Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking comments on Draft Special Publication (SP) 800-210 which will help in understanding security challenges in cloud-based systems. […]

email security DMARC
Sen. Mark Warner

In a March 25 letter, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., urged six Internet networking device vendors to ensure their internet connectivity products “remain secure as Americans across the nation ramp up their use of these devices for remote work, health, and education purposes as part of COVID-19 social distancing efforts.” […]

NIST

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released a bulletin note from the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) on cybersecurity risks increasing with remotely accessible telework networks. […]

As Federal agencies increasingly move to telework due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Federal IT leaders across the government agreed that communication is a key building block for successful teleworking. The panelists specifically zeroed in on the importance of maintaining a strong cybersecurity posture even as employees begin to conduct work on their own network and potentially expose the agency to more cyberattacks. […]

A follow-up audit by the Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) on corrective actions taken by DoD regarding its Cyber Red Team found that it did not consistently mitigate or include unmitigated vulnerabilities identified in the prior audit or during this audit. […]

In September 2019, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released its Zero Trust Architecture draft, setting the tone for the future of Federal cybersecurity and a move toward enterprise-wide zero trust implementation. […]

elections, voting, election security, midterms

With COVID-19 dominating the national conversation, there has been growing discussion about how to reduce crowds and lines at polling places during the 2020 election cycle. One possibility is to enable voting via smartphones. However, cybersecurity experts remain incredibly cautious given security concerns. […]

Despite tech and efficiency benefits, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) – which oversees Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the 11 Federal Home Loan Banks – documented “third-party, information security, and business resiliency risks” in its transition to and use of the public cloud. […]

HUD Urban Development

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is seeking out a cloud-based technical solution for its Single Family Acquired Asset Management System (SAMS), a legacy system that’s integral to managing HUD’s portfolio of homes with a total value of between $3 billion and $6 billion. […]

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) late last week issued a practical checklist to help executives “think through” infrastructure protection, supply chain, and cybersecurity issues in light of the COVID-19 coronavirus, and potential effects to workforce and operations. […]

Federal agencies are significantly better than private sector organizations at enforcing domain-based message authentication, reporting, and conformance (DMARC) standards to combat email domain spoofing, according to a new report from anti-phishing company Valimail. […]

The Department of Transportation’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) announced in a March 4 memo that it will conduct an audit of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) security controls to protect 50 information systems where a breach would have a “catastrophically adverse effect.” […]

GAO government accountability office

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report issued today that most of the largest Federal agencies made good progress in meeting goals to close data centers in Fiscal Year 2019, but also recommended that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) take several steps to improve clarity of reporting on data center closures under OMB’s Data Center Optimization Initiative (DCOI) issued in 2016 and modified last year. […]

Department of Commerce

Since its 2016 launch, the Opportunity Project, an open-data Federal program that partners public and private organizations to solve tech problems, has completed 100 products via nationwide virtual sprints, Director Drew Zachary announced at a March 3 FCW Citizen Engagement Summit. […]

The General Services Administration (GSA) and Government Accountability Office (GAO) announced today that they’ve partnered on GSA’s Centers of Excellence (CoE) initiative and are “entering into a sprint-based discovery phase to address strategy, acquisition, and technology challenges and solutions, including cloud architecture and security configuration.” […]

DHS

Today’s House Homeland Security Committee hearing on DHS’s Fiscal Year 2021 budget request covered a wide array of topics. However, Chad Wolf, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), spent much of his time defending a budget cut to Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). […]

Washington DC capitol federal government-min
FCC, Chinese suppliers

General Motors CEO Mary Barra emphasized at the RSA security conference this week that development of robust cybersecurity technologies for the automotive sector is a crucial factor in the industry-wide push toward autonomous driving technologies and eventually fully self-driving vehicles. […]

cybersecurity
Pentagon Military Defense DoD

Jim Sullivan, defense intelligence officer (DIO) for cyber at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), emphasized the value of offensive operations in cyberspace to deter nation-state attackers during a panel discussion this week at the RSA security conference in San Francisco. […]

Categories