Zero trust architecture at its core increases cyber defenses and reduces threats to data exposure, which is more critical than ever as web applications remain a top attack vector for gaining access to sensitive systems and information; attacks on web apps increased from 31.5% in 2020 to 53.6% in 2021, according to Kapersky. Fortunately, new guidance from the Department of Defense (DoD) presents seven pillars that are critical to ZTA success ...

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...

Approaching the one-year anniversary of the Office of Management and Budget’s memorandum on “Moving the U.S. Government Toward Zero Trust Cybersecurity Principles,” this session will reflect on how agencies are meeting the specific criteria while utilizing ZT architecture. OMB’s memorandum involves centralizing identity management to provide enterprise identity and access management services to reduce the burden on agen...

Over the past three years, federal IT has been forced to transition and shift as we face new challenges with hybrid work, the COVID-19 pandemic, and supply chain issues. How we use AI and data have been greatly impacted by the “new normal” we live in. While we’ve faced challenges, new and emerging technologies have assisted in overcoming hurdles of integrating, updating, and training new and current employees on AI and lever...

The challenges and complexity of maintaining a “ready-to-recover” posture grow exponentially as the volume of data, the number of locations and numbers of workloads continue to skyrocket. IT leaders must meet the expectations of their organization in terms of up time and availability as well as managing and predicting costs. Tune into this panel as topic experts discuss how to manage data and applications at scale at the right econ...

We are quickly approaching the two year anniversary of the National AI Initiative Act becoming a law, which created a task force committee to assist the state of AI in the Federal government. The use of AI in the government helps accelerate a lot of processes but it requires extensive work, research, and resources in its implementation. In addition, it requires a uniformed language and understanding of what AI can do for your organization. Iss...

Current guidance has laid out the cybersecurity priorities that federal agencies should adhere to for the upcoming fiscal year 2024 budget cycle. Civilian agencies will need to focus on making investments within the three cyber investment priority areas: Strengthening the Foundations of Our Digitally-Enabled Future, Deepening Cross-Sector Collaboration in Defense of Critical Infrastructure, and Improving the Defense and Resilience of Governmen...

Combating modern-day software supply chain attacks is significantly more complicated than in the past. Adversaries are getting craftier and are no longer waiting to exploit publicly disclosed vulnerabilities to launch a cyberattack. By shifting their focus “upstream,” adversaries can infect a single open source component, which will then be distributed “downstream” using legitimate software workflows and update mechanis...

With rapidly changing priorities, new threats, and an increasingly high expectation from citizens for digital services, government agencies must discover new ways to streamline their delivery of digital applications and systems. On top of that, they need to ensure that data and AI are being used responsibly. Responsible AI ensures that end-to-end model management addresses the specific risks of AI (i.e., discriminatory biases and lack of trans...

There is a focus on ensuring an agency’s cybersecurity is as up to date as possible. But, what does one do when all systems put in place to assist in threat attacks break down? Given the high stakes in today’s cyber threat landscape, a good cyber strategy must be based on the assumption that, sooner or later, the agency’s defenses will fail. This assumption places the agency’s one step ahead of the attack: knowing that...