Federal CIO Kent Announces Cyber Reskilling Academy
Federal CIO Suzette Kent this morning announced creation of the Federal Cyber Reskilling Academy–a joint effort of the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Education, and the Federal CIO Council Workforce Committee–to kickstart the Federal government’s efforts to address gaps in the Federal cybersecurity workforce and help retrain Federal employees. […]
Feds Reach IT Modernization Tipping Point
A new report from MeriTalk and the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) finds that Federal finance, IT, and procurement experts believe we’ve reached an IT modernization tipping point. […]
DHS Launches ICT Sector Supply Chain Risk Task Force
The Department of Homeland Security on Oct. 30 announced launch of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Supply Chain Risk Management Task Force, which the agency said is charged with developing “consensus recommendations” to identify and manage risk to the global ICT supply chain. […]
DHS’ Manfra Discusses FISMA Update, Impact to CDM
Jeanette Manfra, assistant secretary for the Office of Cybersecurity and Communications at the Department of Homeland Security, said today that the new update to Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) guidance will place even more accountability on department leaders and reflects an evolution in discussions between agencies and DHS. […]
NASA’s 1977-Vintage Voyager 1 Comes Back Online
NASA’s interstellar spacecraft, Voyager 1, is coming back online, the space agency announced on April 22. […]
Easterly Touts Ransomware Warnings, Teases ‘ReadySetCyber’ Pilot
The head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said Wednesday that some of the agency’s key ransomware initiatives have sent out more than 2,000 warnings of vulnerabilities over the last year. […]
Information Sharing: Operating at the Speed of Relevance
Getting the right information to the right people at the right time is important in every industry and every geography, but it is paramount to national defense and intelligence efforts. […]
Pentagon Admin Agency to Implement New CX Management Plan
The Pentagon’s administrative and management support agency has developed and will soon implement a customer experience (CX) management plan, an agency official said on Tuesday. […]
U.S. Charges Four Iranians With Treasury, State Dept. Hack Attempts
The Justice Department said on April 23 that it filed charges in the U.S. against four Iranian citizens, alleging their “involvement in a cyber-enabled campaign” that aimed to compromise Federal agencies including the departments of State and Treasury, along with U.S.-based defense contractors and other firms. […]
DISA Rolls Out Classified Cloud Environment to More DoD Users
The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) reached a new milestone in its classified cloud effort by migrating more than 300,000 Department of Defense (DoD) users into the new secret environment, the agency announced via LinkedIn on April 22. […]
GSA Taps Hanna Kim as New Login.gov Director
The General Services Administration (GSA) announced today it has tapped Hanna Kim to serve as the new director of its single sign-on service, Login.gov, with a start date of May 11. […]
SSA Chief Touts AI Use Amid Staffing, Budget Woes
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has been expanding its use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to bridge the gap on creating customer experience improvements even as it faces staffing shortages and budget uncertainty, the head of the agency said this week. […]
NSF AI Efforts Focus on Internal Uses, Coming Chatbot
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is experimenting with AI to help its employees and closing in on the release of a new chatbot for the agency’s outside constituencies, NSF Chief Data Officer and AI Official (CAIO) Dorothy Aronson said this week. […]
Recovering From a Cyberattack: The Role of Data Backups in NIST’s Cybersecurity Framework 2.0
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released its Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) 2.0 earlier this year, the first update since the original was released in 2014. The framework offers detailed guidance and recommendations on a wide range of cybersecurity topics, including the role of data backups in incident response and recovery plans. MeriTalk recently sat down with Travis Rosiek, public sector chief technology officer at Rubrik, to discuss the current threat landscape and the changes in the updated framework that help agencies and organizations plan for worst-case cyberattack scenarios. […]
With 80 percent of every Federal IT dollar spent on life support for legacy systems, the Federal IT community is exploring new options to modernize and innovate – virtualization, cloud computing, Flash technology, software-defined options, shared services, and more. MeriTalk is staying close to the leaders on the front lines, bringing you new ideas and lessons learned.
And, as Federal IT leaders work to meet demands of an “always-on” highly mobile government, we bring you the stories and breaking news on balancing productivity with security. Our government IT news includes how agencies manage advanced persistent threats, and the steps that help guard against socially engineered threats. We look at the latest trends in malware, spyware, ransomware, and spear phishing. And – how can Federal agencies protect data from tomorrow’s cyber threats?
The MeriTalk “Industry Insider” column, offers a weekly news roundup of contracts and other activity in the Federal IT industry. Check with MeriTalk daily for the government technology news you need to know, or subscribe to get the latest stories delivered directly to your inbox. You’ll stay up to date with interesting and timely Federal IT stories on cybersecurity, big data, data center modernization, cloud, mobile, and other developments in your community – from what’s next for the MGT Act to the highly anticipated Federal IT revolving capital fund, MeriTalk brings you the trends and breaking IT news to help you modernize, innovate, and transform public sector technology and the missions you support.