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. […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on March 19 issued a list of 16 sectors – including information technology – that it considers essential during Federal, state, and local government responses to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. […]
Thanks to COVID-19, most of us are now working from home – or otherwise isolating to take care of on-prem mission-critical functions. In this new world order, managing anxiety and stress has become just as important as taking care of the normal workloads. […]
As more Federal employees transition to telework to combat the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus, agencies are facing massive network strains. At the Department of Energy (DOE), they are considering staggering work schedules to spread out network traffic. […]
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. […]
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is building a 5G Spectrum Sharing Test Bed to measure how well 5G, Wi-Fi, GPS, and military radar can operate without interfering with each other, the agency announced in a March 18 press release. […]
Dimitri Kusnezov, deputy undersecretary for artificial intelligence (AI) and technology at the Department of Energy (DoE), revealed that the department relies on data workflows to make high-risk and mission critical decisions. […]
Attorney General William Barr on March 16 ordered U.S. Attorney’s Offices to prioritize detection and prosecution of coronavirus-related fraud. […]
The National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) and 10 private sector and academia technology partners are collaborating on the Securing Telehealth Remote Patient Monitoring Ecosystem Project. […]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) needs to better consider information collected on non-citizen family members apprehended at the southwestern U.S. border and develop unique identifiers to be shared across DHS component agency data systems to better link family members together, government watchdog said. […]
As more healthcare providers pivot to telehealth appointments to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will let providers use tech that may not be compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to communicate with patients. […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) told Federal agencies in a March 17 memo to “maximize telework across the nation for the Federal workforce” due to the COVID-19 coronavirus, marking a significant shift from previous guidance which had included that mandate only for the Federal workforce in the National Capital Region surrounding Washington, D.C. […]
Despite some progress on its enterprise wide cloud strategy, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) struggles with legacy IT that prevents it from collecting billions in tax revenue, according to the Treasury Department Inspector General (IG). […]
Dale Cabaniss on March 17 submitted her resignation as director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), a position she held since only last September, according to a knowledgeable source and news reports. […]
The Federal government and other entities are adjusting to and planning for the impact of the spreading COVID-19 coronavirus. […]
Originally scheduled as a panel discussion at South by Southwest, three representatives from government agencies shared their work transforming data collections for greater use and benefit. […]
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) updated Special Publication 800-53, the agency’s main security guidance, for the first time in seven years with new recommendations on supply chain, privacy, and cyber resiliency. […]
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of 16 senators pushed Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai to temporarily allow schools to use the E-Rate program funding to provide Wi-Fi hotspots or devices with Wi-Fi capability to students who lack internet access at home. […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified five challenges to facilitate the growth and implementation of 5G wireless networks in the Federal government. […]
The Federal government and other entities are adjusting to and planning for the impact of the spreading COVID-19 coronavirus. […]
Following reports of a possible cyberattack late Sunday night, officials at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and at the Department of Defense (DoD) prep Federal networks for an uptick in cyberthreats as employees move to telework to fight the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. […]
More than 65 communications service providers have signed on to the Keep Americans Connected Pledge issued by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to promote sustained connectivity during disruptions caused by the coronavirus. […]
It was a fast-moving weekend for the Federal government and its evolving responses to, and planning for, impact of the spreading COVID-19 coronavirus. Here’s a quick look at some of the top developments of interest to the Federal IT community: […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in a memo dated March 15 asked Federal agency and department heads to offer “maximum telework flexibilities” to all current telework-eligible Federal employees in the National Capital Region (NCR). […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a reminder today of security considerations regarding the use of virtual private network (VPN) solutions as telework ramps up due to spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. […]
The COVID-19 outbreak has created a flood of information to sift through for the Federal workforce. MeriTalk will attempt to collect and disseminate information as clearly as possible regarding the Federal workforce and IT policies as they relate to the Coronavirus. […]
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. […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) requested $706 million in appropriated funds for Fiscal Year 2021. An increase of $76 million from the FY2020 enacted level, the agency aims to improve its internal IT infrastructure and its Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics (STAA) audit team. […]
“We didn’t think that we needed to invent a new agency when we got one [CISA] that’s working,” said Solarium co-chair, Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, “But we did think that there was something missing and that was leadership from the top.” […]
The General Services Administration (GSA) is cancelling the Federal Acquisition Service Training (FAST) 2020 conference and all associated Program Management Review meetings. […]