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 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) received a mostly favorable review from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on how the agency is proceeding with improving broadband service access maps, but GAO also flagged that the FCC will face technological challenges with integrating disparate sources of broadband service location data. […]
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is investing $1 million in research and development (R&D) to create open-source first responder robots. […]
The Department of Defense (DoD) has been working to establish a software acquisition pathway that emphasizes rapid delivery and user engagement, but the Pentagon has not collected data or developed tools needed to oversee programs using the pathways, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). […]
A dizzying array of AI ethics, policies, and technical working groups already in play among Federal departments and agencies has led to an overall body of policies that may be incomplete, inconsistent, or incompatible with each other, a new report says. […]
The Department of Defense announced the members of its recently restarted Defense Business Board, one of 16 advisory boards recently restarted after a Feb. 3 pause. […]
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 FCC has announced a second set of awards for round two of its COVID-19 telehealth program, totaling more than $41.11 million to healthcare providers. […]
Dominic Sale, who for years helped lead Federal government IT modernization efforts at the General Services Administration (GSA), left government service earlier this month for a new position with Dynamic Integrated Services (DIS), a provider of IT, enterprise, and communications solutions to government and other customers. […]
The September 29 kick-off meeting of the Trade and Technology Council (TTC) created earlier this year by the United States, European Commission, and European Council produced initial commitments by the three parties to coordinate on technology issues including the development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, and semiconductor supply chains. […]
The General Services Administration’s (GSA) plans to develop an online marketplace to measure and monitor data protection efforts will need further development to prevent data misuse, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a new report. […]
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 coronavirus pandemic – for all the tragedy and disruption it continues to cause – has advanced the cause of digital modernization by three to five years, leaving government and private sector organizations better prepared to provide improved digital services going forward. […]
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 impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the world will extend far beyond narrow national security applications. Federal officials spoke about moving beyond those narrow AI applications to gain strategic advantage and the importance of justified trust when deploying AI systems on September 27, during a webinar hosted by the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. […]
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 Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) found through an audit that the IRS needs to do a better job of wiping sensitive taxpayer data on laptop and desktop hard disks. […]
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. […]
Federal agencies are on the clock to transition networks and systems to using Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) program office released draft guidance to help agencies transition securely. […]
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. […]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that it committed more than $1.2 billion in funding to ensure that more than 3.6 million students have access to broadband and devices needed to engage in off-campus learning. […]