Federal IT modernization may see a significant increase in funding, $3.35 billion to be exact, if an amendment from Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., is successful. […]
Nicolas Chaillan, the first-ever chief software officer (CSO) of the United States Air Force (USAF) and co-lead of the Department of Defense (DoD) Enterprise DevSecOps Initiative, announced his resignation today in a post on LinkedIn. […]
Like all Federal agencies, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is working on complying with President Biden’s cyber executive order (EO). To help comply with the EO and aid OPM’s modernization mission, the agency has funding requests out to the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) Board to help OPM with the move to zero trust and cloud modernization, OPM CIO Guy Cavallo said August 31. […]
Ransomware attacks are on the rise and adversaries are developing more sophisticated cyberattacks, but Federal cyber experts agree that “the vast majority” of ransomware attacks active today can be prevented by good basic cyber hygiene practices. […]
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is making bids with the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) for funding that will help the agency improve cybersecurity and replace legacy systems that run high-value assets, said Sheena Burrell, NARA’s Deputy CIO, at a GovLoop event on August 19. […]
The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) authorization journey can sometimes be a confusing one to navigate, but experts agree that the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Open Security Controls Assessment Language (OSCAL) formats are helping to speed the FedRAMP approval process. […]
With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to provide a stubborn barrier to full-fledged office workplace returns for many Federal agencies, the Commerce Department’s chief information security officer (CISO) spoke on August 17 about paying attention to human-centric aspects of security in the development of next-generation workplaces. […]
Congratulations go out to CIOs and tech staffs from the General Services Administration (GSA) for top score – and to the Department of the Interior (DoI) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) for most improved scores – on the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s FITARA 12.0 Scorecard issued on July 28. […]
As the ink is still drying – or its equivalent for a liquid crystal display screen – on the 12th edition of the House Government Operations Subcommittee’s Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) Scorecard, I pondered the question about whether and how the same measurement could be applied to state-level IT operations and progress. […]
An August 10 memo from Shalanda Young, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is providing instructions to Federal agencies about how to comply with security guidance of “critical software” as directed by President Biden’s executive order (EO) on cybersecurity issued in May. […]
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is still looking for a permanent lead for its Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program, but Richard Grabowski, the program’s deputy lead, has been elevated to acting program manager in the meantime, CISA told MeriTalk. […]
FedRAMP released its annual survey for FY2021 today. […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a fresh update on its priority open recommendations for the Department of Defense (DoD), showing that while the Pentagon has been busy trying to satisfy numerous prior recommendations from the watchdog agency, its overall to-do list from GAO is staying about the same because a steady stream of new recommendations are being added. […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released a new training guide to help IT professionals advance their careers in the Federal and state, local, tribal, and territorial cybersecurity communities. […]
A new tool from MeriTalk and stackArmor is providing insight into the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), and helping cloud service providers (CSPs) make data-driven decisions while pursuing their authorization journey. […]
The 12th edition of the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s FITARA Scorecard issued on July 28 offered a mildly positive story of progress that the largest Federal government agencies are making against a range of IT-related goals. But that’s not where the real news came from in the committee’s semiannual exercise on keep agencies honest on the tech front. […]
Federal Chief Information Security Officer Chris DeRusha said today that working to update the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) – and generate more useful Federal agency cybersecurity metrics as a result – are among his top priorities currently. […]
On August 2, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced that it would be extending the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) Task Force to July 31, 2023. […]
The much-anticipated $1 trillion Senate bipartisan infrastructure bill unveiled on August 1 shows big cybersecurity funding wins for state and local governments with a $1 billion for a cybersecurity grant program, and electric utilities that will be receiving $1.25 billion through a cybersecurity grant program to protect the electric grid. […]
On July 29, the House cleared a $600 billion package of seven spending bills, including the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) funding bill that includes $50 million for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF). […]
While the steady performance of most large Federal agencies on the latest version of the FITARA Scorecard drew notes of praise from leaders of the House Government Operations Subcommittee at their July 28 hearing to review the grades, the central focus on the hearing – cybersecurity and IT modernization – got the most attention from private sector tech leaders. […]
Deputy Federal CIO Maria Roat confirmed July 28 that the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) is still accepting proposals for IT modernization projects under a solicitation announced in May, and offered tips to agencies looking to score some of the $1 billion in funding the TMF received as part of the American Rescue Plan. […]
Federal CIO Clare Martorana confirmed today at the House Government Operations Subcommittee’s FITARA Scorecard 12 hearing that her office has received proposals from Federal agencies for $2.1 billion of IT modernization projects competing for Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) money. […]
Senate negotiators have reached a deal on the legislative language for the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure package, the White House announced today, and a vote could come as soon as tonight. […]
The White House released a National Security Memorandum (NSM) today containing a new set of actions aimed to strengthen cybersecurity efforts to protect United States critical infrastructure amid the growing number of cyber threats and cyberattacks. […]
What’s it take for a major Federal agency to get a better grade on the semiannual FITARA Scorecard issued by the House Oversight and Reform Committee – or backslide from previously hard-won gains? […]
The largest Federal agencies as a group made some notable progress on a range of IT-related performance categories in the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s FITARA Scorecard version 12 released by the committee on July 28. […]
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development earlier this month appointed Beth Niblock as the agency’s new CIO, succeeding David Chow, who left the agency in January. […]
The House Committee on Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Government Reform and Operations announced the witness list for the FITARA 12.0 hearing on July 28. Federal CIO Clare Martorana headlines the list of four witnesses, according to a release today by the committee. […]
The House of Representatives passed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Industrial Control Systems (ICS) Capabilities Enhancement Act on July 20, and the bill now has bipartisan companion legislation in the Senate. […]