Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., have introduced a bill in the Senate that would establish a K-12 cybersecurity education initiative. […]
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) made progress during Fiscal Year 2019 on cybersecurity issues, and closed eight prior recommendations from its Office of Inspector General (IG) during the year, according to the IG’s 2019 Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) audit. […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has announced the winning team of the agency’s first annual President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition. […]
The aviation industry needs to prioritize information sharing and expanding public discussion if it wants to harden itself against cyberattacks, according to a report released by the Atlantic Council on Dec. 11. […]
Federal agencies and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) need to continue notching progress on IT acquisitions, operations, and cybersecurity necessary to meeting FITARA (Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act) requirements, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said. […]
The Treasury Department Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reported that the agency’s cyber threat indicators in Calendar Year (CY) 2017 and CY2018 were “adequate and aligned with the provisions of CISA [the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015]” in an audit released on Dec. 10. […]
For agencies pursuing new ways to share and manage data, Government Accountability Office (GAO) Director of IT and Cybersecurity Nick Marinos recommends focusing on the agency’s mission and incorporating security early on in the process. […]
The President’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) recommended “urgent and comprehensive action” on cyber threats to critical infrastructure in a draft of its Dec. 12 memo to the White House. […]
The Federal District Court for the Northern District of Ohio announced lengthy U.S. prison sentences for two Romanian nationals for their roles in infecting more than 400,000 computers with malware in order to steal and resell data resulting in financial losses of about $4 million. […]
While figures vary across industry and government as to the size of the “phishing-prone” population in any organization, both sides agree that sustained internal employee training efforts are necessary to cut the success rate of spear-phishing exploits down to more manageable levels. […]
New research shows that email is still a weak link in U.S. election infrastructure, with only five percent of the nation’s largest counties protecting election officials from impersonation attempts. […]
The Cybersecurity Tech Accord (CTA), an international, industry-led effort by technology and security companies to combat cyberattacks, today announced a new contest to improve internet cybersecurity. […]
U.S. Election Assistance Commissioner Thomas Hicks said on Dec. 3 that election security in the U.S. is “light years” ahead of where it was in 2016, but also emphasized there’s plenty more to do to ensure good security for the 2020 election cycle. […]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is seeking feedback on program objectives for implementation of a new cybersecurity-focused personnel system. […]
The U.S. Department of Education is investigating whether the University of Maryland and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) properly reported contracts from foreign governments and IT-related companies. […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released draft guidance for Federal agencies on vulnerability disclosure that would require clear vulnerability disclosure policies and create a Federal-wide strategy for implementation. […]
The Department of Commerce released a draft regulation for a case-by-case process of banning Americans from buying IT equipment from companies controlled by foreign interests, a power granted by May’s executive order on supply chain security. […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released a draft version of Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 20-01, which would require Federal agencies to establish a vulnerability disclosure policy for internet-connected systems. […]
The United States Post Office’s (USPS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Semiannual Report to Congress lists infrastructure modernization, IT, and cybersecurity as some of the agency’s most critical management challenges. […]
Phishing activity increased 400 percent as consumers began their holiday shopping over the first two week of November, according to a new report by Zscaler. […]
The Congressional Budget Office estimated in a Nov. 21 report that the DOTGOV Online Trust in Government Act would cost very little to implement. […]
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced Nov. 21 that it is developing and piloting a new open-source post-election auditing tool for use in the 2020 elections. […]
The Network Security Information Sharing Act of 2019 cleared the House Energy and Commerce Committee via a voice vote on Nov. 20. […]
An Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report cites prosecuting cybercrime in the age of encryption, maintaining election security, and protecting its own IT systems as areas of top management and performance challenges facing the Department of Justice (DOJ). […]
Jeanette Manfra, assistant director for cybersecurity at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), is leaving CISA at the end of the year, an agency official confirmed to MeriTalk. […]
With election security firmly in place as the popular policy de jour on Capitol Hill in the ramp-up to the 2020 election cycle, House members from both sides of the aisle voiced support at a Nov. 19 hearing for more focus on cyberattacks targeting election infrastructure, with a particular focus on ransomware exploits. […]
An annual report issued by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) flags leadership stability and cybersecurity issues among the “most serious management and performance challenges” facing the agency currently. […]
To improve the future of cybersecurity posture for the United States, experts agree that improving on basic security measures and shifting culture to compete with industry in the workforce are essential elements. […]
The House Science Committee voted to approve H.R. 4990, the Election Technology Research Act of 2019, on Nov. 14. […]
Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., a co-chair of the House Cybersecurity Caucus and one of the few widely acknowledged experts in Congress on cybersecurity, said on Nov. 14 that a lack of data “baselines” on security issues continues to hamper efforts in Congress – and the nation as a whole – to improve security. […]