The Government Accountability Office on Oct. 16 denied a bid protest filed by Equifax with the IRS. The bid protest is a result of Equifax losing a taxpayer identification and verification services contract with the IRS to rival consumer credit reporting agency Experian. With the denial, the IRS can now begin work with Experian on a one-year contract worth up to $795,000. […]
Senators in hearings this week denounced Equifax’s handling of the data breach that is now estimated to have affected 145 million Americans. Equifax Chairman and former CEO Richard Smith testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on Oct. 4. […]
Industry experts told Congress on Oct. 3 that regulations are necessary to secure the Internet of Things. “Is the industry doing enough to ensure the security of IoT devices?” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., asked at the IT Subcommittee hearing on the Cybersecurity of IoT. […]
The State Department’s plan to fold the cyber office and position of cybersecurity coordinator into the bureau of business and economic affairs is just the beginning of a plan to elevate cybersecurity concerns within the department, according to Department of State Deputy Secretary John Sullivan. […]
As Federal agencies and the Office of Management and Budget work to develop reorganization plans as part of a March executive order, Congress needs to improve its oversight of those agencies, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp D-N.D., said at a Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee hearing. […]
The government needs to get tougher on financial institutions that endanger consumer data, as occurred in the recent Equifax breach, according to testimony at a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing. […]
The entire Federal government is feeling the pains of cyber workforce shortages. But the Department of Homeland Security, which is tasked with protecting national security without the cool factor of the FBI and National Security Agency, hurts more than most, according to testimony at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Sept. 7. […]
The Government Accountability Office found that the Office of Personnel Management’s cybersecurity posture is still lacking after the major hack of the agency in 2015. […]
The Government Accountability Office evaluated the advantages and disadvantages of the National Security Agency and Cyber Command’s dual-hat leadership system and found that the system causes tension between the two agencies due to competing interests. […]
Despite the relatively new nature of cyber insurance policies, small businesses are finding value in their offerings, according to witnesses who testified before the House Small Business Committee on July 26. “It affords me the knowledge that if we were hacked, protective steps have been taken to address any potential damages to the company and my employees,”said Robert Luft, president of SureFire Innovations. […]
Congress should focus on providing Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) with technology to patrol the border and detect illegal smuggling, rather than building a physical barrier across the whole southern U.S. border, according to Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas. […]
State and Federal representatives testified to the need for a first responder-only network and offered their support of FirstNet’s efforts during a recent Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing. […]
Representatives of the intelligence community said that they want the surveillance powers outlined in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to be renewed without amendment or sunset clause this year. […]
Former Federal Chief Information Security Officer retired Brig. Gen. Gregory Touhill called on Congress to formally authorize the Federal CISO position, so that his successor has the full authority to address the cybersecurity needs of the nation. […]
The Federal government currently lacks the empowered leadership necessary to address U.S. cyber vulnerabilities, according to former Federal experts testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “For the entire apparatus, there currently isn’t an empowered, either an individual or an agency, to do what I think is necessary,” said Samantha Ravich, senior adviser for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former national security adviser for Vice President Dick Cheney. […]
Only two Federal agencies, the departments of Commerce and Education, have created plans that address all four elements outlined by the Office of Management and Budget’s 10 year-old memorandum requiring agencies to reduce exposure of Social Security numbers. […]
Missouri National Guard Capt. Kevin Keeney called for Congress to write legislation funding a new uniformed service called U.S. Cyber and to consolidate all cyber personnel, equipment, and missions under it. […]
The U.S. government workforce is not prepared to deal with the kind of information warfare that Russia used to influence the 2016 presidential election and has continued to use in the elections of other nations, U.S. Cyber Command and NSA Chief Admiral Michael Rogers told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. […]
After Russia’s success hacking the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the nation is likely to continue its cyberattacks toward congressional IT systems, according to testimony by former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Monday. […]
Jason Gray, chief information officer of Education, admitted at a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing that the agency should have informed Congress of the FAFSA breach at the same time it alerted the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team and the inspector general. […]
China believes that the growing predominance of information technologies could provide them with an advantage in the global market, according to Dean Cheng, senior research fellow at the Asian Studies Center of the Heritage Foundation. […]
The Government Accountability Office issued a report that said that 26 agency inspectors general reported that their agencies faced challenges in meeting the deadline for DATA Act required information. […]
For IT acquisitions professionals in the Department of Defense, Buy American provisions can do far more harm than good, according to former DoD officials testifying in front of the House Armed Services Committee. […]
The Internal Revenue Service could potentially collect hundreds of millions of dollars by making online services available to more people, according to Eugene Dodaro, Comptroller General of the Government Accountability Office. […]
Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs that the border wall the president promised will probably be an amalgam of physical barriers and technological sensors, including drones and radar. He said that DHS will set up physical barriers at the points where border security chiefs deem walls most necessary. […]
The government needs to create and fund new hiring programs to fill Federal cyber vacancies, according to experts testifying before the House IT Subcommittee on Tuesday. […]
Classified information and high-level security clearances can impede information-sharing when it comes to cyber threats, witnesses testified at a U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources hearing. […]
The consequences of the health care industry doing nothing more to combat cyberattacks could be life or death for many affected patients, according to medical cybersecurity experts testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday. […]
Reps. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., Will Hurd, R-Texas, and Gerry Connolly, D-Va., sent a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney on Tuesday requesting that OMB provide the Oversight and Government Reform Committee with an update on any cybersecurity guidance for Federal contractors. […]
More than two years after Congress passed the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act—the biggest overhaul of Federal IT acquisition in decades—most Federal chief information officers say they still don’t have the authority necessary to manage technology throughout their agencies. […]