Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy
Cybersecurity

Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., have introduced a bill that aims to better coordinate Federal research and development (R&D) efforts on distributed ledger technologies (DLT), including the more commonly known blockchain technology. […]

Pentagon Military Defense DoD

The Federal government is making a big push toward zero trust security architectures, but with an abundance of guidance on what makes a zero trust architecture successful, the looming question for many Federal agencies is ‘where do we start?’ Randy Resnick, senior advisor for the Zero Trust Portfolio Management Office at the Department of Defense (DoD), believes the first step is planning. […]

5G
quantum computing AI min

President Biden today issued an executive order (EO) that elevates the importance of quantum information science (QIS) by reconstituting a previously created Federal QIS advisory committee and putting it more closely under the White House’s wing, while at the same time issuing a National Security Memorandum that lays out plans to address cybersecurity risks posed by quantum computers. […]

IT

Most Federal agencies have undertaken IT modernization efforts intending to change the way IT shops are structured to deliver services to support the mission. Although the benefits of modernization are clear, Federal CIOs agree that agencies still struggle to make these changes. […]

The Defense Industrial Base-Vulnerability Disclosure Program (DIB-VDP) Pilot program completed it’s 12-month journey to promote cyber hygiene and reduce attack surfaces of voluntary DIB participants through identifying vulnerabilities on publicly accessible assets. […]

One of Federal agencies’ primary challenges is ensuring that they are properly managing and securing sensitive data, particularly controlled unclassified information (CUI). Even though CUI is unclassified, it requires special handling and safeguarding. The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency notes that loss of aggregated CUI is one of the most significant risks to national security. […]

CISA

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Thursday updated a joint cybersecurity advisory regarding malware deployed by Russian state actors as the country continues its war against Ukraine. […]

Pentagon Military Defense DoD

As Federal agencies look to bring a zero trust security architecture to their disparate agencies and missions, resources are the main obstacle for agencies, the chief information security officer (CISO) for the Department of Homeland Security’s Information and Analysis (DHS I&A) division said today. […]

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget request came in at $2.5 billion – 18 percent more than requested in FY2022 – but CISA Director Jen Easterly told members of Congress that the agency’s funding needs will continue to increase if CISA hopes to meet the goal of being the nation’s cyber defense agency. […]

Reps. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., and Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., on April 28 introduced companion legislation to a Senate bill offered earlier this year that would task Federal agencies with helping the commercial satellite sector improve the security of their networks. […]

A Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) report summarizing the results of its fiscal year (FY) 2021 Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) evaluation rates SBA’s overall program of information security as “not effective.” […]

CDC

In a new report to Congress, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is suggesting that lawmakers and several Federal agencies consider and take action on new recommendations related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including steps that address better data collection, keep better track of improper payment data, and shed more light on IT modernization steps at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). […]

cyber threat
elections, election security, voting

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) has been given full discretion to decide if states can allocate funds from the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) to provide security services for state or local election officials, according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). […]

voting, election security

The National Security Agency (NSA) confirmed that it re-awarded a cloud computing contract believed to be worth up to $10 billion to Amazon Web Services (AWS) after the agency’s initial award of the deal to AWS last summer was derailed by a protest by Microsoft. […]

IT modernization data center

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner pointed private sector IT firms to numerous areas on his technology wish list during his opening keynote address on April 26 at AFCEA International’s TechNet Cyber event in Baltimore and asked the industry to help DISA work through those problems. […]

The Defense Information Systems Agency’s (DISA) Thunderdome zero trust project, along with associated identity, credential, and access management (ICAM) efforts, is currently in the process of standing up capabilities in a lab setting before testing it in fielded networks and eventually doing an operational assessment this fall. […]

General Services Administration GSA

The General Services Administration (GSA) has launched a new Federal acquisition tool, Buy.GSA.gov, to work to centralize the Federal acquisition experience, GSA announced on April 26. GSA said the tool’s key features include the ability to simplify market research, searchable templates and sample documents, and an interactive acquisition package checklist. “This buyer experience tool was built […]

DHS
Pentagon Military Defense DoD

After a lengthy internal review process, the Department of Defense (DoD) released its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 2.0 requirements in November and is now in the early stages of a rulemaking process to implement the revised program. […]

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is in the process of taking over operational control of the Defense’s Department’s (DoD) Project Maven, which the Pentagon formed in 2017 to speed integration of big data and machine learning (ML) technologies, NGA Director Vice Adm. Robert Sharp explained on April 26 at the GEOINT 2022 Symposium. […]

Labor
semiconductor

House and Senate negotiators are slated to begin their formal conferencing process this week to hammer out a final version of legislation that would deliver billions of Federal funding to innovation-directed programs and jump-start United States semiconductor production, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said April 25. […]

AI

The Department of Defense (DoD) has named Dr. Craig Martell Chief Digital and AI Officer (CDAO), where he will operate as DoD’s senior official responsible for accelerating data adoption, analytics, digital solutions, and AI functions to generate decision advantage. […]

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