Joyce Corell, assistant director for the supply chain directorate at the Officer of the Director of National Intelligence’s (ODNI) National Counterintelligence and Security Center, predicts that regulation or other means to manage IT supply chain security risk is inevitable, given increased emphasis on the topic across government. Speaking at an Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board meeting Friday, Corell said rumblings across the Federal space concerning supply chain risk will soon likely lead to even more formal steps. […]

Welcome to MeriTalk News Briefs, where we bring you all the day’s action that didn’t quite make the headlines. No need to shout about ‘em, but we do feel that they merit talk.

Jordan Burris, senior cybersecurity advisor to Federal CIO Suzette Kent at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), said Friday at an Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB) meeting that Federal agencies are continuing to make progress on curbing their cybersecurity risks, following concerning findings from the White House.

Clauses in House and Senate versions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would limit or outright ban Federal government agencies from purchasing products from Chinese telecommunications equipment maker ZTE could have unintended downsides, according to Sean Farrell, a Republican staffer for the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

When government agencies plan a secure move to the cloud, they should look to existing guidelines and regulations to protect data, and look to established solutions to ease the move, said panelists at an FCW webinar on June 21.

The Pentagon’s top research arm is sponsoring development of a first-of-its-kind software that can model the events that contribute to conflicts around the world, and, if not quite predict the future, at least offer a timely heads-up on what might happen next.

Is moving to the cloud too risky for government agencies’ sensitive data? Is the cloud too expensive? Will migrating hinder government performance? There’s a lot of misleading and confusing information out there when it comes to commercial cloud adoption in government, so MeriTalk and Amazon Web Services decided to clear the cloud clutter and demystify government cloud adoption once and for all with their latest research – “Fact or Fiction? Debunking Government Cloud Myths.”

Welcome to MeriTalk News Briefs, where we bring you all the day’s action that didn’t quite make the headlines. No need to shout about ‘em, but we do feel that they merit talk.

While the White House’s proposal to reorganize the functions of many Federal agencies made the biggest headlines today with major steps like the proposed merger of the Departments of Education and Labor, the lengthy proposal document released today also touches on a host of other significant issues including the Federal cybersecurity workforce, delivery of government services to citizens, and handling of background checks for Federal Employees.

Several members of Congress in a June 20 letter urged Google to “reconsider” its business relationship with China-based communications equipment maker Huawei, saying that the partnership between the two companies “could pose a serious risk to U.S. national security and American consumers” because of Huawei’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party, which led U.S. intelligence agencies earlier this year to urge Americans not to use Huawei products and services.