years, Reps. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., and John Katko, R-N.Y., reintroduced a bill that would direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to collect data from devices that connect to the Internet to ensure there is enough spectrum capacity. […]

In an audit of the Defense Department’s (DoD) cybersecurity requirements for weapon systems in the operations and support (O&S) phase of the DoD acquisition lifecycle, the DoD Inspector General (IG) highlighted five weapon systems that have been successfully updating cybersecurity requirements and meeting Risk Management Framework requirements. […]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is moving forward in its search for a new rover, according to a Feb. 12 solicitation on Beta.Sam.gov. […]

MeriTalk sat down with Jeff Grunewald, Force 3’s data center practice manager, and talked about all things data – from migrating to the cloud to crucial monitoring protocols. Having spent over 35 years working in the industry, Jeff knows a thing or two about data centers. Today, Jeff shares his insight on migrating data to the cloud and the critical importance of continuing monitoring protocols. […]

Video has become pervasive, and is essential to fulfilling the government’s mission. Smart weapons have integrated video cameras that relay images halfway across the world, and airplanes can be controlled entirely remotely. Unfortunately, video monitor and graphic card standards are driven by consumer trends in gaming and desktop computing, while technology lifecycles in the Federal government tend to be significantly longer. Various devices at the same workspace are updated in different cycles, resulting in incompatibilities.  […]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking a cloud-based Common Enterprise Loan Origination and Servicing (CELOS) platform. […]

MeriTalk, a public-private partnership dedicated to improving the outcomes of government information technology, is pleased to announcement the appointment of John Thomas Flynn as Senior Advisor, Government Programs. […]

In the Federal CDO Council report to congress on the summary of its activities and accomplishments in its first year, the Council said that for FY2021, it will meet regularly to support CDOs in efforts to increase the strategic use of data and develop and implement communications activities for stakeholders both inside and outside of […]

The House Energy and Commerce Committee is nearing the completion of its portion of the legislative language writing process for the budget reconciliation process. After a long night Feb. 11 and another full day of meeting in committee, the committee is nearly done finalizing the language it will send to the House Budget Committee. […]

After Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., the committee’s ranking member, called for the designation of a single official to lead the U.S. response to the Russia-backed hack of thousands of government and private-sector networks via SolarWinds Orion products, the White House confirmed to the senators that Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger is leading the effort. […]