The Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has declined to hear a case regarding the legality of Obama-era Net Neutrality rules–putting an end to a lengthy legal battle by declining to hear USTelecom’s appeal. The telecommunication industry group originally sued the Federal Communications Committee (FCC) under the belief that the FCC lacked the authority to impose public-utility, common-carrier obligations on broadband internet access service. Under the Obama-era rules, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) were barred from blocking or throttling web content or creating the so-called internet “fast lanes.” […]
The Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a joint statement Monday night stating that none of the organizations had seen any compromises that would threaten midterm election voting. […]
A new report on FISMA compliance from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) found that the bureau has consistently implemented its information security programs but also called on CFPB to strengthen its enterprise risk management program, among other recommendations. […]
While the Department of Veterans Affairs is approaching IT modernization with a strong desire to improve systems, especially when it comes to electronic health records (EHR), the agency is taking care not to shut down existing systems too early, said deputy CIO and chief information security officer Dominic Cussatt during an episode of Government Matters that aired on Sunday. […]
Hybrid clouds can be an integral part of government agencies’ information technology modernization strategies by helping to provide consistency across on-premise and public cloud platforms to ease migration, integration, and operation across the platforms. […]
A new report from the Commerce Department Office of the Inspector General (OIG) determined that the Census Bureau must improve the implementation of its risk management framework. […]
The newest round of Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) awards came after the TMF board reviewed more than 40 proposals from agencies looking to win funds from the program, according to Federal Deputy CIO Margie Graves. […]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is focusing intently on a range of activities to help ensure the security of next week’s mid-term congressional elections, DHS officials said today at an event organized by Fifth Domain. […]
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report on Monday, calling for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to improve its approach to cybersecurity for medical devices already on the market, and praising FDA’s early response to the report’s criticisms. […]
When it comes to contracting, the Department of Defense (DoD0 tends to run its own show with soliciting, awarding, and managing the contracts awarded under its $700 million+ annual budget. […]
The Department of Justice (DoJ) on Tuesday announced charges against Chinese government intelligence officers Zha Rong and Chai Meng, among others, for conspiring to steal intellectual property, confidential business information, and technological data from companies in the U.S. and European commercial aviation industry. […]
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. […]
The Defense Department is lending assistance to the Department of Homeland Security as DHS works to protect election infrastructure in the run-up to next week’s mid-term congressional elections, said Ed Wilson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy, on Tuesday at the Symantec 2018 Government Symposium. […]
The Commerce Department will soon be releasing a draft “road map” on Internet of Things (IoT) security issues, an official with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)–which is part of the Commerce Department–indicated Tuesday during a panel discussion at the 2018 Symantec Government Symposium. […]
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. […]
Margaret Weichert, acting director at the Office of Personnel and Management (OPM), addressed the challenges ahead for the Federal workforce and emphasized the need for action in the near future, but promised that OPM would continue its current path after a series of leadership changes. […]
California has agreed to delay enforcing its net neutrality law, signed in September, that put the state at odds with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and many telecommunications industry groups. The law reinstates Obama-era net neutrality rules and was scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2019. […]
The Federal Trade Commission has scheduled hearings for this December, and February 2019, to examine the agency’s authority “to deter unfair and deceptive conduct in data security and privacy matters.” […]
Following a report released Tuesday that detailed how tech companies have provided the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with biometric and surveillance technology, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called for a “moratorium on the use of facial recognition technology for immigration enforcement and law enforcement purposes until Congress and the public debate what, if any, uses of this technology should be permitted.” […]
Department of Justice Chief Technology Officer Ron Bewtra stressed the need for modernization and human-centered design to help Federal IT adjust to disruptive technologies while better serving agency missions and those who depend on them. […]
California may agree to delay enforcement of its new net neutrality law, which is scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1 2019, according to Politico. […]
The Department of Energy Office of Inspector General released a report on Oct. 19 that found several weaknesses in the cybersecurity program at DoE in fiscal year 2018, including recurring issues in vulnerability management, patching, and formal cybersecurity training policies. […]
The answer to that question is “yes,” according to a white paper released today by New America, a non-partisan think tank. The white paper argues that while the United States has been engaged in cybersecurity for more than a generation, there are still “organizational and human gaps” that leave the country insecure. […]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shared details on its Cyber Risk Economics Capability Gaps Research Strategy, which is part of its Cyber Risk Economics (CYRIE) program, in a blog post on Tuesday. […]
Department of Homeland Security Under Secretary Christopher Krebs said today that the biggest change in election security between the 2016 elections and today is the elimination of communication barriers between state and local authorities and the Federal government. […]
The General Services Administration’s Office of Inspector General said in a report issued Oct. 19 that it wants GSA’s IT Office (GSA IT) to provide a revised corrective action plan to improve the agency’s policies for responding to breaches of personally identifiable information (PII). […]
The Department of Health and Human Service’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reported a data breach of its HealthCare.gov site, with the attacker accessing the files of about 75,000 people, the agency said in a statement released Friday. […]
Technology initiatives helped improve response rates for citizens and productivity for Census Bureau employees during the agency’s 2018 End-to-End Census Test, the Bureau reported during its quarterly program management review. […]
Department of Energy (DoE) CIO Max Everett said the agency’s Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) project is helping to align the activities of DoE’s wide range of labs and offices, and that the TMF process has helped DoE learn to prioritize all of its future IT projects around cost efficiency and business case. […]
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, alongside the Justice Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Department of Homeland Security, released a joint statement today that expresses their concern over election interference and calls identification and prevention of interference a “top priority for the Federal government.” […]