Ever since the issuance of Executive Order 14028, issued in May 2021 to improve cybersecurity across the entire government by implementing a zero trust architecture, federal agencies have been hard at work to meet the requirement. Then, in October 2023 – less than 18 months later – a new executive order, 14110, was released on the “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence.” These are...

Agencies increasingly rely on Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms such as Salesforce for mission-critical functions, which offers them numerous benefits including flexibility, reducing upfront IT resource costs and delegating upgrades and patches to the provider. Using Salesforce does not remove the agencies’ responsibility for cybersecurity, however, and SaaS applications face their own risks, including misconfigurations, poor access...

When FBI Director Christopher Wray speaks publicly about the cyberthreat posed by the Chinese government to U.S. critical infrastructure, it is past time to take the danger seriously. “The PRC [People’s Republic of China] has made it clear that it considers every sector that makes our society run as fair game in its bid to dominate on the world stage, and that its plan is to land low blows against civilian infrastructure to try to...

The premise of Moore’s law is that the speed and capability of computers can be expected to double every two years. Unspoken but implied is that new technologies will be introduced at a similar clip – along with new, sometimes unforeseen, challenges. Cybersecurity professionals know all about Moore’s law. For instance, the past 18 months has brought artificial intelligence (AI) into the mainstream, introducing plenty of both...

There are plenty of benefits to innovative new technologies, from greater efficiency to cost savings to customer satisfaction. It is rare, however, for a new technology to truly replace existing IT – rather, it gets incorporated into or bolted onto current systems. This approach, along with the explosion of mobile devices and proliferation of software and SaaS applications, dramatically increases and clouds an Agency’s cyber footpr...

Government agencies at all levels face cyber threats at an increasing rate. Ransomware attacks alone increased by 70% year over year in 2023. Yet agencies are constrained by budget limitations and the shortage of cybersecurity professionals, leading to trying to manage from crisis to crisis and never catching up. Automating security workflows can help agencies get a handle on their challenges and prioritize their security needs, but it isn...

In today’s interconnected digital landscape, application programming interfaces (APIs) play a pivotal role in facilitating seamless communication and data exchange between various applications and systems. However, with this increased connectivity comes heightened security risks, particularly concerning the protection of sensitive data in those APIs. One of the most notorious examples of API risk is the Cambridge Analytica scandal in the...

All the elements of the U.S. healthcare system are under siege by hackers. A recent article in Modern Healthcare reported that “[o]ver the past five years, there’s been a 256% increase in large breaches reported to [the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services] involving hacking and a 264% increase in ransomware.” Federal health agencies face the same risks – and private-sector attacks ripple through the agencies, a...

The continuous evolution of technology presents us with a dynamic landscape filled with both promise and challenges. As the internet gained widespread adoption, it revolutionized various aspects of our lives, introducing innovations such as online shopping and real-time news updates, alongside issues like spam, phishing, and malware. Traditionally, government entities have been cautious in adopting new technologies, often due to regulatory con...