Fed 100 News Today

The deadline for submissions is Dec. 24.

Quick Hits *** FireEye this morning published its annual M-Trends report highlighting a variety of cybersecurity trends in 2020 as well as the firm’s work on the hacking campaign against SolarWinds Orion. Among the trends the firm observed was a noticeable spike in ransomware and tactics used by its operators, increased cyberattacks as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and a growing number of attacks on the retail and hospitality and healthcare industries. *** CACI International has named...

The latest news and analysis from FCWs reporters and editors.

By Justin Katz   The White House confirmed plans to nominate John C. Inglis and Jen Easterly to key cybersecurity roles in the Biden administration. President Joe Biden will nominate John “Chris” Inglis, the former deputy director of the National Security Agency, to become the first national cyber director, according to a statement from National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Sullivan also said the White House will nominate Jen Easterly, a veteran intelligence official, to lead the Cybers...

Sen. King speaks at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I. (U.S. Navy photo) Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), one of the chairs of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, told reporters on Wednesday he and other lawmakers are drafting legislation that would mandate private sector companies supporting critical infrastructure to notify the government if their network is breached. "The commission will be recommending a breach notification law applying to critical infrastructure shortly, probably within the ...

Quick Hits *** Democrats in both chambers of Congress introduced a bill that would give healthcare professionals at the Department of Veterans Affairs working under Title 38 status the same collective bargaining opportunities as other VA employees. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) are the lead sponsors of the VA Employee Fairness 5 Act of 2021, which has the backing of the American Federation of Government Emplo...

By Justin Katz   More than a dozen lawmakers from both parties on a key House committee are seeking information from multiple cabinet secretaries and agency chiefs that the breach involving SolarWinds Orion has had on their respective organizations. The letters sent on Wednesday by the House committee on energy and commerce were sent to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, Health and Human Services Ac...

By Natalie Alms   The National Academy of Public Administrations congressionally mandated report on Office of Personnel Management concludes that the federal human resources agency should remain independent. The report was ordered in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act at the behest of House Democrats who had thwarted the Trump administrations plan to merge OPM into the General Service Administration and wanted a top-down look at the functioning of the agency. "OPM as we know it today ...

By Natalie Alms   Within 24 hours of receiving its most substantial boost yet, the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) awarded the Department of Labor $9.6 million to modernize its enterprise data infrastructure on Friday. The announcement of the 11 th ever TMF project came the day after the fund received a $1 billion funding boost from the American Rescue Plan. Thats a dramatic expansion for the fund, which has been getting appropriations of around $25 million. "The news of the Technology Mo...

Quick Hits Deb Haaland, a Democratic member of the House of Representatives, to lead the Department of the Interior by a vote of 51 to 40 on Monday. Haaland becomes the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary. The Interior Department employs more than 60,000 people and spends $1.4 billion on IT annually. *** Stefanie Tompkins was sworn in on Monday as the 23rd director of the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency. Tompkins is returning to DARPA after a stint as vice presid...