The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) announced Monday that Elisebeth Collins has left the board effective Dec. 15. Collins was a board member for over six years, having joined the board in August 2012. […]

Cloud computing offers benefits and efficiencies, but agencies need to go through the application rationalization process and decide what works best for their situation, said Deputy Federal CIO Margie Graves and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Deputy CIO Steve Rice. […]

A group of 31 civil rights and advocacy groups released a letter today urging Mark Zuckerberg to step down as Facebook’s CEO. […]

A new study by Accenture finds that most Federal IT executives see themselves as supporting players, rather than prime movers, in technology modernization. […]

Senior officials from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) discussed how the new HHS Accelerate blockchain, the first blockchain to receive an authority to operate (ATO), can help the department improve acquisitions through greater visibility during Sunday’s episode of Government Matters. […]

While the Department of the Treasury’s USAspending.gov follows several best practices for reporting open data, the site needs to improve on security requirements, metadata, and an improved search function, according to a report issued last week by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). […]

The newly-named Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has been elevated within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and one of the biggest priorities for the agency will be responses to cyber threats from other nations, as a senior CISA official discussed on Sunday’s episode of Government Matters. […]

The U.S. Navy has awarded a new contract to General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) for its SeaPort NxG contract vehicle. […]

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) came to an updated agreement continuing efforts to stop fraudulent practices that target U.S. service members, veterans and dependents who use military education benefits. […]

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cloud modernization were the main topics of discussion at the Get Cloud Smart: The Art of the Possible event hosted by MeriTalk on December 13. […]

The Senate Intelligence Committee released two reports on Monday finding that Russian social media influence operations–which came to broad attention in the U.S. following the 2016 presidential election–are still ongoing in the U.S. […]

Cloud security provider Zscaler announced today that it received FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program) authority to operate (ATO) at the Moderate Impact Level for its Zscaler Internet Access-Government (ZIA-Government) solution–nearly coincident with the Office of Management and Budget’s release of a draft update of its Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) policy late Friday. […]

A new report from the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General (IG) found weaknesses in cybersecurity defenses for ballistic missile defense systems, putting technical information on the systems at risk. […]

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a draft of its Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) policy late Friday, with the goals of removing barriers to cloud and modern technology adoption, ensuring that the TIC initiative remains agile, and streamlining and automating verification processes. […]

Federal agencies identified 26 long-range emerging threats to U.S. national security, including emerging technologies and foreign cybersecurity threats, a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found. […]

The State Department is looking to purchase phone hacking tools for Ghanaian police to help them investigate international crime. […]

The Senate on Dec. 13 approved by unanimous consent HR 6227, the National Quantum Initiative Act, which would create a Federal program to speed quantum research and development “for the economic and national security” of the United States. […]

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced on Thursday the Democratic committee assignments for the new congress. […]

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it would like to offer up to $600 million dollars in loans and grants, through their ReConnect Program, to assist rural areas in building their broadband infrastructure. […]

Gigi Sohn, who formerly served as counselor to Obama-era Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler, is joining the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s (EFF) board of directors. […]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced the appointment of Brian Harrell as head of the Infrastructure Security Division at DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). […]

Some of the largest federal agencies saw increases in scores for the 2018 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government, released by the Partnership for Public Service, which measures employee engagement. […]

The Federal government spends at least $90 billion annually on IT, according to Performance.gov. And, Chris Liddell, deputy chief of staff for policy coordination, has said that the government could spend more than double that–up to $200 billion on IT each year. That type of spending could lead to innovation and efficiencies for Feds, but the path forward is often obstructed by end-of-life devices and unwieldy maintenance costs. […]

What can the some of the most talented computer science researchers do with $10 million in funding over five years? As the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Expeditions in Computing program shows, they can explore the deep questions of computer science, and perhaps even create new industries. […]

2018 brought a lot of progress on IT modernization and Federal policies, providing a platform for future IT modernization efforts, said Federal CIO Suzette Kent on Thursday. […]

TechNet announced Wednesday that Ed Knight, executive vice president and global chief legal and policy officer for Nasdaq, has joined TechNet’s Executive Council. […]

Even anonymity doesn’t guarantee privacy. Not even in a crowd of millions. That’s the finding of a new study by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers who found that anonymized mobility data can still result in privacy risks when that data is combined with data from other sources. Data–lots of it–is widely seen as the key to better planning for cities, transportation lines, and any kind of mobility services. But collecting all that data has an unintended privacy risk, even when taking pains to protect people’s identities. […]

A group of 15 Democratic senators introduced a new piece of data privacy legislation on Wednesday. The legislation, named the Data Care Act, will, according to the bill’s lead sponsor Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, “require websites, apps, and other online providers to take responsible steps to safeguard personal information and stop the misuse of users’ data.” […]

Federal CIO Suzette Kent revealed today that the new draft Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) policy will be released next week, and that new policies on data and automation are coming in 2019. […]

While yesterday’s hearing held by two House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittees was a mostly upbeat affair given the better grades earned by several Federal agencies on the committee’s latest FITARA scorecard, committee members also grilled witnesses about impediments that stand in the way of agencies implementing a key aspect of the MGT (Modernizing Government Technology) Act. […]