Cybersecurity

DISA Wants a Pentagon-Wide Identity Management System

The Enterprise Identity Service would let Pentagon officials oversee the access credentials and online activity of every user who touches its networks.

Cybersecurity

NIST is Hunting for Tech to Secure the Energy Sector’s Network

Officials want to help power companies bolster their digital defenses as renewable energy resources like solar panels and wind turbines introduce more vulnerabilities to the grid.

Cybersecurity

NSA Warns of Vulnerabilities in Multiple VPN Services

The bugs, which allow hackers to remotely download files and monitor network traffic, are already being exploited by foreign actors.

Artificial Intelligence

GSA Offers More Details on Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence

Officials will build on their work with the Pentagon’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center to help other agencies adopt the tech, and the Health and Human Services Department could be next.

Cybersecurity

The Pentagon is Standing Up a Nonprofit to Assess Vendor Cybersecurity 

The organization would be responsible for running the department’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification.

Cybersecurity

DOJ Makes Another Plea for Encryption Backdoors

While officials have long framed end-to-end encryption as an impediment to fighting terrorism, the department is now focusing on its impacts on child sex abuse.

Cybersecurity

Attorney General, DHS Secretary Call on Facebook to Build Encryption Backdoors

“Security enhancements to the virtual world should not make us more vulnerable in the physical world,” they said in a letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Modernization

Legacy Systems Held DHS' Biometrics Programs Back. Not Anymore.

The cloud-based HART system, which will house data on hundreds of millions of people, promises to significantly expand the department’s use of facial recognition and other biometric software, as well as its partnerships with external agencies.

Cybersecurity

Fighting Cyber Crime is Critical for National Security, Says Secret Service Chief

While election interference, espionage and power grid threats get all the attention, nation-states also lean on cyber criminals to conduct operations on their behalf, according to Director James Murray.

Podcasts

Critical Update: A Quantum Leap

Quantum computers will be able to crack our encryption but when?

Digital Government

The Pentagon Has Officially Taken Over the Security Clearance Process

The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency is now responsible for conducting 95% of the government’s background investigations.

Cybersecurity

Report: Cyber Criminals Target More Firms in Search of Bigger Paydays

Tech, telecom and professional services companies are the most popular targets for nefarious online actors, according to researchers at CrowdStrike.

Cybersecurity

Lawmakers Propose $1 Billion Purge of Chinese Telecom Equipment

The Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act would help small and rural providers pay to replace equipment from Huawei, ZTE and other foreign vendors with safer alternatives.

Cybersecurity

6 Cyber Bills You Might Have Missed

The bills aim to strengthen the Homeland Security Department’s cybersecurity efforts and help the energy sector improve its digital defenses.

Cybersecurity

DHS Needs a Better Grasp of Its Cyber Workforce, Watchdog Says

The agency doesn’t fully understand the strengths and weaknesses of its cyber personnel, and it’s more than two years behind on developing a workforce planning strategy, the inspector general found.

Artificial Intelligence

Spy Agencies Must Work Through AI’s Ethical Issues, Former Leader Says

Sue Gordon, the former principal deputy director of national intelligence, also pushed the intelligence community to put more trust in public information and outside organizations.

Artificial Intelligence

GSA Teams With Pentagon AI Shop for Centers of Excellence Program

The partnership will focus on streamlining the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center’s internal operations and speeding up the contracting process, according to Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan.

Artificial Intelligence

Pentagon Looking for AI to Interpret ‘Strategic Activity’ Around the Globe

The commercial tools, requested by the Defense Innovation Unit, would derive insights from global news outlets, social media platforms and other publicly available resources.

Digital Government

DHS is Struggling to Coordinate Its Sprawling Research Efforts

Poor oversight and shoddy data management have left the DHS Science and Technology Directorate unprepared to invest in the future, according to the agency's inspector general.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity and the Road Ahead

Federal agencies are focused on locking down access to their systems.