The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) performed well on its fiscal year 2019 FISMA audit, reaching a Level 4 and meeting the threshold for effectiveness, according to a report released October 31 by CFPB’s inspector general. […]
Federal IT officials from a diverse range of agencies said on Oct. 29 they are taking initial steps to employ robotic process automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to streamline workflows, and expressed optimism that the technologies will make a big difference in agency efficiency over the next few years. […]
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is looking at robotic process automation (RPA) technologies to help with determination of responsibility in agency IT contracts, according to a request for information released November 1. Responses are due by November 15. […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced the kick-off of its annual Infrastructure and Security and Resilience Month running through the end of November. […]
The Treasury Department received mixed results on its fiscal year 2019 FISMA audit, with few weak spots identified but still falling below the level of effective, according to the audit released October 25 by the department’s inspector general. […]
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), the agency regulating U.S. international ocean transportation, is not responding to cybersecurity vulnerabilities in a timely manner, according to a FISMA audit from its Office of the Inspector General (OIG). […]
The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) continues to meet Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) requirements with few areas of concern, according to a report by the FLRA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released on Oct. 30. […]
Defending Digital Campaigns (DDC), a new nonprofit dedicated to providing affordable cybersecurity products, services, and information, announced its first president, CEO, and board members on Oct. 31. […]
The Defense Innovation Board (DIB) on Oct. 31 released recommendations and principles for the ethical design, development, and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies at the Department of Defense (DoD). […]
A report by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that CPSC is making progress in implementing Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) requirements, but still have more work to do in that area. […]
The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) released a request for information on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies that can detect and combat cyberattacks as they occur. […]
Senators and Federal government officials sparred over the country’s 5G-readiness and supply chain security at a hearing today of the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. […]
When thinking about robotic process automation (RPA), one might imagine advanced robotics assuming job functions alongside Tony Stark (of Marvel Comics Iron Man fame) in a lab, but the National Science Foundation (NSF) wants agencies to think of RPA as more of a software management project. […]
The Department of Defense (DoD) is steadily integrating robotic process automation (RPA) agency-wide through interdepartmental collaborations. […]
Federal agencies are making progress in assessing and articulating their IT staffing needs, but lag behind on developing strategies to tackle those gaps and keep track of progress in addressing them, according to a report released October 30 by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). […]
Several senators introduced legislation on Oct. 30 that aims to “strengthen local government cybersecurity defenses by switching to the .gov domain for websites and email addresses.” […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report released today that the Census Bureau “is generally on track” to meet some of the early operational milestones for the 2020 Census, but that the Commerce Department component still has a lot of work to do in a short time on 15 IT systems that are critical to upcoming service deliveries for next year’s census. […]
Federal IT decision makers feel their agencies are holding onto outdated data centers for too long. According to recent MeriTalk research, a variety of cost and mission-focused factors are to blame. […]
The General Services Administration’s (GSA) chief financial officer said today that adoption of robotic process automation (RPA) technologies across Federal agencies is helping to reduce manual tasks performed by the Federal workforce, but without the worrisome byproduct of trimming Federal government jobs. […]
The Navy’s Chief Data Officer (CDO) said today that the Defense Department’s (DoD) highly anticipated joint data strategy between the Army, Navy, and Air Force will feature an emphasis on data protection and security. […]
The process of sharing datasets across Federal agencies is a complex one, and one Federal expert said today that pre-existing rules governing already-collected data can hinder interagency sharing opportunities. […]
In the last year, cybersecurity spending rose by 24 percent, but cyberattacks increased by 17 percent, according to a report from ServiceNow released Oct. 29. […]
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is looking to update the techniques used to generate digital signatures under FIPS 186-5 and is seeking public comment, as noted in an upcoming Federal Register post. […]
The deputy director of the Defense Department’s (DoD) Digital Defense Service (DDS) gave a strong endorsement on Oct. 29 of the value of the agency’s “bug bounty” programs which enlist the help of third parties to explore segments of DoD networks looking for vulnerabilities. […]
The Small Business Administration (SBA) has been using artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to sniff out bogus websites that are trying to interact with the agency and its networks, a senior IT leader at the agency said on Oct. 29. […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) provided a glimpse into its vision for the organization’s Science, Technology Assessment and Analytics (STAA) team and Innovation Lab, at the Modernization in Action event on Oct. 29. […]
The Pentagon’s award late last week of its ten-year Joint Enterprise Defense Initiative (JEDI) contract for general purpose cloud computing to Microsoft took center stage on Capitol Hill today at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to consider the nomination of Dana Deasy as the Defense Department’s (DoD) CIO. […]
The Department of Defense (DoD) is looking to move from cloud adoption to optimizing and enabling the full promise of cloud computing within the Pentagon, said Peter Ranks, deputy CIO for information enterprise at DoD. […]
The Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program has an important role to play in protecting Federal systems, but the adoption process can be downright scary for some agencies. On Halloween, MeriTalk will host a webinar to dig through the skeletons and challenges in CDM’s closet, shine a flashlight on the success stories of the program, and ultimately help demystify the CDM program for vendors and agencies alike. […]
Two Federal Trade Commissioners – one a Republican and the other a Democrat – agreed on Oct. 28 that the agency has the tricky task of balancing both consumer data privacy and business interests, and must find that balance even as the fast pace of technological advancement makes the value of prescriptive regulation uncertain. […]