FCW Insider: March 2

Biden team pledges help for 'damaged' federal workforce

Pam Coleman, the director for performance management at the Office of Management and Budget, said that, "each week we seem to uncover more damage" done to the federal workforce under the Trump administration.

When water utilities get hacked, who should they call?

In the wake of a cybersecurity breach at a public water system, lawmakers have begun questioning what rules are in place to govern those facilities' cybersecurity and what changes may be necessary.

Accelerating digital transformation: the CIO role and why it's important

As the new administration begins to implement its policies, the leadership of the federal CIO and agency CIOs will be critical for delivering better business results and building trust with citizens. MITRE technology management expert Dave Powner explains.

How to improve health IT

The past year has called unprecedented attention to public health systems and their underlying data, but federal agencies' struggles with health IT long predate the COVID-19 pandemic.

Quick Hits

*** Greg Sisson has been named permanent chief information security officer at the Department of Energy. He had been serving as acting CISO for six months prior to his permanent appointment. Sisson has previously served at Energy as deputy CISO and director of cyber operations.

*** The National Security Agency issued guidance last week on the implementation of zero trust principles as a cybersecurity model. "Embracing a zero trust security model, and re-engineering an existing information system based on this security model, is a strategic effort that will take time to achieve full benefits," the document states. "It is not a tactical mitigation response to new adversary tools, tactics, and techniques."

*** The newly reorganized Senate Judiciary Committee announced subcommittee assignments on Monday. Notably, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) will chair the subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) will serve as ranking member on the panel.