The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued a Special Publication (SP) to help organizations protect sensitive information on different electronic systems from state-sponsored hacking. […]
The Senate voted today 57 to 43 to approve the nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas to head the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). […]
The Senate Armed Services Committee unanimously voted today to advance the President Biden’s nominee for Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Denis McDonough to a full-Senate confirmation vote. […]
In a letter to Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, nominee for secretary of commerce, Republican Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Ben Sasse, R-Neb., requested that the Department of Commerce keep the pressure on Chinese telecommunications company, Huawei, during the Biden administration. […]
Taking steps to improve performance planning could help the Department of Energy (DOE) transfer technologies from the agency to private companies, and avoid barriers that can hinder tech transfer, the Federal government’s chief watchdog agency said. […]
Ian Wallace has joined the State Department to serve as a senior advisor for the Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues (S/CCI). Wallace tweeted that his new role will focus on cyber capacity building. […]
Agencies are facing a growing backlog of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, and the agencies facing the most requests have started notifying the public, according to a report by the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS). […]
The Department of State had notified Congress in 2019 of its plans to create a bureau within the department to focus on cybersecurity, but a lack of data and evidence to justify the proposal may halt its progress. […]
While the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to impact healthcare delivery to veterans well into 2021, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and its Veterans Health Administration (VHA) component are already taking into account requirements for telehealth services when the pandemic abates but its mental-health impacts persist. […]
Denis McDonough, President Biden’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), plans to make cybersecurity “a key priority” if confirmed, along with IT modernization efforts and expansion of broadband services. […]
Though the legislative machinations may be tricky, the bottom line is that the nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas to head the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is headed to likely Senate approval early next week. […]
The Department of Justice (DoJ) has launched a coordinated international law enforcement action to disrupt the NetWalker ransomware-as-a-service crimeware product. […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) named Rebecca Piazza as senior advisor for delivery in the office of the under secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services. […]
The General Services Administration (GSA) has confirmed the appointment of Amy Hasletine as acting executive director of the Office of Enterprise Technology Solutions (ETS). […]
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) posted an alert warning that a “US Trading Commission” website is a scam and not associated with the FTC. […]
The IRS announced Ken Corbin will serve as the chief taxpayer experience officer, a new role created to help unify and expand agency efforts aimed at improving customer experience. […]
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has developed an AI strategy to enable AI fluency and adoption across the enterprise. The strategy also establishes an AI Council to oversee the agency’s AI implementation efforts. […]
President Biden’s Jan. 25 executive order to direct more of the Federal government’s spending to the benefit of American businesses has a larger focus on commodity and non-tech goods, but may end up extending to commercially available IT products. […]
The White House announced several political appointees to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) today, including a few tech-focused staffers. […]
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has named Maribeth Petrizzi as the acting head of the commission’s Bureau of Competition, Politico reported Jan. 25. Petrizzi will now be the lead on enforcing the nation’s antitrust laws. […]
The General Services Administration (GSA) has appointed Josh Sawislak as Senior Advisor to the agency Administrator focused on implementing executive actions. GSA also named Zoe Garmendia Senior Advisor to the Administrator on COVID. […]
Nine Democratic senators are pressing the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the U.S. Courts for a briefing and information about exactly what data was compromised by the SolarWinds hack in a letter to the departments. […]
With the COVID-19 pandemic stretching on, President Biden signed an executive order (EO) to direct an all-of-agency effort to help those most impacted by the pandemic. In accordance with that EO, the Department of Treasury is working to change the way it delivers economic impact payments, according to a Jan. 22 release. […]
The White House said today President Biden will sign an executive order that cancels a previous order issued by former President Trump last October that created a new “Schedule F” classification for Federal employees in policy-making positions and made it easier to hire and fire them. […]
President Biden has designated Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel as Acting Chairwoman of the FCC. […]
With the Biden administration taking office Jan. 20, the Federal CIO Council has named acting CIOs at five of the seven agencies where the position is helmed by political appointees who are obliged to step down at the end of presidential administrations. […]
Following President Joe Biden’s inauguration, the General Services Administration (GSA) announced the list of political appointees that will lead the agency. According to the GSA, the appointees are a combination of Obama-Biden administration officials and others with public/private sector experience specifically in climate and technology. […]
The Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) annual assessment of acquisition programs at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) found 10 programs to have been in breach of either baseline cost or schedule at some point in 2020 and five were in breach as of September 2020. […]
New working conditions have led agencies to adjust AI adoption methods and strengthen data analytics capabilities by leveraging commercially available solutions from industry and implementing other practices during the pandemic. […]
Four lawmakers are criticizing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s approval of a new cybersecurity and emerging technologies bureau and calling for President-elect Joe Biden to hit pause when he is sworn in and takes office. […]