Critical infrastructure services in North America face accelerating threats from both nation-states and other sophisticated threat actors. Governments globally are grappling with how to best balance incentives, support, and direct oversight. Meanwhile, critical infrastructure owners and operators face significant challenges with technology, staff resources, and expertise to better manage cyber resilience. For instance, the healthcare industry...

As agencies increasingly migrate their workloads to the cloud, it is crucial to understand the implications and benefits of writing natively to the cloud, which enables organizations to optimize their data protection strategies, streamline operations, and enhance overall security. “Writing natively” is about building, deploying and managing software apps in the cloud computing environment. Taking this approach makes it possible to...

After the events of the past few years, security is in the forefront of election officials’ minds. The individual states are responsible for conducting elections, so the National Association of Counties (NACo) at its annual legislative conference just conducted a series of workshops and panels on the range of threats facing election workers and voters alike. While physical threats, intimidation and harassment are primary concerns, there...

Educational institutions and state and local agencies historically have been challenged to keep up with technological advancements – their budgets are tight, their users are increasingly distributed post-pandemic, and they face significant operating expenses from maintaining legacy architectures and equipment. Digital transformation is appealing, but for many organizations the challenge is where to start. As the generation of data has ex...

One Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) program that has been widely adopted throughout the federal government also is one of its longest-established – the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program. Introduced in 2012, the program provides a dynamic approach to strengthening the cybersecurity of government networks and systems. The program has evolved over the past decade to add new capabilities, including c...

Government healthcare leaders know that patient experience and workforce engagement are intertwined, but often teams lack the time and resources to analyze this data in real time and understand the connection. Additionally, the pandemic has exposed lingering inequities in the way healthcare, and other social services are delivered at the federal, state, and local levels. Leaders agree that improving patient experience and enhancing employee en...

The Congressional Research Service noted a decade ago that, “Intelligence is valuable only if it can be shared with consumers who need it, but, to the extent that it is more widely shared, risks of compromise are enhanced.” That report was prompted in part by 9/11. In the twenty years since, “need to know” has become “need to share” throughout the federal government as agencies have come to realize the value...

The importance of data isn’t new. What has changed is the ever-growing number of sources generating data – mobile devices, cloud-based software, IoT sensors, and more – and how organizations are using emerging technologies to rapidly unlock its value. As the recent wave of ransomware attacks demonstrates, agencies have come to recognize that protecting that data is imperative. By building in security they can accelerate innov...

Maintaining the myriad networks throughout the Department of Defense can mean the difference in mission operations. Whether providing critical information to troops at the tip of the spear, monitoring and protecting sensitive supply chains, or any of a thousand other responsibilities, military systems require “five 9s” reliability.Challenges in this environment are compounded by malware threats, software constantly in need of patch...

As the federal government ramps up its digital transformation, cybersecurity is a growing concern — and for good reason. Recent cybersecurity breaches of government systems underscore the urgency of strengthening U.S. cybersecurity capabilities, and the new Administration has proposed $9B to modernize the Federal IT infrastructure to prevent cyberattacks. Hundreds of agencies rely on information technology to carry out their mission and,...