The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022 (H.R. 2471), introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., would fund the Federal government through the end of fiscal year (FY) 2022 and includes language on cyber incident reporting for critical infrastructure (CI) requirements. […]
Gerald Caron, CIO and assistant inspector general for information technology at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG), said today he wants Federal agencies to move away from looking at zero trust as a checklist and instead focus on its practical effectiveness to prevent cyberattacks. […]
Two senior House leaders on Federal technology issues said today they are looking for decisive action soon on legislation to update the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), and codify and improve the General Services Administration’s Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP). […]
As Federal agencies embark on their years-long transition to zero trust security architectures, the technologies feeding into network endpoint security loom large on the list of essential pillars upon which zero trust relies. […]
A bipartisan group of 147 senators and House members have signed onto a letter to leadership in both chambers calling for quick action to approve the Creating Helpful Incentives for the Production of Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act, which would provide $52 billion in funding to help revitalize U.S.-based semiconductor manufacturing. […]
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines announced this week that Adele Merritt will serve as chief information officer (CIO) for the Intelligence Community (IC). […]
The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) today announced $9 million in funding to modernize IT capabilities and protect Americans’ personal data at the U.S. Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) and the Selective Service System (SSS). […]
President Biden in his March 1 State of the Union pleaded with members of Congress to complete work on reconciling two bills that would fund the CHIPS Act to support domestic semiconductor manufacturing, provide funding to the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a new technology directorate, and direct billions of new money to improve supply chain resiliency. […]
The Senate on March 1 approved by unanimous consent the Strengthening American Cybersecurity Act of 2022. The bill is a sweeping legislative package introduced last month that aims to update the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), codify the General Services Administration’s Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), and require timely cyber incident reporting by critical infrastructure providers. […]
The Department of Defense (DoD) is seeking information from the microelectronics (ME) research and development (R&D) community to help establish a public-private partnership to aid in domestic production of ME-related technologies, according to a request for information (RFI) posted to SAM.gov Feb. 24. […]
The General Services Administration is extending the deadline – by one year – for Federal agencies to transition off of their Networx telecommunications contracts by implementing a continuation of services (CoS) clause, a GSA spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk today. […]
A Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) official explained today how the agency is approaching work on its Thunderdome zero trust prototype project, along with associated identity, credential, and access management (ICAM) efforts, and said DISA expects to have further updates on those over the next several months. […]
The House of Representatives passed the America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength Act of 2022 (COMPETES) today by a 220-210 vote. […]
The House Oversight and Reform Committee voted on Feb. 2 to approve the Supply Chain Security Training Act. The committee’s approval of the bill sends it to the full House of Representatives for consideration. […]
Shalanda Young, acting director the Office of Management and Budgets (OMB), said that projects receiving funds from the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) would be receiving them soon. […]
Luis Campudoni has been named Acting CIO at the Small Business Administration (SBA) following news that CIO Keith Bluestein will be absent from his position for an indefinite period. […]
Is the FITARA Scorecard – the semi-annual congressional exercise that aims to hasten Federal agency IT modernization – now ready for a set of fresh objectives and renewed focus on leading-edge indicators of IT health in government? […]
The House of Representatives is set to begin floor debate on Wednesday on its own version of innovation and competition legislation that may pair up with the Senate’s existing United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA). […]
The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) released the first-ever supply chain security standard (SCS 9001), developed specifically to aid the information and communications technology (ICT) industry. […]
Jennifer Franks, director of information technology and cybersecurity at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), is calling on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to develop a standardized definition of what the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) costs and how government agencies should evaluate costs when moving their services into the cloud. […]
Amid the blizzard of mounting security threats posed by sophisticated adversaries and increased attack surfaces spawned by large-scale telework, most Federal agencies are getting the message and moving strongly toward developing zero trust security architectures. […]
stackArmor announced today that the company is working with Red Hat to accelerate the FedRAMP Authority to Operate (ATO) project for Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS (ROSA). […]
The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) announced that it has awarded Booz Allen Hamilton a $6.8 million contract to implement a Thunderdome Prototype—which will be DISA’s zero trust security and network architecture. […]
Bipartisan leaders of the House Oversight and Reform Committee today introduced their version of legislation that would update the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA), which sets cybersecurity requirements for Federal civilian agencies. […]
Private sector IT firms that supply Federal government agencies with advanced technologies acknowledged the minor trend toward better grades on the 13th edition of the FITARA Scorecard, but told MeriTalk they want to see the House Oversight and Reform Committee follow through on aims to align grading categories better newer Federal tech policies that steer toward better cybersecurity and modernization of legacy systems. […]
Digital transformation in the Federal government is shifting the focal point of security to the user and device – not the data center. As Federal IT leaders look to keep pace with new modernization and cybersecurity requirements, they need platforms and capabilities that support fresh approaches to security and data. […]
Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Darrell Issa, R-Calif., have launched a new Congressional IT Modernization Caucus that they said will function as an “informal group” of lawmakers dedicated to addressing IT modernization challenges across government, and educating members of Congress on Federal IT issues. […]
Key lawmakers in the House voiced general agreement today that they want to explore making big changes to the semiannual FITARA Scorecard that rates major Federal agencies on progress toward IT-related goals. […]
Federal agency chief information officers (CIOs) discussed their agencies’ grades on the 13th edition of the FITARA Scorecard at a hearing of the House Government Operations Subcommittee on Jan. 20, and outlined areas where they hope to improve going forward. […]
Two broad score-keeping decisions by the House Oversight and Reform Committee shook up agency grades on the 13th edition of the committee’s FITARA Scorecard released on Jan. 20, with those changes likely to have a continuing impact on future scorecards results. […]