Author Archive

Chris Riotta

Staff Writer

Chris Riotta
Chris Riotta is a staff writer at FCW covering government procurement and technology policy. Chris joined FCW after covering U.S. politics for three years at The Independent. He earned his master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he served as 2021 class president.
Cybersecurity

FDIC Fails to Establish Effective Controls to Secure Sensitive Data, Report Says

The agency tasked with supervising financial institutions nationwide is struggling to maintain effective information security measures, according to a new inspector general report.

IT Modernization

White House Seeks $74 Billion for Federal Civilian IT in 2024

The administration is proposing a nearly $10 billion bump in federal spending to achieve its modernization goals, including several significant increases in spending on IT and cybersecurity at civilian agencies.

CXO Briefing

White House to Officially Ban TikTok from Government Devices Within 30 days

New guidance from the Office of Management and Budget finalizes a congressional push to ban the popular Chinese social networking app from all government devices amid privacy and security concerns.

Emerging Tech

OIG Finds Oversight Issues With GSA's Performance-based Contracts

GSA contracting personnel produced performance reports that were "often incomplete or not available at all," according to a new inspector general's audit. 

CXO Briefing

White House Looks to Shore up Public Trust in Government Websites

Federal agencies need to use 'memorable' and succinct domain names for government websites, per guidance issued on Wednesday.

CXO Briefing

Republicans Announce New Congressional Cyber Subcommittee Leadership

A New York Republican is taking over a powerful House Homeland Security subcommittee tasked with overseeing efforts to improve federal network security and the nation’s cyber defense agency.

IT Modernization

NASA Spent $35 Million on ‘Wasteful’ Software Licenses and Fees, Report Says

NASA’s current software management operations put it years away from achieving a centralized and consolidated enterprise computing model, according to its inspector general.

News

National Cyber Director Chris Inglis Reportedly Set to Retire in the Coming Months, Reports Say

The first national cyber director has been shepherding the White House’s national cyber strategy with the help of industry professionals and cybersecurity experts.

CXO Briefing

Navy Awards AWS Cloud Contract Worth Nearly $724 Million

The five-year contract gives the military branch access to the cloud giant’s full suite of commercial cloud services, trainings and certification programs. 

IT Modernization

Omnibus Funding Bill Includes $50M for TMF, $90M for Citizen Services Fund

Funding levels for the tech modernization vehicles fell short of Biden administration requests.

CXO Briefing

FITARA Scorecard Sees 7 Agencies Increase Marks Amid Cyber Methodology Changes

All 24 agencies received passing grades in the latest iteration of the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act scorecard, though 17 saw their scores largely unchanged.

CXO Briefing

Are Best-In-class Contracts on the Downswing?

The question was one of the main focuses among acquisition experts at the Professional Services Council federal market forecast conference.

Emerging Tech

Defense Policy Bill Features FedRAMP Authorization Act

Cybersecurity experts tell FCW that ‘authorizing FedRAMP is the first step to fully and robustly resourcing the program’ after it was established in 2011

Cybersecurity

CISA Sets Voluntary Cyber Performance Targets for Critical Infrastructure

A new set of documents and resources from the agency is designed to help critical infrastructure operators manage the basics of cybersecurity.

Cybersecurity

White House Looks to Advance Cyber Safety Labeling Effort With 'Initial Scope' Next Spring

A senior administration official said the White House is beginning with a label that will focus on some of the most at-risk technologies – and that the National Institute of Standards and Technology will play a major role in getting it done.

IT Modernization

Bipartisan Senate Bill Aims to Safeguard Open Source Software

The Securing Open Source Software Act would task the Office of Management and Budget with issuing guidance around the secure usage of open source software and give new oversight responsibilities to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

CXO Briefing

Biden Adds Cyber, Data, Supply Chain Risks to CFIUS Reviews

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States will be required to consider five new sets of national security concerns – including cybersecurity – when reviewing foreign investments in the U.S. as part of a new executive order.

CXO Briefing

Industry Cautions on Software Security Regs in the Defense Bill

Trade groups want Congress to remove a provision in the House-passed defense policy bill mandating software bills of materials in some federal acquisition.

CXO Briefing

CISA's Cyber Info Sharing Program Didn't Always Deliver, Watchdog Says

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency did not always provide more than 300 participants of a public-private cyber threat partnership with actionable information to address potential vulnerabilities, according to an oversight report.

Cybersecurity

VA Systems Vulnerable to Cyber Intrusions Due to Lack of Effective Oversight, Report Says

The Department of Veterans Affairs Inspector General's office said the agency is "leaving its systems vulnerable to compromise by impostors who may gain access to protected information."