FCW Insider: Oct. 1

DHS poised for major EIS commitment

The Department of Homeland Security is getting ready to implement a big part of its plans for the federal government's $50 billion next-generation telecommunications contract.

Lawmakers push for 'attitudinal' shift at the Pentagon in new report

The House Armed Services Committee's Future Defense Task Force issued its final report, stressing unmanned and AI initiatives.

Trump's diversity training purge becomes a debate topic

At the first presidential debate, Donald Trump said that he had ordered trainings on race and gender sensitivity training canceled because the curriculum is "racist." Joe Biden countered saying, "he's the racist."

Quick Hits

*** President Donald Trump signed a continuing resolution into law to keep the government funded through Dec. 11, the White House announced just before 1 a.m. on Oct. 1, averting a government shutdown at the start of fiscal year 2021. The president didn't sign the bill until after midnight, but a shutdown wasn't triggered because the White House had signaled its intent to sign the bill. On Wednesday, afternoon, the U.S. Senate voted 84-10 to pass the continuing resolution.

*** The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the not-for-profit, industry-led Cyber Readiness Institute (CRI) partnered to help companies protect their millions of teleworkers as remote work becomes increasingly ingrained in everyday operations. CISA and CRI issued a toolkit with security best practices and recommendations for executive leaders, IT professionals, and teleworkers. The toolkit covers policy details for executives, technical details for IT workers and practical advice for teleworkers' home networks. All three groups, said CISA and CRI, have critical roles to play as organizations' telework arrangements induced by the COVID pandemic, shift from temporary to long-term, or even become a permanent part of their operations.

*** The China Task Force, a group set up by the minority Republicans in the House of Representatives, issued a report Sept. 30 that warned of the "generational" threat posed by the China, and recommended the development of alternative supply chains for U.S. industry and public sector to source critical technology products.

*** Don't miss today's Federal 100 Winner Showcase, featuring cybersecurity leaders from CISA, NIST, the Army and OMB. Learn more and register here.