Technocrat | October 29, 2018: Suspicious Activity Detected

What’s New This Week:

Suspicious Activity Detected

As the Pentagon’s Cyber Command began its first operation to prevent Russian election meddling, the U.S. was also dealing with an outbreak of security threats close to home. Law enforcement was on high alert after numerous suspicious packages were sent to prominent liberals, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Robert De Niro.

Meanwhile, the Defense Department and its digital team, the Defense Digital Service, has been busy addressing data security with a $34 million expansion of the Hack the Pentagon bug bounty program. The agencies awarded additional contracts to cybersecurity firms HackerOne, Synack, and Bugcrowd. The initial program challenged hackers to find vulnerabilities in the Pentagon’s public-facing websites. Now with additional support from cybersecurity firms, hackers will search for vulnerabilities in the Pentagon’s hardware and physical systems.

The Defense Digital Service is also actively recruiting cybersecurity professionals. The agency just opened a new office in Augusta, Georgia, at the Georgia Cyber Center—in close proximity to the Army Cyber Command and Georgia’s top universities. The new office was dubbed “Tatooine” after the desert planet in Star Wars—which is seemingly a regular source of inspiration for federal agencies (JEDI comes to mind). Tatooine could become a “beacon for technical talent across the military,” according to the agency. BGOV’s Chris Cornillie explains more in this week’s exclusive story.

Since data security and privacy go hand in hand, here are some other developments from the past week…

Apple CEO Tim Cook delivered a fervent speech at a conference in Brussels, calling for better digital privacy laws in the U.S. Cook warned that basic information is now being “weaponized against us with military efficiency.” Cook, who sees a need for stronger federal regulation, also praised the EU’s success with the General Data Protection Regulation in safeguarding personal information collected by companies.

Congress is sifting through at least three bills that deal with data privacy at the moment, and lawmakers expect the issue to continue being the focus of policy discussions. At the same time, the Federal Trade Commission is under scrutiny for not being able to deal with new problems related to online privacy. Critics believe the FTC needs to come up with new ways of policing the tech industry and other data collectors.

There’s more where that came from, so keep reading.

Save The Date For A First Look At Tech And Government Post-Election: What Changed?

Join Bloomberg Government this November 13-15 for critical conversations about the intersection of innovation, technology, and policy one week after the midterm elections. This year Next.2018 is expanding to the InterContinental at The Wharf in D.C., and will bring together business leaders, tech pioneers, and Capitol Hill policy makers to discuss emerging technologies that change the way we live, the complex relationship between Capitol Hill and Big Tech, the impact of the digital revolution on rural and underserved communities, and the disruption that machine learning and AI can bring to employment. Join the conversation this November. To register, click here.

Get Smart  “We are setting our best technical warfighters against our toughest problems with support and training from our Defense Digital Service software engineers and experts.”  —Chris Lynch, director of the Defense Digital Service Read more in this week’s exclusive from Bloomberg Government.

In the Cloud

Lawmakers Call for JEDI Investigation

After all the controversy surrounding the Pentagon’s $10 billion cloud contract, JEDI has now crossed over to the dark side with lawmakers. Two officials have voiced their concern that the government’s requirements for JEDI seem to favor one specific contractor. Read more.

Homeland Security Rethinks Cyber Threat Detection

Homeland Security has tapped cloud companies to develop a new sensor concept that can recognize cyber threats without “relying on a series of chokepoints,” according to Jeanette Manfra, who leads the agency’s cybersecurity division. Read more.

Beyond Legacy

 GSA Turns to AI for Contract Solicitations

The General Services Administration will deploy an artificial intelligence tool to ensure that publicly posted contract solicitations comply with federal disability rules. The new AI tool will use a predictive data engine to detect compliance language on solicitations. Read more.

 How Federal Procurement Is Evolving

The government’s IT modernization efforts are starting to affect federal procurement. Major changes are taking place and automation is happening faster. Here’s how different agencies are handling those changes governmentwide. Read more.

Strategy & Leadership

 U.S. Digital Service Appoints Permanent Execs

Matt Cutts no longer has an acting role at the U.S. Digital Service. The former head of Google’s anti-spam team will become the agency’s director, a role with a two-year term limit. And the current deputy administrator, Eddie Hartwig, will take over as deputy director. Read more.

White House Pitches Civic Service to Tech Leaders

Civic leave for technologists could become reality in the near future. The White House just hosted some of the biggest tech companies and digital shops at an event that explored the benefits of allowing “patriotic citizens with technical expertise” to serve in government. Read more.

Data (In)Security

GSA Failed to Notify Breach Victims on Time

The General Services Administration’s data breach notification policy is the focus of an inspector general’s report that claims that it took the agency more than 800 days to inform some of its employees that their personal information was compromised back in 2015. Read more.

Government Lacks Warning System for Cyberattacks

The federal government doesn’t have a standard warning system for impending cyberattacks. In addition to the government’s disorganized approach to cybersecurity intelligence, there isn’t even a standard characterization of what a cyberattack is, a new report found. Read more.

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