Outgoing National Cyber Director Harry Coker thinks his office needs more influence over the federal cyber budget but not necessarily more authority on offensive cyber operations.
The compromised third-party offering was a commercial remote services tool not listed in the marketplace for FedRAMP, the government’s cloud security compliance framework.
The incident comes in the final days of the Biden presidency and as officials work to root out China-tied hackers from U.S. telecommunications systems.
VA Secretary Denis McDonough previously told Congress that the department was looking to end its pause on new deployments of the Oracle Cerner software in fiscal year 2025.
Agency Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the tool, known as DHSChat, “will help men and women across DHS draft vital reports, summarize critical information, develop new software, streamline administrative tasks and much more.”
The bipartisan proposal, introduced by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., came out of the efforts of a working group focused on protecting medical institutions from digital attacks.
Some Republicans have proposed eliminating CISA altogether, which could complicate information sharing efforts. More pressing, though, is the ending of federal cyber grants.
The Office of Management and Budget led an effort to assess USDS — even whether it should exist — during the twilight days of the Trump administration. With another Trump White House incoming, the question of what’s next for the government’s digital SWAT team looms.
The Trump administration could fiddle with the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment program or even claw back funds. But the ball will be in states’ courts given how quickly they have moved, and the momentum behind getting people connected.
The measure from Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah., would direct the FCC to develop an online platform that can assess submitted communications and then rate the likelihood that they are scam attempts.