TMF Gets $1 Billion Funding Bump in Senate Relief Bill Draft
The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) would get a $1 billion funding increase in President Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Act, according to a preliminary draft of the Senate version of the legislation obtained from sources by MeriTalk. The Senate will debate its version of the legislation this week.
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CBP Has Improved Border Tech, but Challenges Remain
Homeland Security (DHS) found that the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency has improved its technology on the U.S. southwest border, but still have challenges to tackle.
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US Must Invest More Than $200B to Win AI Race, Report Finds
The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) published its 2021 report today in which it concludes that “the United States must act now to field AI systems and invest substantially more resources in AI innovation to protect its security, promote its prosperity, and safeguard the future of democracy.”
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VA RFI Looks for Guidance on Enterprise Strategic Planning and Governance Directorate
The Department of Veteran Affairs’ (VA) Office of Information and Technology (OIT) has issued an updated request for information (RFI) searching for guidance on developing its Enterprise Strategic Planning and Governance (ESPG) directorate.
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Sec. of Defense Lloyd Austin Announces Two Cyber Appointments at Pentagon
Sec. of Defense Lloyd Austin announced that President Joe Biden has made a slew of appointments at the Pentagon, including two in the cyber realm.
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Miami VA Healthcare System Expands 5G Capabilities
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has teamed with T-Mobile to deploy 5G capabilities for the Miami VA Healthcare System, providing 5G service to medical staff and patients with capable devices.
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If the Walls Fall: Federal Agencies Must Layer Cyber Defenses to Ensure Data Protection
Government agencies and the private sector will spend $100 billion or more to recover from the SolarWinds hack, which went undetected for at least nine months and may have compromised 18,000 government and private sector organizations using SolarWinds Orion software. Even if breached organizations successfully mitigate the damage from SolarWinds, they know adversaries aren’t going to stop trying to get in. If they plug one vector of attack, the adversary will find another to exploit.
The Coronavirus pandemic has driven government agencies to adopt hybrid cloud environments unlike ever before. Taking this into consideration, how can this technology be used to build a strategic foundation for long term success? In Hybrid at Hyperspeed: Cloud Strategy for the New Reality of Government, MeriTalk surveyed 300 Federal, state, and local IT leaders to explore the challenges and opportunities of hybrid cloud environments under these circumstances.
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milCloud 2.0 Celebrates Three-Year Anniversary With New Capabilities for Mission Partners
This February, milCloud 2.0 – one of the key pillars of the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) cloud strategy – celebrated its third anniversary, and it continues to offer DoD mission partners a rapid path for cloud migration.
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Experts Call for Increased Cyber Info Sharing in Wake of SolarWinds Breach
The House Homeland Security and Oversight and Reform committees held a joint public hearing today to discuss the Russia-based hack of government and private sector networks via SolarWinds Orion products. During the hearing, both the private sector witnesses and members of Congress called for better cybersecurity practices, legislation, and increased information sharing.
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FCC Establishes Federally Funded Broadband Discount Program
The Federal Communications Commission has voted to formally adopt a Report and Order that establishes the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program. The program uses $3.2 billion in Federal funding to provide qualifying households discounts on their internet service bills and an opportunity to receive a discount on a computer or tablet.
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House Relief Bill Offers $2B to Upgrade State UI Systems; Vote Seen Late Friday
The House version of the American Rescue Act - born from President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief proposal unveiled in January - now features a provision that would provide $2 billion for the Department of Labor (DoL) to use to help states upgrade their unemployment insurance (UI) systems.
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NSA Issues Zero Trust Guidance
The National Security Agency (NSA) has released Zero Trust security model guidance for organizations to boost security of sensitive data, systems, and services.
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Fed Leaders Want Culture Change to Allow Telework Beyond the Pandemic
Federal leaders agreed during a Feb. 25 virtual conference organized by GovExec that the Federal government needs to change its mindset and culture to allow for more telework in the future, even after the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Senate Bill Eyes $15 Billion in Grants for Rural Broadband Buildouts
Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., are introducing legislation that will provide up to $15 billion in matching grants to increase access to broadband services in areas of the United States that are unserved by broadband meeting the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) minimum definition of that service.
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Cyber Diplomacy Act Reintroduced in the House
The bipartisan Cyber Diplomacy Act was reintroduced in the house this week. The legislation, cosponsored by Reps. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., Michael McCaul, R-Texas, Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., and Bill Keating, D-Mass., will require the State Department to open the Bureau of International Cyberspace Policy.
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Rep. Connolly Eyes March-April Timeframe for Next FITARA Scorecard Hearing
Government Operations Subcommittee Chairman Gerry Connolly, D-Va., indicated today that his office is considering the March-April timeframe for a hearing on the most recent FITARA Scorecard that was issued by the House Oversight and Reform Committee in late December 2020.
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Admiral Norton Handing Over DISA Command Feb. 26
Vice Admiral Nancy Norton will hand over command of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and Joint Force Headquarters Department of Defense Information Network (DODIN) on Feb. 26, the admiral said today.
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DHS’ Mayorkas Announces $25 Million Increase to FEMA Cybersecurity Grants and Future Cyber Plans
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced today that DHS will increase the required minimum spend on cybersecurity through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant awards from 5 percent to 7.5 percent - approximately a $25 million increase across the country.
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Rules Committee Taking Up American Rescue Act; House Vote Unlikely This Week
The House Rules Committee will take its turn with the American Rescue Act on Feb. 26 at 9:30 a.m., bringing the COVID-19 relief bill one step closer to a full House vote.
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IG Report Reveals Labor Department Slowly Chipping Away at Billions in Fraudulent UI Payments
The Department of Labor’s (DoL) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report stating the agency is making progress on improving the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program, which has faced billions of dollars in widespread unemployment compensation fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Matt Hartman Named Deputy Executive Assistant Director of Cybersecurity at CISA
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) named Matt Hartman the deputy executive assistant director of cybersecurity at the agency this month, confirmed by Hartman’s LinkedIn profile.