Cloud computing is now powering the next generation of technology–from artificial intelligence (AI) to Internet of Things (IoT) to machine learning, offering government agencies scalability and agility to support and analyze a massive influx of data for more informed decision making. […]
Not all bots are bad. But in the wrong hands, botnets can be commanded to do some very nefarious things, like Distributed Denial of Service–DDoS–attacks to disrupt and bring down websites. There are also malware-based bots that are increasingly being used to steal data and personal information. […]
Even with the Data Center Optimization Initiative (DCOI) deadlines pushed out to 2020, Federal agencies face significant pressure to expedite cloud migrations and consolidate their compute environments in a secure and cost-effective manner. Now, with the passage of the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act, agencies may need to demonstrate significant progress in this area to justify their MGT Act budget requests. […]
The Department of Defense (DoD) on Wednesday sketched out plans for a swift, multibillion dollar move to a comprehensive cloud infrastructure, while leaving a lot of the details to be filled in along the way. […]
The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has completed the transition of the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet) to a virtual network, which increases its bandwidth tenfold, while supporting plans to extend SIPRNet to the very edges of the network via the commercial cloud. […]
It appears that the improved reliability and security of cloud computing is attracting more law enforcement agencies. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the latest agency looking to migrate applications to a commercial cloud provider. […]
Acronyms abound with a seemingly endless stream of Federal IT regulations and guidelines related to cloud and cyber security. Trying to make sense of the madness? On March 8, at “Cyber Convergence: Security, the Cloud and Your Data,” Federal visionaries will crack the code on some of the most critical developments in government’s IT agenda – from cloud-based application security to MGT, FITARA, and more. […]
The proliferation of digital platforms within the government–including mobile devices, cloud computing and the Internet of Things–has increased the sprawl of the computing landscape and with it new vulnerabilities for potential cyber attacks. […]
Gary Newgaard is a giant in the government IT industry. For those of you who don’t know him, I’m not just saying that–I’m six feet tall and standing next to Gary makes me feel like I should join the lollipop league. […]
Federal CIOs and industry execs gathered on the Hill Thursday evening to celebrate the passage of the Modernizing Government Technology–MGT–Act and map the path ahead. Judging by the standing-room-only crowd, seems government, industry, and the Hill are betting big on the legacy IT euthanasia program to break Federal IT’s failing status quo. […]
About five years ago, many law enforcement officials wondered if the cloud was safe enough to hold their data. Now the FBI, the nation’s top law enforcement agency, is considering a move to a large-scale, commercial software cloud provider. […]
With compliance deadlines looming for Cloud Service Providers (CSPs), FedRAMP is ramping up its requirements for the monitoring of cloud systems. […]
TalaTek, a risk management company, announced on Feb. 26 that it received a FedRAMP ATO from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) for its Enterprise Compliance Management Solution (ECMS). This cloud-based SaaS allows PBGC to centralize security statistics in real time and see whether it complies with a variety of security frameworks, including NIST security frameworks. […]
Artificial intelligence has been applied to everything from cybersecurity and financial management to human resources and self-driving cars, so it seemed only a matter of time before it could take over video surveillance duties. And while AI, machine learning, and neural networks have made some promising strides in this area, it’s not quite the slam dunk that it might seem. […]
The Department of Defense’s (DoD) plan to accelerate adoption of commercial cloud computing saw an early result this month with the maximum $950 million contract worked out with REAN Cloud that lets DoD agencies buy cloud solutions and services directly from the company. The accelerated part of the equation resulted from the work of the Defense Unit Experimental (DIUx), which worked with REAN to enable prototyping and procurement of the full range of cloud requirements, contributing to the Other Transaction Authority (OTA) award. […]
Until now, most Federal agencies built their computing architectures like the aging buildings that house most of their headquarters, as huge monolithic structures that are inefficient, require frequent maintenance, and are wholly inflexible. Now, companies like Red Hat are offering a new path using microservices technology, which takes huge application stacks and breaks them down into tiny, modular components that can expand or contract based on needs, eliminating waste while ensuring critical services are always available regardless of future usage spikes. […]
The Trump Administration proposes spending nearly $45.8 billion on IT investments at major civilian agencies next year, a slight rise from the $45.6 billion in fiscal 2018, according to the 2019 budget proposal released Monday. […]
It is not uncommon today for agencies to use multiple cloud services such as Amazon Web Services for putting up computing resources on demand, Salesforce for customer relationship management applications, and either Google or Microsoft for email and collaboration tools. […]
Agencies undergoing digital transformation are combining on-premise, hybrid, and multiple cloud solutions into their environments. To that end, agencies need to weave cloud security and protection of on-premise systems into their broader security strategy for a true, defense-in-depth approach. […]
The cloud is not a one-size fits all solution, and, as such, the government is looking to invest in two or three cloud models to support the differing security and risk-tolerance postures of agencies and to leverage various shared services, according to the President’s IT Modernization Report. […]
As you open your fortune cookie–you might ask, will 2018 be the year of widespread deployment of Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) tools across Federal data centers? […]
Latest certification gives Cisco a hat trick in the secure government cloud. […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) isn’t just a compiler of Fed IT’s naughty and nice lists–the agency’s also a consumer of IT. And, it’s rolling plans for IT modernization. […]
Contractor CSRA is set to launch the Defense Information Systems Agency’s (DISA) milCloud 2.0 on Feb. 1–three months ahead of schedule–combining a commercially run cloud offering within the confines of DISA’s data center. In its first phase, milCloud 2.0 will offer scalable Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) to customers from two locations. […]
It’s a converged world for many Federal data centers, and that trend is likely to continue as agencies move to modernize their information technology infrastructures. […]
If you took a look at Microsoft’s recent government contract announcements and felt like you’re seeing double–well, you wouldn’t be wrong. Azure Government recently received two new FedRAMP certifications from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Air Force. As of Jan. 24, Azure Government now has a FedRAMP High ATO from ICE and a Level-4 ATO for the Air Force’s common computing environment. […]
While the military services and other Department of Defense components get on board toward greater adoption of cloud services, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) doesn’t want them to forget about security, particularly on the part of cloud providers. […]
We see lots of moves to IT modernization in motion–but how does it all come together? The White House wants to tie those into a broader program, creating a new ecosystem to fuel government-wide modernization efforts. […]
As momentum continues to build for agencies to implement strategies and technologies to modernize their IT environments, agency managers will have to be careful to avoid missteps that could hamper successful digital transformation. […]
Russian hackers might get all the attention these days, but the Department of Defense (DoD) hasn’t forgotten about WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden. […]