Sen. Michael Bennet has pressed the nation's three top health agencies to allow an investigation into their cybersecurity measures after a failed hack of the Department of Health and Human Services. He urged officials from HHS, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to allow the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency […]
The Pentagon wants industry input on technology development related to augmented reality/virtual reality testbeds, networks, and applications at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. The request for prototype proposals is the third of four planned RFPs relating to 5G technology development. Joseph Dyer, chief strategy officer of the National Spectrum Consortium, called on NSC members […]
The National Science Foundation is testing whether the combination of machine learning, blockchain technology and data science can help better evaluate its annual total of 60K grant applications. The experiment would integrate “digital fingerprints” to documents in hopes of streamlining federal grant processing. Dorothy Aronson, chief information officer of NSF, said the experiment offers a […]
Members of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission have offered suggestions to measure the effectiveness of the Pentagon’s defend forward policy, which it advised the federal government and private sector to adopt in their cyber strategies. Commissioner Tom Fanning said private sector companies could provide the data to evaluate the policy’s success, noting that Southern Company’s cybersecurity […]
The White House has provided documents for the National Security Presidential Memorandum 13, a key component of the Trump administration’s current cyber policy. A spokeswoman for the Senate Armed Services Committee said members were able to review the NSPM-13, which went into effect in 2018. Rep. Jim Langevin said he is "now more confident" that […]
The Department of Defense has warned its supply chain contractors against third parties offering fraudulent Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification. Ellen Lord, undersecretary for acquisition at the Department of Defense and a five-time Wash100 awardee, said no entity currently has the authority to grant CMMCs as the third-party assessment organization has not yet been finalized, MeriTalk reported Monday. […]
Caitlin Oakley, spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, confirmed that the department found a significant increase in activity in its cyber infrastructure amid HHS officials’ efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Oakley said in a statement that there are now “extra protections in place" to protect the HHS’ information technology infrastructure, adding […]
Katie Arrington, chief information security officer for assistant secretary for defense acquisition, has clarified that contractors will face different levels of Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification requirements depending on the information they need to secure. Speaking at a Washington Technology event, the 2020 Wash100 winner said the Department of Defense will release requests for information notices […]
The Office of Management and Budget released a memo last week encouraging federal agencies to "maximize telework flexibilities" to vulnerable populations. James Yeager of threat intelligence firm CrowdStrike, along with other experts, said the increasing number of federal employees teleworking will likely put more stress on federal networks and increase cybersecurity risks. Yeager added that […]
Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., have introduced a bill aimed at banning the use of the TikTok app on federal devices due to cybersecurity concerns. The senators argued that TikTok service provider ByteDance could be compelled by the Chinese government, which it shares close ties with, to send user data to Beijing. […]
