GovConJudicata Weekly Debrief (3/15–19)

This week's Weekly Debrief covers bipartisan efforts to increase transparency in government, a new federal cyber role, SolarWinds' impact on federal agencies, DoD information-warfare threats, DoD IT supply chains, DoD's plan to streamline contractor clearance appeals.

Congress

GovExec – Lawmakers Unveil and Advance Bills Seeking to Increase Transparency of the Federal Government

• "A slew of bipartisan bills have been introduced and considered in Congress recently to buttress transparency of federal agencies’ budgets, operations and more."

Cyber

FedNewsNet – White House reviewing National Cyber Director role as Congress presses for governmentwide leadership

• "The list of open senior-level cybersecurity positions across government is starting to cause some alarm on Capitol Hill. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee members questioned administration cyber officials yesterday about who is the one belly button to push when there is a cyber incident."

CyberScoop – Feds aren't well prepared to spot SolarWinds-style hacks at agencies, CISA official says

• "In one of the bluntest assessments of U.S. government security shortcomings around the SolarWinds hack, a top Department of Homeland Security official told senators on Thursday that federal defenses simply aren’t aligned properly to detect advanced attackers."

Defense

NextGov – Key Official: Defense Information Operations ‘Not Evolving Fast Enough’

• "The U.S. military isn’t keeping up with information-warfare threats from Russia, Iran, and China, defense officials told lawmakers on Tuesday, adding that the military needs to prioritize information operations, diversify its information-ops units, and relearn how to coordinate IO across units, forces, and services."

Breaking Defense – A ‘Wake-Up Call’ For Defense IT, Coms Supply Chains: ODNI

• "Joyce Corell of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence told the public and private sectors today that the past year has been a “wake-up call” on the “fragility” of US information and communications tech (ITC) supply chains. It’s not just the weaknesses in domestic and international supply chains that were laid bare during the pandemic, Corell said. It’s also the recent, aggressive cyberespionage campaigns conducted by Russian and Chinese intelligence services against US public and private entities."

Federal Times – DoD plan will streamline contractor security clearance appeals

• "Department of Defense contractors who believe that their security clearances were unfairly denied or revoked will soon all go to the same authority to get reviewed, under a DoD memo quietly issued in the last days of the Trump administration."

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