Welcome to the second installation of “This Week in Government Tech Media,” a weekly blog in which we take a quick look at the stories generating the most buzz among media leaders covering the government IT space.
This week saw continuing coverage of the fallout resulting from the global IT outage caused by a software update from cybersecurity company Crowdstrike. Perhaps the most prolific reporter on this incident’s effects on government was Nextgov/FCW’s David DiMolfetta, who published a series of articles throughout the week, beginning last Friday when he described the outages’ effects on agencies such as the Social Security Administration. That was followed on Monday by his article on “How the CrowdStrike outage carved out new opportunities for hackers,” and another piece on Wednesday detailing the outage’s link to a new threat detection system. His in-depth coverage continued into late yesterday with his look at a possible silver lining of the outage: it happened during the summer so its effect on schools was less severe.
Of course, Nextgov/FCW was not the only federal tech news outlet on the case. Coverage appeared across numerous publications, including Signal, FedScoop and Federal News Network.
Cybersecurity
The Crowdstrike outage somewhat overshadowed other big news in the federal cyber world. Tim Starks of CyberScoop reported on the FBI warning of increased activity by North Korean hacker group APT45, known for its attacks on defense-related organizations as well as other targets. MeriTalk’s John Curran also covered the news, as did the tireless DiMolfetta in Nextgov/FCW. Carley Welch of Breaking Defense wrote about the specific threat this group poses to the Defense community.
ExecutiveGov reported that Bridget Bean was just named the new executive director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Bean previously served as acting deputy administrator for resilience at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and deputy chief operating officer and chief human capital officer at the Small Business Administration. ExecutiveGov also shared the news that the White House named Harry Wingo, a former U.S. Navy SEAL officer CEO of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, to serve as deputy national cyber director.
In other cyber news, MeriTalk reported on comments by Mark Kitz, Program Executive Officer for the Army’s Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications-Tactical, on challenges related to the service’s goal to comply with the guidelines of the Pentagon’s Zero Trust Strategy by fiscal year 2027.
In late-breaking news, Caroline Nihill of FedScoop had an advance look at the final FedRAMP guidance to be issued by the White House today.
Civilian
Multiple outlets reported on a reorganization at the Department of Health and Human Services. Edward Graham of Nextgov/FCW reported that the restructuring will consolidate management of technology, data, AI and health IT. Cate Burgan of MeriTalk wrote that the reorg “will streamline and bolster technology, cybersecurity, data, and AI strategy and policy functions.”
There’s also been quite a bit of coverage around the Department of Energy this week, with Alexandra Kelley of Nextgov/FCW reporting that the department is looking at ways of using AI to help the U.S. achieve its clean energy goals and that researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory are boosting efforts to leverage AI in service of national security objectives. Elsewhere, ExecutiveGov reported that Oak Ridge National Laboratory is seeking to upgrade its high-performance computing systems.