Tag Archives: CISA

Agency Spotlight: Environmental Protection Agency

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The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) mission is to protect human health and the environment. That is accomplished through a number of key efforts, including developing and enforcing regulations, providing grants, studying environmental issues, sponsoring partnerships, and educating the public about the environment through programs and publications.

While the mission of the EPA is decidedly focused on the health of the earth, the challenges it addresses are increasingly coming from cyberspace, with cyber threats becoming a key focus of organizations utilizing natural resources. Continue reading →

The Lesser Known Missions of Homeland Security

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The mission of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is widely understood, "to safeguard the American people, our homeland, and our values." However, in carrying out this mission, DHS touches a number of areas that may not seem intuitively tied to homeland defense but are nonetheless critical challenges facing the nation as well as agencies across government.

Artificial Intelligence

DHS has a key role in securing the homeland from cyber threats. The department's Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is the operational lead for federal cybersecurity and the national coordinator for critical infrastructure security and resilience. With this responsibility, CISA and other DHS agencies play a key role in shaping policy and guidance around emerging technology use. Today, they are keenly focused on helping agencies safely and ethically use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve mission effectiveness.

DHS is leading by example. AI is currently being used to aid border-patrol efforts, combat drug trafficking, and create age-progression estimations of missing children. While implementing AI itself, DHS is also focused on how adversaries may use AI and creating ways to defend against the technology being used to spread disinformation, create more advanced cyber attacks, or speed the development of weapons. Continue reading →

Celebrating 20 Years of Cybersecurity and Preparing for 20 More

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For the past 20 years, October has come to signify more than pumpkins, ghosts, and candy. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) and the National Cybersecurity Alliance have led the annual effort to raise awareness among the general public about everyone's role in keeping our increasingly digital world more secure.

Cybersecurity Awareness Month provides a platform for a wide variety of government and private organizations to deliver education about good cyber hygiene and highlight the role everyday actions have on the security of the systems we depend on. Continue reading →

The Highs and Lows of Strengthening the Federal Workforce

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The federal government has put an emphasis on the need to strengthen the federal workforce. A strong federal workforce is one that is diverse in terms of race, gender, age, and experience. It is also made up of people with the skills needed to utilize and innovate with modern technologies. The results of diversity and hiring efforts have been mixed, providing insight into what really works in recruiting and retaining a strong federal workforce.

Help Wanted = Data Wanted

NASA has been working on improving the diversity of its workforce for over a decade. However, a recent report showed that despite all of the focus and effort, little progress has been made. The report found that demographics of NASA's workforce remain mostly unchanged since 2012 with only small increases of 1% to 2% for some demographic groups. NASA continues to lag behind the general federal workforce demographics with women making up 35% of the NASA workforce as compared to 45% of the general federal workforce. Women make up only 25% of NASA's scientific workforce compared to women holding 31% of scientific jobs elsewhere in government. Continue reading →

Department Spotlight: Department of Homeland Security

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The mission of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may seem straightforward - protect the homeland - but in practice a lot goes into fulfilling that promise. DHS is an incredibly complex organization with a set of agencies that, while focused on the singular mission of keeping America safe, do so in incredibly diverse ways. The Department has laid out six core missions that all support the effort to secure the nation.

Recent efforts of DHS highlight their commitment to these goals. Continue reading →