DHS Launches New Personnel System to Recruit, Retain Cybersecurity Talent Nov 15, 2021 | 3:41 pm The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) finally launched the Cyber Talent Management System (CTMS) to enable more effective recruitment, development, and retention of cybersecurity talent. […]
Google Wants to Pursue DoD JWCC Contract Bid Nov 15, 2021 | 3:34 pm As the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) moves toward the bidding process for its Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) contract, Google said it wants an opportunity to get in on the deal. […]
Senate to Consider NDAA This Week, May Add USICA as Amendment Nov 15, 2021 | 2:30 pm With the House consideration of the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) – Democrats’ $1.75 trillion-plus budget reconciliation bill – pushed to this week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that the Senate will begin consideration of the fiscal year (FY) 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) this week. […]
Senators Back GAO Findings, Urge Better Cyber Protections for K-12 Schools Nov 15, 2021 | 12:29 pm In the wake of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report encouraging the Departments of Education and Homeland Security (DHS) to update K-12 cybersecurity guidance, several Democrat senators have written to both agencies urging them to heed GAO’s recommendations, and establish critical infrastructure council structures to advance the issue. […]
FCC Allocates Additional $42M for COVID-19 Telehealth Program Nov 15, 2021 | 10:08 am The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has allocated an additional $42 million in the second round of funding for its COVID-19 Telehealth Program, bringing the program total to $166 million in funding. […]
FCC Announces Over $700M for Broadband in 26 States Through Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Nov 15, 2021 | 9:57 am The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that it is ready to authorize nearly $709,060,159 in its fourth round of funding for new broadband deployments through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. […]
Biden Signs Secure Equipment Act Nov 12, 2021 | 4:01 pm President Biden on Nov. 11 signed the Secure Equipment Act, which will prevent equipment manufactured by Chinese state-backed firms such as Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision, and Dahua from being further utilized and marketed in the United States. […]
OPM Releases New Telework and Remote Work Guide for Agencies Nov 12, 2021 | 3:52 pm The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released a new guide to telework and remote work for Federal agencies on November 12, in response to increased agency interest in working from home. […]
Waiting on the NDAA: Big Cybersecurity Bills Looking to Hitch a Ride Nov 12, 2021 | 3:08 pm Sponsors of two major pieces of legislation that would make formative changes to the way that private sector companies report cyberattacks to the government – and how Federal government agencies conduct their own cyber defenses – are hitching their hopes for passage to annual defense spending legislation that traditionally gets strong bipartisan support from lawmakers. […]
How VA is Using Virtual and Augmented Reality for Clinical Care Nov 12, 2021 | 1:49 pm While the COVID-19 pandemic pushed forward massive advancements in telehealth, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has taken it one step – or more – further and is using virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) in nearly 50 sites for clinical care, an official said Nov. 8. […]
GAO Prods Education Department to Update K-12 Cyber Guidance Nov 12, 2021 | 1:48 pm With K-12 educational institutions increasingly targeted by ransomware and other cyber attacks during the coronavirus pandemic, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is pushing the Department of Education to update its plans – which currently date from 2010 – for addressing cyber risks faced by schools. […]
DoD Officials: Scaling Edge Cloud, Data Capabilities Crucial to Mission Nov 12, 2021 | 11:53 am Officials from the Department of Defense (DoD) emphasized this week scaling cloud and data capabilities to empower warfighters operating at the network edge is crucial to meet the Pentagon’s mission needs. […]
DoD DCIO: Zero Trust Offers ‘Fighting Chance’ Against Hackers Nov 11, 2021 | 3:06 pm With cybercriminals becoming more sophisticated at disguising themselves as legitimate network users, a top Defense Department (DoD) IT official said this week that the Pentagon’s move to zero trust security architectures gives the agency a “fighting chance” to detect and eject hackers before they can do much damage. […]
White House Signs onto French Cyber, Supply Chain Framework Nov 11, 2021 | 3:02 pm Following a November 10 meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, Vice President Kamala Harris announced that the U.S. will sign onto a three-year old framework offered by the French government as an international framework for cooperation on cyber and supply chain security. […]
NHTSA Aims to Strengthen Nationwide GIS Data Sharing Nov 11, 2021 | 2:58 pm The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has embarked on a new initiative to assess the status of geographic information systems (GIS) within the 911 community, with a goal of defining what is required to achieve interoperable GIS data sharing nationwide. […]
