The Fed Mission Success Round Up: Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Misuse of Cryptocurrency, FISMA Reform and More in Federal Agencies

Weekly News Round Up
Written By Fareeha Khan

Tuesday October 11, 2021

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.

Biden 'Confident' in The Nation's Cybersecurity Efforts as Cybersecurity Awareness Month Begins

President Biden on Friday expressed confidence in measures taken by his administration during his first months in office to secure the nation against mounting cyber threats as Cybersecurity Awareness Month kicks off.

DOJ Announces Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced a new team within the Justice Department created to investigate the misuse of cryptocurrency platforms and protect consumers.

DOJ to Hit Government Contractors with ‘Very Hefty Fines’ If They Fail to Disclose Data Breaches

The Department of Justice launched a “civil cyber fraud initiative” that will punish government contractors and other firms that receive Federal funding with severe fines if they fail to disclose data breaches.

Senate Committee Passes Major FISMA Changes—Including a New Definition of ‘Major Incident’

Among much else, the first update to FISMA in seven years would charge the director of the Office of Management and Budget, in coordination with the National Cyber Director and the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, to redefine the term “major incident” for the purpose of agencies’ reporting to CISA and Congress.

OMB Opts for Zero Trust Goals in Lieu of Impossible Deadline

The Office of Management and Budget didn’t mandate that agencies have zero-trust architectures within a few years of its draft strategy because that’s not possible, according to the Federal chief information security officer.

DHS Releases Roadmap to Post-Quantum Cryptography

The Department of Homeland Security wants agencies to protect their data and systems from advancements in quantum computing, likely to break some widely used encryption methods, using a roadmap released Monday.

NSA Cyber Chief Spells Out Near-Term Priorities

Ensuring the U.S. has next-generation encryption necessary for the post-quantum era and reversing the recent increase in fallout from ransomware attacks are among National Security Agency cyber officials’ top areas of focus in the near-term.

Deputy National Security Adviser Lays Out Goals for Upcoming 30 Nation Meeting on Ransomware

Top cyber officials highlighted the importance of defensive measures as lawmakers move on related initiatives, including a bill to identify systemically important critical infrastructure.

IRS’ New Digital Case Management System Failed to Meet Early Expectations

The IRS is in the midst of streamlining its sprawling case management system into a single, digital system but the program has struggled to meet user expectations and accessibility requirements mandated by law.

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Fareeha Khan
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