Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill., have proposed a bill to improve oversight of federal agencies’ cybersecurity posture. “The Federal Cybersecurity Oversight Act would prevent civilian agencies from punting cybersecurity down the road indefinitely, leaving Americans' data open for attack from hackers and foreign spies," said Wyden.
Read More »GSA Eyes New Functionalities for Beta Contracting Opportunities Website
General Services Administration program managers said they are working to address public concerns over the transition from FedBizOpps to the System for Award Management and plan to add features to the platform in the near future, Nextgov reported Tuesday.
Read More »Kevin Smith: Census Bureau Launches Cyber Measures to Address Potential Risks
Kevin Smith, chief information officer of the Census Bureau, said the agency will ensure encryption of data as it anticipates receiving 60 percent of its responses online for the 2020 count, FCW reported Wednesday. Smith said during an event Tuesday that the bureau will seek the help of intelligence agencies to support its cybersecurity efforts for Census 2020.
Read More »Lt. Gen. Bruce Crawford on How Army CIO Office Supports AI Task Force Across Six Areas
Lt. Gen. Bruce Crawford, chief information officer of the U.S. Army, has said the service formed in September a new task force that aims to integrate artificial intelligence into the battlefield and business operations, Federal News Network reported Friday. He said in an interview on Ask the CIO that Brig. Gen. Matt Easley, a signal officer, oversees the new AI task force and directly reports to Army Futures Command.
Read More »Census Bureau Implements Cybersecurity Measures for Next Decennial Count
The U.S. Census Bureau has offered information about its cybersecurity posture ahead of the 2020 United States Census–the first time the decennial effort will be undertaken electronically. The cybersecurity program that will be used during the collection, processing and storage of census information is “robust” while the data encryption protocols …
Read More »Frontis Wiggins: State Dept Seeks to Streamline FITARA Implementation, IT Acquisition Via Franchise Concept
Frontis Wiggins, chief information officer at the State Department, has said the agency aims to address issues with the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act implementation as well as change the way it acquires IT platforms and services through IT franchises. Wiggins told Federal News Radio in an interview that …
Read More »Nextgov: Federal Agencies Cite June 2015 ‘Cyber Sprint’ for Noncompetitive IT Contracts
Some federal agencies have cited a 30-day “cybersecurity sprint” launched in June 2015 to justify noncompetitive information technology contracts they have awarded, Nextgov reported Wednesday. Aliya Sternstein writes the Office of Management and Budget introduced the cyber exercise in order for agencies to address software vulnerabilities, adopt two-factor authentication and …
Read More »White House Develops $19B Cybersecurity Action Plan
The Obama administration has unveiled a national strategy meant to help agencies, companies and individuals bolster defense of their computer systems and sensitive data, the Christian Science Monitor reported Tuesday. Sara Sorcher writes President Barack Obama’s proposed $19 billion cybersecurity budget for fiscal 2017 includes $3.1 billion for government information technology modernization efforts as part of the Cybersecurity …
Read More »Nextgov: OPM Eyes Added Security Requirements for Contractors Handling Fed Personnel Records
The Office of Personnel Management plans to require government contractors for employee background investigations processes to report cybersecurity incidents within 30 minutes and allow unannounced system inspections by the agency, Nextgov reported Friday. Jack Moore writes that a draft request for proposals released in January indicated the added requirements for OPM contractors …
Read More »Noah Kunin: GSA’s 18F Wants to Help Agencies Adopt Cybersecurity Best Practices
The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team has provided a list of strategies it believes public and private sector organizations should adopt to minimize cybersecurity risks to their information technology systems. Noah Kunin, director of delivery architecture and infrastructure services at the General Services Administration‘s 18F organization, said in a blog article published …
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