To protect the nation’s digital infrastructure, Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, said it’s important to empower agency leadership and expand information sharing between the Federal government and other entities. […]
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. […]
Congress will be busy with future tech initiatives and members have high hopes for the potential of current programs, according to two congressmen who spoke June 7 at MeriTalk’s Cloud Computing Brainstorm. Congressional IT leaders Reps. Will Hurd, R-Texas, and Gerry Connolly, D-Va., talked about the future of major IT initiatives such as FedRAMP, the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act, FITARA, and executive leadership, offering insight into the shape of IT developments in the coming months. […]
Reps. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., and Scott Taylor, R-Va., introduced the Hack the Department of Homeland Security Act, a bill that would establish a bug bounty program that encourages white-hat hackers to search for and report vulnerabilities within DHS systems. […]
Government officials predict that though getting all Federal agencies to comply with the recent Cybersecurity Executive Order and the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) bill will be difficult, the outcomes will be very beneficial for government. […]
Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., introduced the Balancing the Rights of Web Surfers Equally and Responsibly (BROWSER) Act of 2017, which requires Internet service providers to get permission to sell users’ data. […]
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. […]
President Donald Trump’s proposed 2018 budget, released on May 23, provides for $228 million of IT modernization funding through the General Services Administration, as laid out in the Modernizing Government Technology Act that passed the House last week. […]
Twenty-three out of the 24 agencies mandated to follow the Data Center Optimization Initiative reported $3.3 billion less in planned cost savings compared to the $4 billion reported in November 2015, according to a GAO report released May 18. […]
Rep. Will Hurd’s Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act passed the House of Representatives by voice vote on Wednesday. […]
A bill formally authorizing the National Computer Forensics Institute within the Department of Homeland Security to train state, local, and tribal law enforcement on how to deal with and prosecute cyber crime passed the U.S. House on May 16. […]
The Congressional Budget Office released its updated score for Rep. Will Hurd’s Modernizing Government Technology Act, placing the bill’s cost at $500 million over five years, down from the $9 billion estimate placed on the last version of the bill. […]
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. […]
Financial reporting requirements imposed by the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA) could open up better communications between agencies and Congress, according to experts. […]
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. […]
Just days after its reintroduction in the House, Rep. Will Hurd’s, R-Texas, Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act has received an outpouring of industry support, praising the congressman’s leadership in Federal IT and the bill’s potential. […]
Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, reintroduced his Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act in the House on Friday as Congress dodged an eleventh hour budget fight that would have shut down the government. Hurd told MeriTalk that the timing is designed to get the bill through markup and onto the floor for votes as soon as possible. […]
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 Federal government will probably avoid a shutdown Friday as Congress continues to deliberate the final funding package. Federal IT initiatives will likely continue as usual in the event of a continuing resolution. […]
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. […]
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., wrote a letter to President Donald Trump, urging him to appoint qualified experts to the White House Office for Science and Technology Policy. Trump hasn’t appointed a science adviser, director for the OSTP, or a chief technology officer. […]
Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., introduced the NIST Small Business Cybersecurity Act, which directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology director to disseminate guidelines, tools, best practices, standards, and methodologies for small businesses to improve their cybersecurity. […]
Thirteen senators including Cory Gardner, R-Colo., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, sent a letter to President Donald Trump on Wednesday requesting that he address issues of Chinese behavior in cyberspace during his meeting today with Chinese President Xi Jinping. […]
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. […]