A Social Security Administration (SSA) audit to determine the effectiveness of controls identifying potentially fraudulent Internet Claims (iClaims) found the controls to be “generally effective,” but also said that the number of undetected fraudulent iClaims is unknown. […]
The head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said today that the spate of ransomware attacks that hit school systems in Texas and Louisiana over the past month “got pretty close” to qualifying as a “large-scale cyber event,” which he said begs the need to further develop Federal doctrine about how to respond to major events. […]
Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., a long-time advocate for stronger data privacy rules and current sponsor of the Information Transparency and Personal Data Control Act, said today it’s unlikely that Congress will take action on this issue this year. […]
Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies – and their potentially huge impacts on the economy and the American workforce – are generating plenty of buzz on Capitol Hill but not yet enough to solidify any large-scale legislative agendas that would impact the technology and its use. […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced the first-annual President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition, an interagency effort to identify, challenge, and reward the “best personnel supporting cybersecurity and cyber excellence” in the government. […]
The Senate version of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes multiple provisions in the bill’s report that push the Department of Defense (DoD) to make greater investments in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI). […]
The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School announced today the appointment of directors for its cyber-related projects: Lauren Zabierek will run the Center’s Cyber Project; Maria Barsallo Lynch will head its Defending Digital Democracy Project; and Julia Voo will run its China Cyber Policy Initiative. […]
The Department of Treasury released a cloud acquisition roadmap based on the department’s cloud strategy that took effect July 1, 2019, according to special notice. […]
Federal government spending on artificial intelligence (AI) research and development (R&D) is poised to double in Fiscal Year 2020 from its total in calendar year 2016, U.S. CTO Michael Kratsios said today at an event organized by Politico. […]
With Department of Homeland Security (DHS) looking to close its Data Center 2 (DC2) by June 2020, DHS Infrastructure Services Division Executive Director Carlene Ileto provided progress updates indicating that most DHS components are in the process of or planning to move their data to the cloud by the DC2 closure deadline. […]
Although extensive national dialogue over data privacy legislation have yet to yield a tangible Federal policy, data privacy experts who have worked with lawmakers provided insight at the Brookings Institution on Sept. 16 about the evolving nature of data privacy concerns in the country, as well as further challenges and policy areas a Federal law will have to address. […]
Formalizing the roles of Federal agency chief data officers (CDO) – a relatively new position for many Federal agencies – is well underway but still far from finished, two agency CDOs indicated on Sept. 16 at the Professional Services Council’s Tech Trends Conference. […]
U.S. Cyber Command is learning from a host of challenges including maneuvering through congested information environments to combat adversaries, said Gen. Richard Angle, Cyber Command’s Deputy Commanding General (Operations), at AUSA’s ILW Hot Topics event today. […]
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said in a Sept. 13 report that implementing the Internet of Things (IoT) Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2019 will cost $35 million over the 2019-2024 period, and an additional $11 million in 2020 to develop the IoT guidelines and standards mandated in the legislation. […]
On Sept. 13, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and government and industry members on the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) Task Force voted to approve the recommendations of three of the four constituent Working Groups. […]
Employees who stop working before their termination date or take vacation days prior to their separation date can bring risk to an agency if their access to agency systems isn’t removed in a timely manner, according to a report from the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) inspector general, released September 11. […]
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has launched a training program to support its electronic health record (EHR) modernization effort, and its trainees are starting to work on EHR modernization implementation already, according to a VA press release today. […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) highlighted the potential benefits and challenges of implementing distributed ledger technologies (DLT) – like blockchain – in government, in a report released today. […]
The General Services Administration (GSA) released a version of its customer experience survey for high-impact Federal programs to use, as mandated by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-11, on the Federal Register today. […]
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions today that will target “three North Korean state-sponsored malicious cyber groups responsible for North Korea’s malicious cyber activity on critical infrastructure.” […]
The General Services Administration (GSA) announced Sept. 12 that it selected Carahsoft Technology and Grant Thornton for the first task orders under its NewPay blanket purchase agreement that aims to modernize Federal payroll services. […]
The United States must maintain its advantage in artificial intelligence and quantum computing over countries like China by placing the building blocks for a future workforce, according to Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas. […]
The intelligence community (IC) is establishing a hub in Washington and is encouraging industry and Federal partner collaboration in developing its data-analyzing artificial intelligence (AI) strategy known as the Augmenting Intelligence Using Machines (AIM) Initiative, IC Chief Data Officer Nancy Morgan said today. […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has finalized its update to the Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) initiative in a memo released today. The final version of the policy opens the door for new approaches to network security, and retains most elements of the draft framework released in December 2018. […]
The Defense Department (DoD) needs to operate at a fast pace to maintain global advantage, and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are paving the way forward to more rapid response to national security threats and dangers, Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) Deputy Director Mike Madsen said today. […]
The Business Roundtable trade group asked House and Senate leaders in Congress for action on a “comprehensive consumer data privacy law that strengthens protections for consumers and establishes a national privacy framework to enable continued innovation and growth in the digital economy.” […]
The Department of Energy on Sept. 11 issued a request for information that seeks nominees to serve on the recently created National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee. […]
Defense Digital Service (DDS) Chief of Staff Katie Olson said today that DDS is helping the Defense Department (DoD) achieve digital transformation by “designing with, not for” end users. […]
Shifting the organizational mindset around cloud modernization is a driving factor for Federal agencies to overcome the challenges of cloud migration. […]
The Justice Department (DoJ) late last week warned individuals to be vigilant for malicious cyber activity and scammers who may target Hurricane Dorian disaster victims and donors. […]