Compliance theater is over: What FedRAMP 20x means for every vendor selling to government
COMMENTARY | Attacks now move faster than human-paced patch cycles can keep up with and a compliance program built around periodic reviews will not catch them.
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Tech bills of the week: Overseeing algorithm-set rental prices; and halting federal overreach in data center construction
Legislation introduced this week seeks to police the use of algorithmic price-setting for home rentals and rein in how the federal government influences new data center construction.
Counties and cities sue over counterterrorism grant rule changes
The four local governments said the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to tie the grants to election security measures were unconstitutional, as states run elections, not the feds.
House Democrats ask GAO to review CISA workforce cuts
Lawmakers want Congress’ watchdog to assess what capabilities were lost after the cyber agency shed roughly one-third of its staff.
VA boosts EHR modernization contract with Oracle by $17B
The modified agreement raises the contract’s total value to just under $27 billion.
Closing federal security gaps in an era of AI-enabled attacks
COMMENTARY | Agencies that align IT, security, data and AI leadership can be prepared for the speed and scale of tomorrow’s AI threats.
FDA considers doctor-like ‘competency-based’ tests for medical generative AI
The Trump administration released ideas for regulating large language models used in health care as companies roll out chatbots to help patients manage mental health, diabetes and other medical conditions.
What Trump’s tech strategy means for the military, deterring China, and the future of AI
The strategy includes key provisions to encourage innovation—but also has a glaring omission.
AI is already on the job, and Census is keeping count
New U.S. Census Bureau data shows that AI is quickly becoming a routine workplace tool, while government leaders are finding that training, guardrails and employee-led experimentation can help turn everyday use into meaningful adoption.
The watchdog gets watched: GAO’s hiring process length faces scrutiny
In a new report by the inspector general for the Government Accountability Office, investigators also found that in fiscal 2024 the agency excluded certain data from time-to-hire calculations and was inconsistent about when the hiring process started.
Report calls for deterrence mechanisms, government participation in AI-biology security
“The federal government just does not have enough experts left to handle this threat or even be able to coordinate among outside groups without significant immediate investment,” one federal official said of the report’s findings.
DOJ charges 17 Iranians in cybertheft campaign
Prosecutors say the Mabna Institute — which conducted intrusions for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, among other campaigns — stole 31.5 terabytes of academic data and breached email accounts at U.S. agencies and companies.
Social Security expands electronic health record sharing to speed up disability claims adjudication
A health data sharing superhighway “allows SSA to access complete, structured medical records within seconds or minutes for claimants, helping to significantly reduce disability claim processing times,” an agency official told Nextgov/FCW.
The Russian hurdle in Trump’s new offensive cyber program
The White House wants private companies to help take down cybercriminals overseas. But in Russia, the line between criminal hackers and the government is difficult to draw.
CISA contemplates whether to hire security software buying help
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a sources sought notice that describes its desire to bring in a company that can help manage enterprise license and materials purchases.
Labor looks to AI to tackle accommodation requests from disabled employees
Employees say they’ve waited months or longer for decisions, as the Labor Department considers using AI to sort requests and flag missing documentation.
White House S&T strategy calls for new approaches to safeguard US research
The new guidance says the U.S. "will further strengthen its workforce by attracting and retaining top-tier global talent in critical national security S&T fields” — a departure from last year’s National Security Strategy that said global talent “undercuts American workers.”