Biden to Sign Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act on Monday Nov 11, 2021 | 2:30 pm After its passage by the House of Representatives Nov. 5, President Biden plans to sign the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act on Monday, Nov. 15, authorizing billions of new funding for broadband and cybersecurity, in addition to traditional infrastructure, the administration announced Nov. 10. […]
DoD Looks to Industry in Strategy to Help Bolster Allies’ Cybersecurity Nov 11, 2021 | 9:00 am The Department of Defense (DoD) is looking to industry for help in bolstering the cybersecurity of U.S. allies and partner nations, said DoD’s Mieke Eoyang, deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy, at C4ISRNET’s CyberCon 2021 event on November 10. […]
CISA’s Easterly Applauds Reaction to CVE Fix List Directive Nov 10, 2021 | 3:46 pm Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly said November 10 that the agency’s Binding Operational Directive (BOD) issued earlier this month to Federal agencies to remediate against a list of 300 known exploited cyber vulnerabilities appears to be getting a good reception from government and industry as an effective roadmap on how to prioritize action against prevalent cyber threats. […]
DHS Seeks Public Perception of Facial Recognition, AI Use Nov 10, 2021 | 2:18 pm The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is collecting feedback and opinions regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and facial recognition between now and December 6. […]
DoT Tasked With RFI for Supply Chain Standardized Data Exchange Nov 10, 2021 | 9:00 am The Department of Transportation has been tasked with seeking private sector input to create standardized data exchange requirements for goods movement in the transportation supply chain, according to a White House announcement of administration plans to fund ports and waterways improvements aimed at improving supply chain resiliency. […]
DoE CIO Dunkin: Scalable Cloud-Native Apps Are Key to Cutting Carbon Footprint Nov 9, 2021 | 3:06 pm With an international focus on climate change after the United Nation’s Climate Change Conference, Department of Energy (DoE) CIO Ann Dunkin said today that data center consolidation is helping to reduce the agency’s carbon footprint, and pointed to the further use of scalable cloud-native apps as the next step in that campaign. […]
Survey: Security Officials Believe Zero Trust Adoption Needs More Work Nov 9, 2021 | 2:54 pm According to a recently released Tripwire survey, most security professionals in the private and public sector described their zero trust security adoption as either progressing, or even well-developed, but also in need of more work. […]
VA Releases Cybersecurity Strategy to Protect Veteran Data, Privacy Nov 9, 2021 | 1:51 pm The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has released a new cybersecurity strategy intended to protect against exposure of Veterans’ personal information or the corruption of critical data. […]
Federal CIO Urges ‘Undercover Boss’ Approach to CX Improvements Nov 9, 2021 | 1:21 pm Federal CIO Clare Martorana urged government technology leaders this week to take a page from the “Undercover Boss” television program and discover first-hand the experiences and viewpoints of their customers in order to better understand where government needs to make improvements in how citizens best interact with government services. […]
NRO to Procure New Commercial Satellite Imagery Nov 9, 2021 | 11:55 am The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) recently released a request for proposals (RFP) for access to commercial satellite imagery from U.S based companies. […]
FCC Commits $421M in Latest Round of Emergency Connectivity Funding Nov 8, 2021 | 3:51 pm The Federal Communications Commission announced today that it will commit more than $421 million in the latest round of funding for the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF), bringing total program commitments to over $3.05 billion and 10 million students connected. […]
Senate Bill Directs DoD to Share Data for AI Advancement Nov 8, 2021 | 2:44 pm Bipartisan legislation introduced last week directs the Department of Defense (DoD) to make its datasets publicly and easily accessible via a strategic pilot program in order to advance software and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities beyond the Pentagon. […]
Cyber, Broadband Win Big In Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Nov 8, 2021 | 1:53 pm After more than two months of angling and dealmaking, the House of Representatives voted to approve the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act – also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework – on November 5, sending the bill along with its $2 billion in cyber funding and $65 billion in broadband appropriations to President Biden’s desk for final approval. […]
CDM Chief: New Agency MOAs Are Key to Better Threat Hunting Nov 5, 2021 | 2:20 pm Richard Grabowski, acting program manager for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program, explained at a November 4 event organized by FCW that new memoranda of understanding (MOA) that the program has been signing with Federal agencies are a key component to enabling better cyber threat hunting by CISA across agency networks. […]
House Expected to Vote on BBB and Infrastructure Bill Friday Nov 5, 2021 | 10:43 am The House of Representatives is expected to hold votes on its fiscal year (FY) 2022 reconciliation package – known as the Build Back Better Act (BBB) – as well as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act – or the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (BIF) – today after the House Rules Committee finalized a rule for debate on the now $1.75 trillion “soft” infrastructure legislation late on Nov. 4. […]