The House Foreign Affairs Committee today approved by voice vote the Cyber Deterrence and Response Act, which would “address state-sponsored cyber activities against the United States” by directing the President to designate “critical cyber threat actors.” […]
The Trump administration’s ambitious plan to overhaul numerous aspects of Federal civilian agencies received a decidedly mixed reception today at a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, as several committee members grilled the hearing’s sole witness–Margaret Weichert, deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget–on a range of issues including how the reorganization plan would impact the Federal workforce. […]
Welcome to MeriTalk News Briefs, where we bring you all the day’s action that didn’t quite make the headlines. No need to shout about ‘em, but we do feel that they merit talk. […]
Welcome to MeriTalk News Briefs, where we bring you all the day’s action that didn’t quite make the headlines. No need to shout about ‘em, but we do feel that they merit talk. […]
Jordan Burris, senior cybersecurity advisor to Federal CIO Suzette Kent at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), said Friday at an Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB) meeting that Federal agencies are continuing to make progress on curbing their cybersecurity risks, following concerning findings from the White House. […]
While the White House’s proposal to reorganize the functions of many Federal agencies made the biggest headlines today with major steps like the proposed merger of the Departments of Education and Labor, the lengthy proposal document released today also touches on a host of other significant issues including the Federal cybersecurity workforce, delivery of government services to citizens, and handling of background checks for Federal Employees. […]
The Senate last night voted 85-10 to approve HR 5515, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will release a new government-wide Federal cloud computing strategy sometime in the next few months, OMB Digital Services Expert Bill Hunt said Wednesday at ATARC’s Cloud & Data Center Summit. […]
Federal agencies are facing a tall order in cleaning up their cybersecurity practices in the wake of some tough love dished out by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in a risk assessment and action plan released May 30. Agencies need to streamline processes, better share information, and finds ways of getting a better return on their cyber investments, all of which can be harder than it sounds. […]
The digital transformation in government IT is driving modernization but also expanding the attack surface Federal agencies have to protect. The traditional perimeter no longer exists. Today, there is no “inside” or “outside” the network when it comes to detecting, defending, and deterring cyber attacks. […]
We sat down with Jeff Henry, president of ViON, in his office in Herndon, Va. The typical tech provider surroundings belied the epic changes at ViON, as it morphs from leading data center reseller to delivering government IT modernization as a service. […]
The U.S. Digital Service (USDS) said earlier this month that it established a new standard for Federal acquisition pros looking to procure digital services. Acting as a “core-plus certification” to the existing Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C), FAC-C-DS certifies those who complete a Digital IT Acquisition Professional (DITAP) program. […]
We are happy to present the inaugural edition of MeriTalk News Briefs, where we bring you all the day’s action that didn’t quite make the headlines. No need to shout about ‘em, but we do feel that they merit talk. […]
A group of 19 Democratic senators today urged John Bolton, President Trump’s National Security Advisor, to reverse course on his decision earlier this month to eliminate the White House cybersecurity coordinator position. […]
A new White House report says three quarters of Federal agencies are not managing their cybersecurity risk correctly and are consequently at “risk or high risk” of data theft or network intrusion due to poor cybersecurity programs. […]
The House Oversight and Government Reform (OGR) IT subcommittee followed up last week’s release of the sixth FITARA Scorecard (Scorecard 6.0) by releasing a second, more detailed scorecard. It provides insight into each of the categories of FITARA scoring, with methodology, metrics, calculations, and detailed data points on just how well each of the 24 agencies fared. […]
As Federal agencies move away from older telecom contract vehicles and transition to the new Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract–completion of which is due by the spring of 2020–a logical place to start is with conducting an inventory of all network devices. This will provide a good look at what type of future network is needed to achieve mission goals and objectives. […]
The House Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection met today to discuss the emerging field of quantum computing, and how the still-nascent sector requires more attention in terms of funding and human capital. […]
The White House’s planned advisory committee on artificial intelligence may or may not help keep the country at the forefront of technological innovation, but it is another sign that the government is getting more serious about the importance of AI and the potential threats of falling behind in the “AI arms race.” […]
Immediately following National Security Advisor John Bolton’s decision to eliminate the post of one of the President’s top cybersecurity advisors, lawmakers pushed back with legislation aimed at reinstating the position and requiring Senate confirmation for it under a newly established National Office for Cyberspace. […]
This month marks the first anniversary of President Trump signing his cyber executive order (EO), formally titled the Presidential Executive Order on Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical Infrastructure. […]
The timing for the White House to release its new IT EO is–timely. […]
John Bolton, President Trump’s national security adviser, has eliminated the White House cybersecurity coordinator position. […]
Government and industry experts told members of the House Subcommittee on Research and Technology yesterday that blockchain technology pilots and trials are yielding promising results for supply chain and government operations applications. […]
A bill introduced in the House on Thursday would create a series of minimum functionality and security requirements for all Federal government agency public-facing websites and digital services. […]
The White House said on Thursday that it will create a new artificial intelligence (AI) advisory committee–dubbed the Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence–that will advise the White House on AI research and development efforts in government and industry. […]
John Bolton, President Trump’s national security adviser, may not be hunting for a replacement for Rob Joyce, the current White House cybersecurity coordinator, who previously announced he would leave his post and return to the National Security Agency later this month. […]
This month marks the first anniversary for the American Technology Council (ATC), which was created by President Trump via Executive Order (EO) on May 1 of last year. […]
A new government-wide strategic plan on Category Management covering FY18-FY20 and released in late April aligns with the President’s Management Agenda and declares the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions contracting vehicle one of its key IT components. […]
Action plans to accelerate Federal agency migrations to cloud platforms and services as outlined in the White House IT Modernization Report have been in effect for nearly three months now. For instance, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was directed to conduct a data call within 30 days of the report’s release, requesting agencies to identify systems that might be ready for cloud migration, but have not because of some perceived or encountered difficulties. […]