Tag Archives: data security

Ted Kaouk, chairman of the Chief Data Officers Council, has said that the council’s recently created data sharing working group is assessing needs to balance security and governmentwide data sharing. Kaouk said that the CDO Council is looking at ways to “blend data across agencies” to leverage key information. Kaouk's comments come after the CDO Council submitted its first report to Congress.

Tom Sasala, chief data officer of the U.S. Navy, said the service branch intends to implement a modernized data architecture as it works to execute a holistic approach to data governance. The modernization effort includes the implementation of a data environment called Jupiter to support the use of complex access controls. 

The Department of the Navy is establishing a DevSecOps task force to help speed up software development and delivery and improve data security, FCW reported Friday. The Jan. 15 memo states that the task force will provide the information superiority executive steering group with a set of recommendations within two months to facilitate the creation of a strategy for enterprisewide DevSecOps implementation.

Andy Brooks, chief data scientist at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), has said the agency was able to harness cloud to provide access to secure but unclassified data for its remote staff. Brooks told the publication that NGA modified its data-access strategy and launched an effort to balance data protection with value delivery for global users. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released an advisory warning U.S. businesses of security risks associated with using data services and equipment from companies with ties to the Chinese government.The Data Security Business Advisory highlights the risk posed by data theft sponsored by the government of the People’s Republic of China.

The State Department’s office of inspector general has released a report saying the agency has initiated steps to improve its information security program but continues to face significant issues and control weaknesses that increase its vulnerability to cyber threats and attacks. The document also uncovered issues with user access controls and records management. 

Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has issued a memo detailing reporting requirements and deadlines for agencies in fiscal year 2021 in compliance with the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) of 2014. Vought said the updated FISMA guidance directs agencies to report to OMB the status of their data security programs. 

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a draft guidance to help agencies ensure the integrity of their data against ransomware threats in line with recognized cybersecurity requirements. The effort comes as part of NCCoE’s data integrity projects to improve understanding of architectures, capabilities and other resources to support a comprehensive data integrity strategy.

Maria Roat, chief information officer at the Small Business Administration (SBA) and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, said SBA’s security operations team is implementing SBA Connect authentication for new capabilities and performing penetration testing to address data security issues during the coronavirus pandemic, FedScoop reported Thursday.

The Government Accountability Office has found that the federal government allocated over $30 billion for telecommunications services and $4 billion for call center operations during fiscal years 2014 through 2018.