Department of Homeland Security official Scott Tousley has said the ransomware attack on Atlanta, Ga., in March should serve as a warning to municipalities to prepare for similar attacks in the future, MeriTalk reported Wednesday.

Tousley, a Cyber Security Division deputy director, opined during a Digital Government Institute event that cities may soon experience bigger attacks as they rely more on advanced technologies.

He added that the widespread adoption of Internet-of-Things-connected devices could also lead to an increase in attacks, which is occurring faster than the modernization of IT systems.

Tousley also discussed the challenges posed by mobile technologies, unorganized levels of testing and evaluation for software and IoT devices, and the inability to match the pace of data collection with adequate privacy rights policies.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced on Wednesday his plan to create 12 new unified regions as part of the Interior Department’s efforts to reorganize its structure and simplify operations, Federal News Radio reported.

Currently, the DOI’s bureaus organize the country into multiple administrative regions differently, resulting in a total of 49 regional subdivisions. These regional subdivisions often overlap.

Under Zinke’s reorganization, all of the DOI’s bureaus, except for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Indian Education and the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians, will have the same 12 regions.

These regions were determined based on “the best science” with a focus on “watersheds and ecosystems,” Zinke said in a message sent to department’s staff.

The secretary stated the unified regions would reduce bureaucratic redundancies, improve communications between field agents and political leaders, and bring about other benefits.

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The DOI chief added that the unified regions will be implemented in the upcoming months, and that the implementation “will be a thoughtful, Department-wide effort driven by leadership and employees in the field.”

Lt. Gen. Stephen Fogarty, commander of U.S. Army Cyber Command, has said he wants to rename ARCYBER to reflect the convergence between cyber and electronic warfare, Federal News Radio reported Tuesday.

Fogarty proposed names such as “Army Information Warfare Operations” and “Army Information Dominance Command,” noting that “the overlap is much deeper” between the information and cyber domains and adding that “the next stage of this is actually bringing all of that together.”

The U.S. Army is set to initiate such a merger soon.

In October, soldiers under the electronic warfare and cyber career fields — previously separate disciplines — will begin training together at the Army Cyber Center of Excellence as part of the service’s efforts to integrate the two tracks.

The newly-appointed ARCYBER chief also remarked that the name “Cyber Command” may have been appropriate at the time the command was established in 2010, but in Fogarty’s opinion, “we’re well past that now.”

Matthew Travis, deputy undersecretary for the Department of Homeland Security‘s National Protection and Programs Directorate, said the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center will retain its responsibilities even when the National Risk Management Center is formally holding office, FCW reported Tuesday.

Travis said during a conference in Washington D.C. that the NCCIC will continue to drive partnerships between the public and private sector, as well as deliver technical advisories to respond to cybersecurity threats.

He explained that NRMC will comprise of private sector analysts who will focus on addressing complex and longer-term cyber threats that affect various critical infrastructure groups.

The analysts will coordinate with their counterparts in the departments of Homeland Security, Energy or Treasury to understand interdependencies across sectors, Travis added.

DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced in early August that the department intends to establish the NRMC to provide government and industry cyber professionals with “crowd-sourced” methods to respond to cyber threats.

The new facility will be built in DHS’ headquarters in Washington D.C.

Federal Chief Information Officer Suzette Kent has said federal agencies should expect the White House to implement new cybersecurity reporting guidelines, as part of the administration’s efforts to have agencies reflect its IT goals, NextGov reported Tuesday.

Kent made at the announcement at the Digitial Government Institute’s 930gov conference held Tuesday, where she divulged that reporting metrics under the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 are set to be updated before the year ends. The move is meant to help federal agencies achieve cybersecurity benchmarks spelled out in the government’s IT Modernization Report and the President’s Management Agenda.

The Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Homeland Security are currently conducting the updates to the FISMA guidelines, whose release are scheduled for this fall.

 

The Education Department will help the General Services Administration publish a playbook in September, detailing the former’s experience as an early adopter of a new IT organization framework, MeriTalk reported Tuesday.

At the Digital Government Institute’s 930gov conference held Tuesday, the GSA revealed it asked the DOE to share its progress implementing the Technology Business Management strategy, developed to help agencies organize their IT costs, resources, applications and services.

Walter McDonald, the DOE’s director of IT program services, said TBM helped the department refine its governing processes, adopt transparency in expenses and consolidate some of its public-facing web services.

According to Steven Corey-Bey, chief enterprise architect at the department, TBM also enabled the DOE to understand and simplify its IT environment and maximize operations, funding and security.

He added that the DOE now intends to reduce its number of cloud service providers from 25 to eight, as well as IT systems from 284 to 140 to strengthen its cybersecurity posture.