Phishing continues to be one of the most common internet crimes today, but the stakes have risen enormously as our society has become online-driven. More than 80% of these attacks involve credential misuse in the network. With increased remote workers, users need a seamless mobile device experience to be able to do their jobs. Derived credentials allow agencies to utilize existing investments, adopt modern protocols, and apply phishing-resista...

As part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, Congress included $1 billion over the next four years for state, local and tribal governments to strengthen their cybersecurity. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency established the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program and the Tribal Cybersecurity Grant Program to distribute funds. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is responsible for administration and...

The state of Texas wants to accelerate the use of next-generation technology to deliver secure digital services. To that end, it has released its 2022-2026 State Strategic Plan for Information Resources Management, which sets four overarching goals: Secure IT service delivery Advanced data management Strategic digital transformation Proactive approach to emerging technologies Just as Texas agencies are looking to modernize and transform their...

The upheaval in the American workforce due to the Covid-19 pandemic and volatility in the nation’s economy provide a perfect opportunity for the government to retain the next generation of employees. Gen X workers are generally between 40 and 54 years old, in the prime of their lives, concerned with stability and opportunities to improve their own and their families’ quality of life. The Gen Z cadre, roughly 20 to 24 years old, are...

Ransomware continues to be one of the single biggest threats to government networks, and IT professionals are increasingly worried about employees who work remotely ignoring security guidance and clicking on malware-infested links or attachments. Their concerns are justified, particularly with regard to highly evasive adaptive threats that target web browsers and take active measures to avoid detection by current-generation security. These att...

Government’s Journey to IPv6 – What It Means for Agencies Federal agencies have been mandated to migrate to IPv6 – the next-generation Internet protocol, designed to replace version 4 (IPv4) that has been in use since 1983. The depletion crisis that exists with IPv4 unique addresses requires the shift to the robust, 128-bit IPv6 with its 340 undecillion or 340 trillion trillion trillion unique addresses. The explosion of Inte...

Government guidance on cybersecurity is gaining momentum but it's still unable to keep pace with current trends. Changes in how we work (such as remote working) and evolving cyber threats will continue to endanger state, local, tribal, territorial, and educational networks. Today’s threat landscape means that private and public sector organizations can no longer rely on their users or on detection-based security tools to protect their us...

5G for Government – From Warehouses to Virtual Reality The advent of 5G – fifth-generation mobile communications – is creating a host of opportunities for government applications. A "smart warehouse" at Naval Base Coronado is delivering on optimization of the facility’s operations, including identification of materials and supplies, organization, storage, retrieval and transportation. Meanwhile, the U.S. Army is develop...

It’s that time of year again, when agencies must deal with the effects of operating under a congressional Continuing Resolution. This is not a new exercise – according to an August report by the Government Accountability Office, the federal government has had to operate under CRs in 43 of the past 46 years. While a CR generally continues the funding levels set in the previous fiscal year’s budget, it hurts agencies’ abi...

Just as real-world governments, militaries and diplomats are working to contain kinetic violence in 2022, cyber conflicts in the virtual world are taking place almost every week. While Americans and American agencies have not been as targeted as other countries – Ukraine, Finland, Greece, the United Kingdom, Montenegro, and Latvia, to name just a few – cyber defenders are faced with an onslaught of attacks, whether from criminal or...