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A partial government shutdown was still in effect as of Monday, December 24, 2018, after Congress and the Trump administration could not come to an agreement on a government funding bill over the weekend. […]

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Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr., D-N.J., today wrote Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and called for her to “take urgent action to protect America’s pipelines from cyber attack.” The letter follows a report released today from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) which detailed issues American pipelines face defending against cyber attacks. […]

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., introduced a short-term spending bill on Wednesday, that would fund the government through February 8, 2019, and avoid a government shutdown later this week. The bill must be approved by both chambers of Congress before reaching President Trump’s desk for his signature. “The measure will provide the resources necessary […]

Brian Schatz

On Monday, the Senate unanimously passed the Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement (READI) Act. The READI Act will “ensure more people receive relevant emergency alerts on their mobile phones, televisions, and radios, explore new ways of alerting the public through online video and audio streaming services, track and study false alerts when they occur, and improve the way states plan for emergency alerts,” according to a press release from the bill’s sponsor Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. The bipartisan legislation was also championed by Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Roger Wicker, R-Miss. […]

Google HQ

A Google spokesperson declined today to confirm or deny a report from The Intercept that an internal struggle between Google’s privacy team and executives managing its Dragonfly China search engine project has led to an effective shutdown of the effort.  […]

Russia U.S. Hacking

The Senate Intelligence Committee released two reports on Monday finding that Russian social media influence operations–which came to broad attention in the U.S. following the 2016 presidential election–are still ongoing in the U.S. […]

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The Senate on Dec. 13 approved by unanimous consent HR 6227, the National Quantum Initiative Act, which would create a Federal program to speed quantum research and development “for the economic and national security” of the United States. […]

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A group of 15 Democratic senators introduced a new piece of data privacy legislation on Wednesday. The legislation, named the Data Care Act, will, according to the bill’s lead sponsor Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, “require websites, apps, and other online providers to take responsible steps to safeguard personal information and stop the misuse of users’ data.” […]

FITARA

While yesterday’s hearing held by two House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittees was a mostly upbeat affair given the better grades earned by several Federal agencies on the committee’s latest FITARA scorecard, committee members also grilled witnesses about impediments that stand in the way of agencies implementing a key aspect of the MGT (Modernizing Government Technology) Act. […]

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As MeriTalk reported earlier this month, the Senate today took action on the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (IDEA Act) and passed the legislation under unanimous consent. […]

In today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, the Committee dug into what it called “China’s non-traditional espionage against the United States.” During the hearing, senators heard from cybersecurity, and intelligence experts about China’s attempts to use cybersecurity attacks and intellectual property theft to advance its global standing. […]

Today, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology took a deep dive into the RAY BAUM’S Act and examined how the legislation was helping to bridge the digital divide in the United States. […]

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Witnesses from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will testify tomorrow at a hearing of two House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittees that will examine Federal agency efforts to implement the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA), and the FITARA Scorecard 7.0 issued by the committee earlier today. […]

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Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., will introduce new legislation this week to “address cyber vulnerabilities created by the adoption of Internet-connected devices,” and specifically cyber threats of internet of things (IoT) devices owned and used by the Federal government. […]

Sen Mark Warner

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., on Dec. 6 introduced a bill that aims to modernize the Federal government’s security clearance system and reduce the government’s backlog of security clearances which the senator said now stands at about 600,000. […]

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The Senate unanimously approved the DHS Data Framework Act on Friday, which would require the Department of Homeland Security to develop a data framework to integrate all existing DHS databases. […]

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The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations today released a report identifying core strategies to address and prevent cybersecurity incidents. After gathering input through hearings, briefings, reports, and roundtables, the subcommittee developed six specific priorities to create stronger protections against cyberattacks. […]

Ron Wyden Oregon

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., sent a letter on Friday to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) calling on the department to block internet advertisements on Federal computers to prevent malware infections, citing advice from the National Security Agency (NSA). […]

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On Thursday, Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., introduced the Public-Private Cybersecurity Cooperation Act, which would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to set up a vulnerabilities disclosure program for DHS systems. […]

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