The Senate on Feb. 28 confirmed the nomination of Aprille Joy Ericsson, a long-standing NASA aerospace engineer, to serve as an assistant secretary of defense (ASD) for science and technology at the Department of Defense’s (DoD) research office – a new position the Pentagon announced last summer. […]
The House and Senate Appropriations Committees released their first package of fiscal year (FY) 2024 appropriations bills on Sunday including a bill that provides over $6 billion in IT funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), with a cut in the White House’s request for money to fund VA’s electronic health records program. […]
Global tech trade association ITI released several policy actions last week that it suggests Congress and the Biden administration should focus on in 2024 to ensure the United States remains a global leader in technology and innovation, with AI being top on the list. […]
The Department of Defense (DoD) is the largest contracting agency in the Federal government – with contracts ranging from IT services to major weapon systems – leaving the agency inherently susceptible to fraud. A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says that the Pentagon can get a better handle on mitigating fraud by leveraging data analytics. […]
The Department of Treasury announced on Feb. 28 the recovery of over $375 million worth of fraudulently transmitted money through a new AI-enhanced fraud detection process. […]
President Biden signed another short-term spending measure into law on Friday, avoiding a partial government shutdown this weekend and keeping one set of Federal agencies operating through March 8 and another through March 22. […]
Following a nine-month pilot effort, the Pentagon today officially launched a new model for measuring the cyber readiness of its main network defense command — marking a shift from compliance to operational readiness. […]
In the 2024 election, the United States is likely to face more complex threats as adversaries continue to adopt artificial intelligence and other technological advancements to enhance attack capabilities, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned on Thursday. […]
The leadership of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, IT, and Government Innovation probed the General Services Administration (GSA) chief information officer (CIO) Thursday on the agency’s purchase of Chinese-made videoconference cameras that contained known security vulnerabilities. […]
As Federal agencies continue on their zero trust journeys, Federal officials on Thursday stressed the importance of being intentional with their cybersecurity tools and budgets in order to remain a step ahead of adversaries. […]
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In this episode of MeriTalking, MeriTalk’s Gail Emery sits down with Kevin Chin, director of generative AI, and Jackson Scott, senior research scientist for the AI/Machine learning accelerator at Leidos, to explore how agencies can overcome the challenge of fighting public perception of generative AI and prepare their systems and teams for enterprise-wide implementation of […]
A top NASA official on Feb. 29 used a catastrophic visual to capture the challenge of securing both operational technology (OT) devices and IT in the push for zero trust. […]
Tech policy experts on Capitol Hill said Thursday that the recent AT&T outage across the nation showed the importance of the resiliency of America’s critical infrastructure. […]
The U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has announced the award of a $493 million task order to General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) to help support technical and mission support services across USSOCOM. […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), along with the FBI and international partners, released a cybersecurity advisory (CSA) today to warn about the ongoing exploitation of multiple vulnerabilities within the Ivanti Connect Secure and Ivanti Policy Secure gateways. […]
Government agencies and private sector firms need to boost their cybersecurity capabilities to keep pace with increasing threats and should turn to AI and quantum computing for help in pursuing that goal, Federal cybersecurity experts said today at the Visualyze Zero Trust Security Summit hosted by MeriTalk and Gigamon in Washington, D.C […]
The Department of Defense (DoD) is well on its way to implementing an enterprise-wide zero trust architecture following review of implementation plans from DoD organizations, the department’s zero trust lead said today, although the process has not been without its bumps in the road. […]
The head of IT at the Department of Justice (DoJ) today laid out how zero trust must be incorporated into the five strategic pillars of “good IT operations,” including enhancing cybersecurity and elevating the workforce. […]
Zero trust security is a complex and moving target, but cybersecurity experts today explained how focusing on your people and instilling a culture of cybersecurity can help Federal agencies reduce zero trust complexity. […]
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has named Marcela Escobar-Alava as the agency’s new chief information officer, with a start date of March 4. […]
Academic and private sector experts laid out a list of recommendations today for Senate lawmakers to consider as they wrestle with the problem of helping defense industrial base (DIB) companies compete for necessary workforce talent. […]
The Department of Defense (DoD) has picked which systems it wants to field under the first tranche of its Replicator initiative and is now awaiting congressional approval and funding to facilitate procurement, a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk. […]
The Department of Energy’s (DoE) Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) announced this week the allocation of $45 million for 16 projects aimed at developing new technologies to prevent cyberattacks and reduce energy disruptions from cyber incidents. […]
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued new guidance to agencies on pay flexibilities and programs available to help recruit and retain AI talent in the Federal government. […]
Witnesses warned lawmakers at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee hearing on Feb. 27 that U.S.-made technology is getting into Russian military hands and weaponry despite sanctions in place aimed at preventing that from happening. […]
In response to President Biden’s AI executive order (EO), the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy (DoE) have officially established a Research Coordination Network (RCN) dedicated to advancing privacy research. […]
President Biden plans to sign an executive order (EO) today that aims to protect Americans’ sensitive data from “countries of concern,” the White House announced in a Feb. 28 fact sheet. […]
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said today he is “very optimistic” that Congress will come to an agreement this week that avoids a partial Federal government shutdown when funding for several government agencies runs out on March 1. […]
The Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence expressed concerns today that the United States is not prepared to fight foreign interference in the 2024 presidential election cycle, particularly when it comes to AI misuse. […]
A new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that the Department of Defense (DoD) and several other Federal agencies need to take steps to make their sexual harassment training more effective. […]