With Federal agencies needing to move the bulk of their workforce to remote or hybrid environments since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program has worked with agencies to account for the increase in attack vectors and take a more proactive risk management stance, CDM Program Lead Richard Grabowski said. […]

With an increased focus on cybersecurity after a spate of high-profile cyberattacks on U.S. government and business organizations since late last year, members of Congress are continuing to call for a clearly defined national cyber deterrent policy. Three prime movers on cybersecurity legislation Congress – Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, and Reps. John Katko, R-N.Y., and Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y. – explained the need to codify a cyber deterrence policy at the Aspen Cyber Summit Oct. 6. […]

The Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee have unveiled their long-awaited legislation to update the 2014 Federal Information Security Modernization Act that provides cybersecurity marching orders to Federal civilian agencies. […]

A Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing brought together several experts from the intelligence community today to discuss the homeland security landscape 20 years after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. […]

The General Services Administration (GSA) is working on setting up a Cloud Marketplace for Federal agencies, with the first phase of the project coming in fiscal year (FY) 2022 and a request for information also being worked on, a GSA official said today. […]

A recent report by the Aspen Institute found that despite existing efforts to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), the cybersecurity field remains mostly homogenous among technical practitioners and policy thinkers. […]

President Biden on August 25 gathered Federal government cybersecurity leaders and a deep roster of corporate leaders at a White House meeting that he said aimed to “raise the bar” on cybersecurity across the government, critical infrastructure, and private sectors. […]

Federal agency demand for cloud service products in the General Services Administration’s (GSA) FedRAMP marketplace showed a 60 percent year-over-year jump in the first half of Fiscal Year 2021, as agencies continued their move to cloud services in order to deal with pandemic-driven tech needs and IT modernization priorities. […]

With the COVID-19 pandemic changing the work landscape, potentially forever, cybersecurity officials are advising that workplaces prepare to build resiliency into these hybrid work landscapes and make sure they are working strategically to secure the connections. […]

The Cyberspace Solarium Commission released its Annual Implementation Report August 12 showing significant progress on recommendations that have been implemented, are nearing implementation, or are on track for implementation, but also showing some work that remains undone. […]

Cloud service behemoths Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft appear to be squaring off once again over a big Federal government cloud contract – this time a deal awarded by the National Security Agency (NSA) to AWS. […]

The Senate’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act – the bipartisan infrastructure plan currently working its way through the amendment process – totals about $2 billion in cybersecurity funding, the White House said in an August 3 fact sheet about the legislation. […]

The much-anticipated $1 trillion Senate bipartisan infrastructure bill unveiled on August 1 shows big cybersecurity funding wins for state and local governments with a $1 billion for a cybersecurity grant program, and electric utilities that will be receiving $1.25 billion through a cybersecurity grant program to protect the electric grid. […]

The House of Representatives passed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Industrial Control Systems (ICS) Capabilities Enhancement Act on July 20, and the bill now has bipartisan companion legislation in the Senate. […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee said on June 22 it completed its markup of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes a $1 billion increase in funds for programs developing AI, microelectronics, advanced materials, 5G, and biotechnology. […]

New bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate this week would staff the newly-created Office of National Cyber Director (NCD) and authorize non-reimbursable detailees for NCD to support coordinating national cybersecurity policy and strategy. […]

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Transportation Security Administration (TSA) today issued a second Security Directive aimed at securing critical pipelines that transport hazardous liquids and natural gas from cyber intrusions, in response to recent cybersecurity threats against U.S. pipeline systems. […]

The Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is partnering with Microsoft to use cloud-based tools and artificial intelligence (AI) to increase the scalability of ERDC’s coastal storm modeling system, ERDC announced July 14. […]

The Department of Justice (DoJ) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have launched a one-stop shop at StopRansomware.gov for individuals, businesses, and organizations to help combat the increasing trend of ransomware attacks, the DoJ announced today. […]

Websites on the dark web associated with ransomware gang REvil disappeared on July 13, according to analysts. It is not immediately clear who is responsible for the takedowns. […]

White House national security staff took the Biden administration’s strategic thinking on ransomware prevention to the local government mayors this week, as administration advisors continued to work through a long list of policy items aimed at curbing the attacks and making them less profitable. […]

The White House and key Federal agencies have been working since July 2 to assist in the response to the Kaseya ransomware attack, as President Biden gets set to meet this week with an interagency group taking a longer look at the ransomware problem. […]

Defense Department Acting CIO John Sherman emphasized the Pentagon’s firm intent to move further toward adopting cloud infrastructures and zero trust security concepts at a June 29 hearing held by the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Cyber, Innovative Technologies, and Information Systems. […]

A report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has clearly defined roles and responsibilities for coordination with healthcare organizations to support cybersecurity efforts. However, GAO found areas where HHS could improve collaboration. […]

Federal chief technology officers (CTOs) are working hard on a number of big-picture policy fronts including improving cybersecurity, modernizing technology, adopting cloud computing, and improving the customer experience. […]

The Biden administration’s May Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity is the latest in a series of initiatives prioritizing national cybersecurity. Agencies are newly cognizant of the fragility of current security protocols, as demonstrated by recent breaches. […]

Current and former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) officials agreed today that the road to implementing zero trust security concepts is long – and possibly without end – but at any rate stretches at least three years into the future in order to achieve a “good start” at getting to the goal. […]

The Department of Defense’s (DoD) Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) data-sharing strategy is currently undergoing a “posture review” to review current gaps and vulnerabilities as part of its implementation phase, a DoD official said June 21. […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in a new report that while the Department of Defense (DoD) has taken some risk management actions to better defend its inventory management systems against cyber threats, it should take additional steps to make them more secure. […]

Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, asked Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to ensure that schools nationwide are aware that they can use Federal funding from COVID-19 relief bills to improve cybersecurity. […]