Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said today the Department of Justice (DoJ) is launching two new initiatives to combat cyber threats, including the creation of a National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, and a civil cyber fraud initiative that will fine Federal contractors who don’t follow required cybersecurity standards. […]
The House on September 29 passed the K-12 Cybersecurity Act – a piece of bipartisan legislation from Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., with a companion bill in the House led by Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I. The bill has already been approved by the Senate, and has been sent to the White House for President Biden’s signature. […]
Federal CIO Clare Martorana emphasized today that the road to Federal agency IT improvements runs not only through agency CIO offices, but also needs to benefit from support from the entire organization’s executive suite. […]
The Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee have unveiled their long-awaited legislation to update the 2014 Federal Information Security Modernization Act that provides cybersecurity marching orders to Federal civilian agencies. […]
As the cyber threats we face become more diverse across the nation and globe, security, and IT operations teams must encompass diverse perspectives. For MeriTalking’s first installment of the “Human Side of Cyber” series, MeriTalk’s Nicole Burdette sits down with Teddra Burgess, Senior Vice President, Public Sector at Tanium to dive into the importance of having diverse perspectives and experiences on an organization’s cyber response team. […]
The Democratic leaders of the House and Senate made official over the weekend what had become obvious by late last week: the hoped-for late September votes on two big Federal infrastructure funding bills were sliding into October. […]
A sampling of Federal agencies’ efforts to provide remote access for telework during the COVID-19 pandemic shows that each of the agencies was able to put the right technologies in place to accomplish that goal, but that several had not fully addressed relevant guidance for securing remote access systems, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found. […]
The National Security Agency (NSA) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released a joint Cybersecurity Information Sheet that helps detail factors for choosing a virtual private network (VPN) and secure deployment. […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has partnered with Girls Who Code (GWC) to develop pathways for young women to pursue careers in cybersecurity and technology, the agency announced Sept. 30. […]
The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) Board on September 30 announced seven new awards totaling $311 million to fund Federal agency investments into zero trust networking and digital identity, standardizing secure data and information sharing, and improving interagency collaboration. […]
The House Oversight and Reform Committee is seeking a briefing on how the FBI handled the ransomware attack on Kaseya that affected up to 1,500 businesses worldwide, according to a letter today from the committee leadership to FBI Director Christopher Wray. […]
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, the committee’s ranking member, have introduced legislation to require critical infrastructure entities to report cyberattacks to the Federal government, and to require most other entities to report to the government if they make a ransomware payment. […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has released a new Insider Risk Mitigation Self-Assessment Tool which the agency says will help public and private sector organizations assess their vulnerability to insider threats. […]
With President Biden’s legislative agenda currently up in the air, Reps. Doris Matsui, D-Ca., and Jim Langevin, D-R.I., are looking to get $20 million in K-12 cybersecurity funding added into the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill to help combat the rise of cyberattacks on schools. […]
The American Rescue Plan (ARP), passed in March, included an additional $1 billion for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF). Last week, Federal Chief Information Security Officer Chris DeRusha said the first round of awards was coming soon. Today, Federal CIO Clare Martorana said the TMF board sent the first seven project awards to Congress for final approval. […]
The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) is in the process of doing research and working on an update to its special publication (SP) 800-82, a guide to Industrial Control Systems (ICS), by early 2022, NIST officials said today. […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is in the process of building out its Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC) office, and CISA Director Jen Easterly today said that while the office is being established based on the Cyberspace Solarium Commission recommendation of creating a joint collaborative planning office, the JCDC will be about more than just planning. […]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced it will open the application filing window for the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program on Oct. 29 and close it on Jan. 14, 2022. […]
The Department of Commerce is seeking comment on questions related to the development of regulations to govern process and procedures the Commerce Secretary will use to deter foreign malicious cyber actors’ use of U.S. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) products and investigate foreign malicious cyber actors. […]
The fiscal year (FY) 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed the House of Representatives late Sept. 23 with a bipartisan 316-113 vote. Among the amendments are a number of tech provisions focusing heavily on cybersecurity, along with some focusing on the digital workforce, cloud, and AI. […]
Closer integration between cybersecurity teams and enterprise risk management staff could help Federal agencies avert catastrophic cyber breaches more effectively, according to a new study published on September 23 by the Partnership for Public Service and Deloitte. […]
With a growing number of advanced threats across the Federal landscape, Small Business Administration (SBA) Chief Technology Officer Sanjay Gupta, encouraged agencies to view cybersecurity as a “team sport” and a proactive sport to gain a better cyber posture. […]
The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) got a $1 billion boost in March’s American Rescue Plan, and the TMF board saw a massive influx of TMF requests that it has been working on adjudicating. At a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing today, Federal chief information security officer (CISO) Chris DeRusha updated senators on the status of that extra TMF funding. […]
As part of a government-wide effort to counter ransomware, the U.S. Department of the Treasury is taking robust actions to disrupt criminal networks and virtual currency exchanges responsible for laundering ransoms, encourage best cyber practices, and increase efficient and timely incident reporting to agencies. […]
After a two-day meeting that included deciding which amendments to the fiscal year (FY) 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will receive votes, the House Rules Committee ruled several cybersecurity provisions to see floor votes when the measure comes up. […]
It’s important to hold adversaries accountable for recent cyber incidents, but Carole House, the director of cybersecurity and secure digital innovation on the White House National Security Council (NSC) stressed that “we need to hold ourselves accountable to the shortcomings” at home as well. […]
Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) has opened a Critical Infrastructure, Industrial Control System Cybersecurity Laboratory at the Georgia Cyber Center. […]
A Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing brought together several experts from the intelligence community today to discuss the homeland security landscape 20 years after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. […]
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) now supports Rep. Jimmy Panetta’s, D-Ca., National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) amendment that would create a Civilian Cyber Reserve at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), AFGE announced in a follow-up letter on Sept. 18. […]
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) wrote the leaders of the House Rules Committee Sept. 15 to express their opposition to amendments to the fiscal year (FY) 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would create a civilian cyber reserve program. […]