The advent of 5G technology opened a new world of possibilities, enabling applications such as autonomous vehicles, the Internet of Things IoT), and smart cities. The next-generation communications standard already in development – 6G – is a revolutionary technology that will provide unprecedented speeds and low latency, making it perfect for innovative use cases such as smart homes, autonomous transportation systems, healthcare, a...

The 2020 election and its aftermath provided a vivid demonstration of many of the risks faced by election officials across the country – and new dangers have emerged in 2024. Physical threats to poll workers have proliferated, AI-generated disinformation showed up in one state’s primary contest, and other AI threats, whether from partisan interests, corporate disinterest or hostile nation-states, loom large. The landscape is so dan...

The federal government invests a lot of time, money and manpower into cybersecurity to protect its IT systems and, by extension, the national interest, from criminals and hostile nation-states. Cybersecurity is such a priority that even the National Security Agency, normally one of the government’s most secretive organizations, released guidance for both public and private sector organizations looking to strengthen their cloud security....

In the rapidly advancing world of artificial intelligence (AI), government agencies are leveraging AI technologies to enhance security, operational efficiency, and data analysis across various sectors. They are being steered through their implementation of AI use by guidance from the Office of Management and Budget. AI In Depth offers a comprehensive look into the groundbreaking initiatives shaping the future of AI in federal operations, such...

Federal agencies’ systems are targeted by hostile interests all the time, whether it’s through a vulnerability in their networks or through a third-party product. The complexity and dynamism of the digital glass houses built on cloud platforms require significant time and effort to rebuild after a breach or a ransomware attack. And most impacted agencies or organizations don’t have an automated virtual blueprint to begin the...

In 2023, 725 data breaches were reported to the Department of Health and Human Services, according to HIPAA Journal. More than 133 million records were exposed or impermissibly disclosed. That’s just one risk in healthcare ecosystems. The dangers extend beyond that: every hospital bed is connected to the internet. People die when hospitals lose power – and if a hospital’s IT systems are compromised all the electronic pieces t...

The compute environment is getting more and more complicated for government agencies. Public cloud and private cloud, on-premises data centers, edge locations, government-owned assets and BYO devices – and now with the integration of AI and advanced cloud services – agencies face the critical task of orchestrating a vast array of data, applications, networks, and systems across increasingly intricate control planes. Blending all th...

The state of Ohio is pursuing an integrated customer approach that improves the user experience, such as creating a digital identity to simplify interactions with agencies while keeping information private and secure. Among its efforts, the Ohio Office of Information Technology is pursuing a “cloud smart” strategy, including acting as a broker for agencies looking at Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service. At the sam...

Rapidly evolving AI technologies offer tremendous opportunities to help federal agencies address today’s most pressing challenges, from the effects of climate change and responding to natural disasters, to improving public health services, to strengthening public safety and national security. The Office of Management and Budget recently released policy guidance to remove unnecessary barriers that hinder agencies’ responsible implem...

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...