The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) – which has already made much use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to provide more efficient, effective, and responsive services for its users – is also working on an AI trustworthiness framework that aims to avoid biases that can result from use of the technology, explained a VA official during a virtual GovLoop training on August 12. […]
John Costello has a new position at the Office of the National Cyber Director, serving as chief of staff, according to his LinkedIn. […]
The Department of the Interior’s (DoI) Indian Health Service (IHS) Health Information Technology (HIT) Modernization Program is looking for industry feedback on a contract vehicle for vendors to help replace an outdated electronic health records (EHR) system. […]
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is expanding its COVID-19 vaccine mandate on Aug. 13 to include most Veterans Health Administration (VHA) employees, volunteers, contractors, or anyone who comes in contact with VA patients and healthcare workers as part of their job, the agency announced today. Additionally, the National Guard, part of the Department of […]
The Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) organization is setting up a new CBP artificial intelligence center of innovation (COI) that will build on the agency’s increasing use of automation technologies, CBP CIO Sonny Bhagowalia said at an FCW event on August 11. […]
President Biden has nominated Sasha Baker to serve as the Department of Defense’s deputy under secretary of defense for policy, the White House announced. […]
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is still looking for a permanent lead for its Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program, but Richard Grabowski, the program’s deputy lead, has been elevated to acting program manager in the meantime, CISA told MeriTalk. […]
The United States Air Force (USAF) – like the rest of the Federal government – has focused a great deal of energy on IT modernization. Those efforts resulted in the sunsetting of 221 legacy IT systems over the past four years, a USAF official shared along with other insights during the inaugural Coffee Chat event organized by MeriTalk and Amazon Web Services. […]
As the number of cyberattacks continues to rise, Federal experts say information sharing between the private and public sectors is critical when it comes to defending against cyber threats. However, experts are warning agencies that they need to start getting more specific on their information sharing needs if they want to achieve “a joint end-state” with industry. […]
President Biden has nominated Andrew Fois to a five-year term as chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) – an independent Federal agency that convenes experts from the public and private sectors to recommend improvements to Federal government administrative processes and procedures. […]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced the launch of a new map showing nationwide mobile coverage and availability data from the largest wireless providers. […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released a new training guide to help IT professionals advance their careers in the Federal and state, local, tribal, and territorial cybersecurity communities. […]
As the United States continues to compete in the cyber domain against adversarial nation states, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says that the U.S. must confront crucial questions about how to shape the future of internet-based communications. […]
A bipartisan bill introduced by Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Thom Tillis, R-N.C., John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., seeks to improve cybercrime data collection and give Federal law enforcement more tools to stop online crime. […]
The U.S. Army is searching for a cloud-based platform that it can use to simulate a real-world attacker hitting the Department of Defense Information Network (DoDIN). […]
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved two bills during an Aug. 4 business meeting, one to ensure that the Federal Communications Commission does not approve radio frequency devices that pose a national security risk, and another to advance the adoption of composite technology. […]
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking comment on a draft special publication (SP) on assessing security and privacy controls. […]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) released an artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) strategic plan that will look to outline the DHS approach to using these emerging technologies. […]
Chris Cleary, the principal cyber advisor at the Department of the Navy, called cybersecurity an “infinite game” today and stressed that the United States will lose that game if it does not have the adequate funding or resources to continue the fight against adversaries. […]
The National Security Agency (NSA) recently released guidance for the National Security System (NSS), Defense Department (DoD), and defense industrial base to help identify vulnerable internet connections and protect common wireless technologies while working on public networks. […]
A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report cites estimates from Department of Defense (DoD) officials that defense contractors have over $4 billion in paid leave costs that are potentially eligible for reimbursement under the CARES Act. […]
New legislation from Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, would create a new task force at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to combat deepfake technologies. […]
Eric Olson has stepped down as chief information officer (CIO) at the Department of the Treasury, a Treasury spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk. […]
As we have seen with recent security breaches – including the SolarWinds attack – it can be challenging for Federal security leaders to effectively detect cyber threats across their networks. In the last few decades, private sector organizations have established tools to help monitor for malicious activity, but until recently, the Federal government hasn’t had one centralized method. […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has launched a new vulnerability disclosure policy (VDP) platform for the Federal civilian enterprise that provides a single crowdsourcing platform for agencies to report vulnerabilities. […]
The House Committee on Homeland Security approved two cybersecurity-focused bills – the K-12 Cybersecurity Act and the DHS Software Supply Chain Risk Management Act of 2021 – during a markup on July 28. The two bills will now head to the full House for consideration. […]
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking feedback on its Artificial Intelligence Risk Framework (AI RMF), which looks to provide guidelines for AI developers to incorporate “trustworthiness” into their designs, according to a request for information (RFI) posted to the Federal Register. […]
A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report is pointing to both good news for Federal agencies – and more work to do – on harnessing the requirements of the 2018 Foundations of Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (Evidence Act). […]
While Federal cybersecurity leaders have prioritized detection, remediation, and zero trust policies due to the recent flood of cyberattacks, new research – “Containing the Cyber Threat Tsunami” – uncovers the desire to shift the current security mindset to a greater emphasis on breach prevention. […]
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Sec. Dennis McDonough has tasked Deputy Secretary Donald Remy to oversee the department’s troubled Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) program. […]