The Fed Mission Success Round Up: Cybersecurity, Acquisition, Modernization, and More in Federal Agencies

Weekly News Round Up
Written By Fareeha Khan

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.

Industry seeks consensus on government’s secure software compliance process

Government and industry need to reach consensus on a supply chain maturity model allowing tech companies to definitively prove they’re in compliance with the recently mandated Federal framework for secure software development. Exactly which artifacts — like threat models, log entries, source code files and vulnerability scan reports — and relevant metadata agencies should require companies to present in support of their attestations they meet Federal software requirements remains up for debate.

Lawmakers Push to Reauthorize and Possibly Expand Secret Service’s Cyber Crime Training Hub

Legislation recently introduced in the House of Representatives would reauthorize the U.S. Secret Service’s Federally funded training hub for digital evidence and cybercrime investigations—and, among other tweaks, codify its curriculum.

Sensitive Health Data Of 50 Million Americans Hacked Or Breached Last Year: Analysis

Experts have claimed that the increase in hacking is due to the health industry's speedy move to digital systems, including remote work causing more people to use personal devices to access private data.

Agencies Are Looking to Streamline Payment Data Collection in Contracting

The General Services Administration , Defense Department and NASA are aiming to improve data collection processes and the use of information collected around payments made to Federal contractors.

GSA Announces Four-Fold Increase in Contracting Opportunity Goals for SDBs

The General Services Administration has announced a major increase in annual goals to support contracting with small disadvantaged businesses (SDBs) as the Biden administration aims to steer $100 billion worth of expanded contracting opportunities to historically marginalized firms by 2025.

DHS Seeks to Automate Video Surveillance On ‘Soft Targets’ Like Transit Systems, Schools

The Department of Homeland Security wants industry to develop video analytics that can detect threats caught on cameras at schools and transit systems in real time, which runs the risk of blanket surveillance. The DHS Science & Technology Directorate issued a solicitation that gives companies two years to create products capable of automatically flagging anomalies — like unattended bags or people being where they shouldn’t — to monitor vulnerable, populated places deemed “soft targets.”

GSA Relaunches Federal IT Dashboard

The General Services Administration has officially relaunched the Federal IT dashboard, a one-stop resource with information on federal agency information technology projects.

New bill would mandate legacy IT inventories, modernization plans

Agencies finally would be on the hook to address the ever growing need to modernize legacy technology systems.

EIS Deadlines Can Be a Catalyst for Long-Term Transformation

It has been more than two years since the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract was activated, which means the final EIS deadlines are fast approaching. By March 31, 90% of an agency’s telecom inventory must be moved to EIS, and by Sept. 30 that increases to 100%. Those agencies that have not yet chosen an EIS provider risk incurring penalties, but there is even more at stake: our long-term growth and ability to compete.

Blockchain: Emerging Technology Offers Benefits for Some Applications but Faces Challenges

Blockchain has many potential non-financial applications. For example, it could be used to organize supply chains, create less hierarchical organizations, and document title registries for real estate. However, most such efforts are not yet beyond the pilot stage and face challenges.

IRS Probe Finds Nearly $2 Billion In Coronavirus Stimulus-Related Fraud

IRS investigators have uncovered more than $1.8 billion in fraudulent activity related to Federal COVID-19 stimulus funds.

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