The Continuous Diagnostic and Mitigation (CDM) program has matured and broadened its offerings and full deployment of agency dashboards is on the horizon. In the last year, however, ominous high profile breaches in commercial and critical infrastructure networks have highlighted the continued importance of strong cybersecurity across federal networks. In the wake of the pandemic, federal IT managers are faced with an increasingly complex cyber...

Time and time again, data breaches demonstrate the pitfalls of relying on detection to identify malicious activities taking place on the network, rather than prevention of the threat in the first place. The emphasis—post event—has been what the agency did wrong. But, what if we took a different approach that allowed agencies to share what has been working for them? Both before and after. Some tips and lessons from folks who have be...

In just a few short years, Robotic Process Automation has gone from a few scattered pilot projects to an essential tool deployed by dozens of agencies. Hundreds of thousands of staff-hours have been saved, and organizations are increasingly looking to leverage artificial intelligence to automate more-complicated workflows. Automation at scale comes with challenges, however -- from credential management to siloed systems to ensuring that outdat...

Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) and Cybersecurity Supply Chain Risk Management (C-SCRM) have gained increased attention recently as several high profile incidents compromised a number of federal systems. In the wake of those incidents, The White House, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the National Institute for Standards and Technology have all stepped in to provide new guidance and tools for agencies to improve the...

Although it got an encouraging $1 billion funding shot in the arm from the American Rescue Plan Act in early 2020, the effort to modernize and transform an aging infrastructure remains a complicated task that takes coordination, executive buy-in and detailed security and data strategies to make it work. The $1 billion set aside for the Technology Modernization Fund in the ARP smooths some modernization budgeting issues for agencies, which have...

Federal agencies must shift fully to electronic records management by December 2022, when the National Archives and Records Administration will stop accepting new paper records. Successfully making that transition entails far more than simply digitizing existing documents. Meeting the goals set by M-19-21 demands changes to current business processes, dramatically different approaches to content classification, new systems that are digital thr...

Emerging technologies have always offered the promise of better, faster, cheaper processing and problem solving, but they also bring a host of challenges with them, from security and operational issues to privacy concerns. The past year has also shown that necessity remains the mother of invention, as agencies moved to adapt technology to remote workplace models, as well as roll out new services and capabilities demanded by the pandemic. Where...

The Intersection between the Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity & Acquisition The Federal Insights Exchange is thrilled to host a dynamic panel discussion on successfully aligning the Executive Order on Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity with the Department of State’s contracts. While much of the EO aims to create consistent standards and regulations, the EO also includes requirements and reporting respon...