Agencies are rolling out aspects of the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) Program with varying degrees of speed and success, but the inherent benefits of the program are not being questioned. […]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been working in unison with the Office of Management and Budget to assess the risk management posture of the Federal government. They’ve been using a combination of agency self-reporting and independent verification to evaluate each agency’s mitigation techniques as well as the nation’s overall security standing. DHS’ latest […]
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking nominations for new members of various Federal boards, including the Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB). NIST listed the eight Federal advisory boards with openings, which also include the NIST Smart Grid Committee, and the Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology, in a Federal Register notice. […]
Do agencies have enough time to make a smooth transition to the new Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract by spring of 2020 when the older telecom contract vehicles expire? […]
Another important piece of the emerging Federal IT modernization ecosystem is in place now that the General Services Administration (GSA) has given four companies the greenlight to start work on the first of five IT Modernization Centers of Excellence (CoEs). […]
The House subcommittees on Information Technology and Government Operations held a “State of Play” Federal IT Hearing Wednesday for the latest updates on ongoing modernization efforts, and the tone was resolute and unflinching. […]
It appears that the improved reliability and security of cloud computing is attracting more law enforcement agencies. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the latest agency looking to migrate applications to a commercial cloud provider. […]
Critical infrastructure protection is so vital to the United States’ national and economic security, as well as public health and safety, that disruption or destruction of any of the 16 critical sectors would have a debilitating effect on the nation. […]
With compliance deadlines looming for Cloud Service Providers (CSPs), FedRAMP is ramping up its requirements for the monitoring of cloud systems. […]
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a new Cyber-Digital Task Force on Tuesday. The group will examine both how DOJ currently combats cyber threats and ways it could improve its cyber threat response. […]
When Mike Hermus leaves his position as Department of Homeland Security (DHS) CTO on March 2, Kevin Wince, the DHS executive director for Enterprise Architecture (EA), will step up as acting CTO. […]
The Trump administration has a fever for curing Fraud, Waste, and Abuse (FWA)–in fact, this is perhaps the most important Three Letter Acronym in Federal IT today. So, GAO’s January report on the shortcomings of CMS Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS) and the fact that Medicaid improper payments hit an estimated $36.7 billion in 2017 raised temperatures across government. […]
It’s tough patrolling on the US-Mexico border–extreme weather conditions, rugged terrain, and thousands of miles of it. That’s why DHS Customs and Border Protection needs mobile, next-generation reconnaissance and surveillance solutions like Relocatable-Remote Video Surveillance System (R-RVSS). And, GDIT just completed a successful R-RVSS pilot program with CBP in Laredo and McAllen, Texas. […]
On the heels of naming Suzette Kent as the new Federal CIO, Agriculture announced that acting CIO, Gary Washington will become the permanent CIO. Washington has served in acting capacity since September of 2017. […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) want to modernize, but are being held back by a vestige of the 20th century–clunky, outdated technology platforms. […]
GSA wants Federal procurement officers to be able to shop for and purchase commercial products the same way consumers and businesses do: through an e-commerce site like Amazon.com. […]
The cloud is not a one-size fits all solution, and, as such, the government is looking to invest in two or three cloud models to support the differing security and risk-tolerance postures of agencies and to leverage various shared services, according to the President’s IT Modernization Report. […]
The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) awarded the $207 million Next Generation Information Technology Services (NGITS) Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA). Featuring six prime contract holders, this agreement will support a wide range of IT services, including end-of-life support for outdated technology, implementation of new technologies, and customer support initiatives. […]
As you open your fortune cookie–you might ask, will 2018 be the year of widespread deployment of Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) tools across Federal data centers? […]
As we barrel into Valentine’s Day, seems industry is falling in love again with NIST’s cyber framework makeover. Business groups and the tech sector reacted favorably to the latest update to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure, but noted more work needs to be done in several key areas. […]
According to Agari, an email security provider, one in 10 emails ending in .gov are fraudulent. And government systems are the second-most popular target of phishing attacks among all vertical markets, behind only healthcare. […]
MeriTalk has confirmed ringside rumors that Jeff Eisensmith is looking to hang up his gloves at DHS. After more than five years going toe-to-toe with America’s cyber adversaries, we’d like to wish America’s leading CISO the very best as he punches out. […]
The FBI fell far short of its own goals for fighting cybercrime in 2017, according to a Department of Justice (DOJ) audit. The FBI reported disrupting or dismantling 262 high-level criminal operations targeting global U.S. interests, only about half of its goal of 500, and roughly one-tenth of the 2,492 cybercrime operations it broke up in 2014. […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) isn’t just a compiler of Fed IT’s naughty and nice lists–the agency’s also a consumer of IT. And, it’s rolling plans for IT modernization. […]
It’s a converged world for many Federal data centers, and that trend is likely to continue as agencies move to modernize their information technology infrastructures. […]
House Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Subcommittee chairman Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, put the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program under the microscope in a hearing with industry experts last week. […]
Thousands of Federal contractors could find themselves scrambling to comply with stringent cybersecurity requirements after the General Services Administration (GSA) announced it is tightening the rules for protecting sensitive, non-classified data. […]
Federal agencies are accepting some harsh criticism being doled out in a new report that says many are failing to fully comply with guidelines designed to protect against wasted IT spending. […]
We see lots of moves to IT modernization in motion–but how does it all come together? The White House wants to tie those into a broader program, creating a new ecosystem to fuel government-wide modernization efforts. […]
The Federal government wants to speed up adoption of cloud email and collaboration systems. But first it needs an accurate measure of how many agencies have not yet migrated to cloud email. There is definitive data on the benefits of cloud-based email solutions among CFO Act agencies, but no clear data regarding the adoption of cloud-based solutions at small and independent agencies, according to the Report to the President on Federal IT Modernization. […]