People

Shanahan touts Army Futures Command

Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan implored all of DOD to "remove obstacles" from the path of Army's new modernization command, Futures Command.

Cybersecurity

GAO: Vulnerabilities Plague 'Entire Generation' of U.S. Weapons Systems

Defense officials were often unaware of vulnerabilities and didn’t notice they were being exploited.

Digital Government

IG: Incompatible Tech Added to Family Separation Policy Chaos

The agencies tracking parents and children separated at the border had to email data and compile spreadsheets, an auditor found.

Cybersecurity

Mismatched IT made family separation crisis worse, watchdog says

A report from the Department of Homeland Security inspector general said that many agency components mismanaged the implementation of a "zero tolerance" policy at the border, and mismatched and incompatible IT exacerbated problems.

Cybersecurity

Border Agency Didn’t Secure Drone Surveillance Video, Photos for 2 Years

An auditor’s report found major security and privacy deficiencies in Customs and Border Protection’s drone surveillance program.

Digital Government

Social Security Administration CIO Needs Stronger Authority, Watchdog says

The agency’s top tech official weighs in on budget and information security processes but has little role in other mandated responsibilities.

Cybersecurity

Government Gets Poor Marks Securing Students' Personal Info

The office isn’t effectively monitoring cyber protections after it shares student information, including with collection agencies.

Digital Government

GAO: $15.6 billion census cost estimate not reliable

The Census Bureau bumped its lifecycle cost estimate for the 2020 count up to $15.6 billion last year -- more than $3 billion more than initially projected. But the GAO is, again, taking issue with the reliability of the estimate.

Modernization

Congress Doesn’t Know Who’s in Charge of VA’s $10 Billion Health Records Overhaul

Lawmakers are trying to figure out what to do about the lack of accountability within the program’s leadership.

Acquisition

How to win funds and modernize technology

As TMF funding hangs in the balance, the modernization board advises applicants not to bury the lede.

Policy

GAO: 'Urgent Action’ Needed to Address Nation’s Cyber Challenges

The Government Accountability Office is sounding the alarm that U.S. critical infrastructures are not as secure as they should be.

Cybersecurity

Warner hints at new regs for social media

Twitter's Jack Dorsey and Facebook's Sheryl Sandburg faced tough questions from lawmakers and a lot of theater during a day on Capitol Hill, but it's unclear whether oversight will yield new laws or regs.

Digital Government

First-ever online census lags on tech issues

Plans for a first-ever online census are lagging on IT readiness, a government watchdog says, and there's still work to do securing systems and data.

Digital Government

Census Bureau Must Fix 3,100 Cyber Vulnerabilities Before 2020 Count

The first digital census has suffered from delays and ballooning IT costs, an auditor’s report states.

Cybersecurity

Lawmakers seek answers on security application release by USPS

Two Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee want details on how a former CIA officer's federal security clearance application ended up in the hands of a political action committee.

Digital Government

Key open gov deadline nears with no public action

Can stakeholders and activists take this White House at its word that it is sincerely interested in advancing open data and open government policy?

Cybersecurity

The IRS can do more with its fraud detection system

A GAO audit found that the tax agency's Return Review Program has made strides in recent years that can be applied to number of other enforcement activities.

Cybersecurity

Senator Urges a Roving Cyber Auditor

A governmentwide inspector general would have a broader view of cyber deficits than individual agency IGs, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., says.

Digital Government

FCC chairman: truth about site failure should have come out sooner

Ajit Pai told lawmakers that he couldn't alert the public to an event incorrectly designated as a cyberattack without jeopardizing a federal investigation.

People

GAO presses OPM for better data on employee misconduct

A new report from the GAO flags multiple holes in the way OPM collects for employee misconduct. OPM thinks GAO doesn’t understand the law.