Fed Mission Success News Round Up: Cybersecurity and Technologies Shaping Federal Agencies

2/8/21

Welcome to the Fed Mission Success News Round Up brought to you by Makpar. Each week, we will provide a summary of actionable news and insights to help aid in overall mission success for federal agency IT decision-makers and influencers.

Military-Based Concepts, Education are Making Agencies Cyber-Safe.

 This article describes how United States Department of Agriculture and Department of Energy are adopting air force's software factory methodology to implement security into agile development for DevSecOps.

IRS Deploys Bots to Streamline Procurement Processes.

The Internal Revenue Service Procurement started using automated BOTS to help streamline contract modifications and compliance checks. The BOTS can now review and prepare Contract Amendments in minutes which would have otherwise taken 6 hours for a Contracting Officer to review.

Officials Applaud Confirmation of Mayorkas as DHS Secretary Over Cybersecurity Concerns.

Big news for the cybersecurity vendor community: the newly instituted Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, has placed a huge emphasis on cybersecurity as a facet of homeland security. Cybersecurity will be the key priority of the agency.

‘Foreign Adversaries’ In Tech Supply Chain May Be Under the Microscope.

The Information and Communications Technology and Services (ICTS) Rule was an initiative pushed through by the previous presidential administration to build upon new SCRM regulations that were implemented in 2019. The ICTS rule covers several technological areas. The ICTS Rule, if implemented by the Biden Administration, would significantly impact companies that have an international nexus in a number of different sectors, including telecommunications service providers, internet and digital service providers, and data hosting or computing equipment manufacturers. 

Is Biden’s $10B Enough to Make US Cybersecurity Great Again?

President Joe Biden made cybersecurity a top priority for his administration even before he took office last month.

Federal Cyber Agency Reevaluating its Role in Countering Election Disinformation.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the key federal group responsible for election security, is reevaluating its role in countering disinformation and misinformation after the agency stood up a web page to address misleading election claims last year.

Former Head of DHS Digital Service to be New CIO.

Eric Hysen, the former executive director of the Department of Homeland Security’s digital service, is returning to be the agency’s new chief information officer.

From the Makpar Blog …

In case you missed it, here are our latest blog posts:

• In Response to The SolarWinds Breach: The Need to Return to Cybersecurity Fundamentals.[SV1] 

• Is the Product Owner the Most Important Role in Government Agile Development?

• The Fed Mission Success Round Up: GSA 2021 Acquisition Spree; Push for Zero Trust; and NASA Names Permanent CIO

• Cloud Migration Primer for Federal Agencies

• The Fed Mission Success Round Up: IT Modernization and Biden; House Passes FedRAMP Bill; and GSA GWAC

• Q&A: Introduction to Tariq Islam, the New Director of Technology and Solutions at Makpar

• Makpar’s Innovation Engineer Wins at Hackathon

• Congratulations to Acting IRS CIO Nancy Sieger for Being Named to FedScoop 50

• The Fed Mission Success Round Up: Deputy Federal CIO Discusses Future of IT Modernization; 2021 GSA IT Priorities; and DHS SBIR Program Opens

• Breaking Down Cultural Barriers to Cloud Adoption for Federal Government Agencies

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Makpar has over a decade of experience providing high-level strategic and project management services, focused on cybersecurity and cutting-edge technologies. For more information about how we can enhance mission success for your agency, contact us here.