Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy

The U.S. Cyber Command is ready for its close-up. The command announced May 17 that all 133 of its Cyber Mission Teams are fully operational, capping a roughly one-month stretch that saw the arrival of a new commander, the opening of a new operations center, and the official designation of Cybercom as a full unified combatant command. […]

The Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) said the agency needs to improve in two key legislative areas related to IT management, according to OIG’s semiannual report released Tuesday and covering October 2017 through March 2018. […]

Members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee voiced support this week for legislation to require greater corporate disclosure of cybersecurity preparedness, and relayed concerns that personally identifiable information (PII) collected by government and private sector entities cannot be adequately safeguarded against theft or loss. […]

The Pentagon wants more hackers to take aim at its systems, launching another program that invites crowdsourced attacks from outside the Department of Defense (DoD) to help it identify and mitigate vulnerabilities in its networks and information systems. […]

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Because spending plans make for informative policy documents, an April markup of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) offers an outline of the Department of Defense’s plans for its cyber operations and the development of new technologies. […]

A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) this week raises concerns that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) isn’t properly protecting its IT systems. The agency spends about $1.5 billion annually on IT investments to support its missions. […]

It’s only traditional for heroes to ride off into the sunset–and, appropriate that the sun sets in the West. Dr. Barry West, senior advisor and senior accountable official for risk management at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), announced plans to hang up his government IT spurs the end of this month. […]

The Department of Justice (DoJ) announced today that a Federal jury convicted Ruslans Bondars, a resident of Latvia, on three counts related to his operation of “Scan4you,” an online counter-antivirus service. […]

Immediately following National Security Advisor John Bolton’s decision to eliminate the post of one of the President’s top cybersecurity advisors, lawmakers pushed back with legislation aimed at reinstating the position and requiring Senate confirmation for it under a newly established National Office for Cyberspace. […]

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen emphasized at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing this week the importance of shoring up United States cyber defenses, and said that effort would be helped by adequate funding and reorganization of a key DHS department. […]

This month marks the first anniversary of President Trump signing his cyber executive order (EO), formally titled the Presidential Executive Order on Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical Infrastructure. […]

In a previously announced move, the Pentagon elevated the U.S. Cyber Command to a full unified command. This reflects the universal role cyber operations–and potential cyber threats–have come to play across the range of military activities, and how relatively quickly virtual technologies have changed the game. […]

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John Bolton, President Trump’s national security adviser, may not be hunting for a replacement for Rob Joyce, the current White House cybersecurity coordinator, who previously announced he would leave his post and return to the National Security Agency later this month. […]

A new government-wide strategic plan on Category Management covering FY18-FY20 and released in late April aligns with the President’s Management Agenda and declares the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions contracting vehicle one of its key IT components. […]

Malware-pushing criminals are no longer finding as much profit in email-based exploits, but the National Institute of Standards and Technology says cyber-crime perpetrators may find that easier lines of attack lie in infiltrating social media platforms. […]

Military cybersecurity officials said at MeriTalk’s Tenable GovEdge 2018 event on May 3 that they can focus more on taking the fight to adversaries if the private sector can continue to provide the military with strong network defense technologies. […]

A Federal CISO handbook is due out soon from the CISO Council, said Jeff Wagner, Acting Chief Information Security Officer at the Office of Personnel Management. The new guidance aims to cut down on technical language barriers and standardize compliance formatting across the Federal enterprise. […]

Army Lieutenant General Paul Nakasone is taking over this afternoon as chief of U.S. Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency.  At the same time, U.S. Cyber Command is being elevated to the level of a full unified military command, the Defense Department said today. […]

It’s no secret that Chinese companies are major suppliers to U.S. technology companies that serve the Federal government, and a report issued last month says the Chinese government is leveraging that manufacturing capability to create significant security risks across the U.S. Federal enterprise. […]

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