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 Government Accountability Office (GAO) released an AI accountability framework back in July, but a GAO official said at NextGov’s Emerging Tech conference August 18 that the organization’s work on AI oversight remains a work in process. […]

As the first-ever appointed and confirmed National Cyber Director (NCD), Chris Inglis is responsible for coordinating the nation’s cyber strategy. But first, he’ll have to build out his office. […]

With the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and a $3.5 trillion budget resolution now passed in the Senate, the House is looking for ways to combine votes the two pieces of legislation in order to speed up the process of approving them, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in an August 15 Dear Colleague Letter. […]

John Costello has a new position at the Office of the National Cyber Director, serving as chief of staff, according to his LinkedIn. […]

The Senate is on break until September 15, but while on recess major committees will be working on legislative language for the $3.5 trillion budget resolution passed August 11. While the bill largely looks to tackle “soft infrastructure” and climate change, there are a variety of tech objectives in the resolution as well. […]

Infrastructure week finally arrived in Washington, D.C. with the Senate’s approval of the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act on Tuesday morning. The bill – whose main tech-related titles include $65 billion for broadband and around $2 billion for cybersecurity – cleared the Senate by a vote of 69-30. […]

Following a pair of votes on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act over the weekend, the bipartisan infrastructure measure is nearing the finish line in the Senate. The bill is currently on track for a final vote in the Senate on Tuesday morning. […]

Chris Cleary, the principal cyber advisor at the Department of the Navy, called cybersecurity an “infinite game” today and stressed that the United States will lose that game if it does not have the adequate funding or resources to continue the fight against adversaries. […]

The Senate’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act – the bipartisan infrastructure plan currently working its way through the amendment process – totals about $2 billion in cybersecurity funding, the White House said in an August 3 fact sheet about the legislation. […]

Senators introduced bipartisan legislation this week aimed to strengthen the United States’ cybersecurity posture and protect the nation’s Systemically Important Critical Infrastructure (SICI). The bill includes several key recommendations from the Cyberspace Solarium Commission (CSC). […]

Chris Inglis, the nation’s first-ever national cyber director, has called for the establishment of a Bureau of Cyber Statistics, which would exist within the Department of Homeland Security, to collect and publish cybersecurity statistics to properly understand cyber threats and how to address them. […]

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has launched a new vulnerability disclosure policy (VDP) platform for the Federal civilian enterprise that provides a single crowdsourcing platform for agencies to report vulnerabilities. […]

Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., chair of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and Roger Wicker, R-Miss., want the Department of Commerce (DOC), including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), to take additional actions to address cybersecurity threats. […]

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. […]

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. […]

As the number of cyberattacks impacting critical infrastructure continues to grow, members of Congress and representatives from the Department of Energy (DoE), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) agreed that more needs to be done to protect the electric grid from a potentially “devastating” cyberattack. […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee said on June 22 it completed its markup of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes a $1 billion increase in funds for programs developing AI, microelectronics, advanced materials, 5G, and biotechnology. […]

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has not always protected Mobile Passport Control (MPC) applications from cybersecurity threats, according to a report from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General (OIG). […]

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released guidance outlining security measures for critical software and minimum standards for vendors’ testing of their software source code as part of the agency’s assignments under the Biden administration’s executive order (EO) on cybersecurity. […]

Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, called for increased funding for the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), saying CISA “needs to be a $5 billion agency in the next five years.” […]

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an emergency directive on July 13 ordering Federal agencies to disable the Microsoft Windows Print Spooler service, after discovering a vulnerability that allows attackers to remotely take over systems and enable adversaries to compromise the entire identity infrastructure of an agency. […]

NASA is looking for a contractor who can provide cybersecurity and privacy support for all of its centers and facilities, according to a recent request for proposals (RFP) on SAM.gov. […]

The Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) said in its newly released annual Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) report for Fiscal Year 2020 that SBA’s  information security was “not effective” last year due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic. […]

A Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) report found that 3D printers pose a cybersecurity risk to the agency, after discovering DoD employees were not properly securing the IT systems used to develop 3D products, and were unaware the 3D printers even had IT systems that could be hacked. […]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) onboarded over 300 new cybersecurity employees, and made an additional 500 tentative job offers, during its 60-day Cybersecurity Workforce Sprint, exceeding the sprint’s original goal by 50 percent. […]

The SolarWinds software supply chain hack represented a seismic shift in cybersecurity awareness for public and private sector organizations. The attack, which compromised thousands of organizations, including at least nine Federal agencies – laid bare the reality that organizations may be compromised even if they don’t know it yet, and even if they are diligent about cybersecurity. […]

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released a request for information (RFI) to identify potential vendors to support the secure and reliable operation of the dot-gov top-level domain (TLD). […]

A report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has clearly defined roles and responsibilities for coordination with healthcare organizations to support cybersecurity efforts. However, GAO found areas where HHS could improve collaboration. […]

As cyberattacks become more frequent and prevalent, the National Security Agency’s (NSA) Director of Cybersecurity Rob Joyce says the biggest vulnerability for both the private and public sectors is technical debt. […]