Cybersecurity

CISA Finalized Directive on Vulnerability Disclosure Policies, Congressman Says 

The binding operational directive would create a legal path for ethical hackers to report website vulnerabilities to government agencies.

Modernization

USDA Unveils Fresh Round of Farmers.gov Updates

New features on the Farmers.gov portal include a dashboard to help farmers track H-2A related application decisions in real time. 

Artificial Intelligence

Study: Customers Increasingly Turn to Self-Support Amid Pandemic

Customers have increased their reliance on chatbots and self-support sessions since the coronavirus began.

Digital Government

Federal Register Tech Issue Caused by Oversized Document

The site directed users to a temporary rundown of regulatory notices for April 30 while two federal offices worked to resolve the issue.

Cybersecurity

Pentagon Launches Coronavirus Mythbuster Site

The Defense Department created a web portal to fact-check bad information circulating about the coronavirus and the military’s response.

Modernization

COVID-19 Forces a New Approach to Public Health Communications

No one likes to wait for answers to questions regarding health issues, especially when there is a lot of uncertainty and conflicting information.

Modernization

OMB to Agencies: Time to Finish IPv6 Transition

Before the end of fiscal 2021, agencies will need to have a plan in place to hit 80% IPv6-only systems by 2025.

Ideas

Where Everyone Goes When the Internet Breaks

Downdetector is a simple, ugly utility, which becomes a weird little life raft for displaced communities when their websites crash.

Digital Government

Data Center Issue Prompts GAO to Revert Redesigned Website Back to an Old Version

The new site’s host company, Contegix, is still working to resolve the technical difficulties, a GAO official said.

Modernization

GAO Launches Upgraded, Mobile-Friendly Website

Agency officials hope it’ll increase users’ access to the watchdog’s work.

Ideas

Astroturfing Is Bad But It's Not the Whole Problem

The shift to a digital process has made commenting easier yet also inadvertently opened the floodgates to voluminous, duplicative and, yes, even “fake” comments.

Modernization

Procurement Reporting Tool Is Moving to SAM But FPDS.gov Isn’t Going Anywhere

GSA is moving the central reporting function of the Federal Procurement Data System to beta.SAM while Treasury works to improve the quality of data reported through the site.

Modernization

Federal Contract Award Data from FPDS Will Be on SAM Before Spring

With the FedBizOpps transition done, the Federal Procurement Data System reporting tool—one of the main functions of the website—will be the next to migrate to GSA’s central contracting site.

Modernization

GSA Publishes Web Standards for Year-Old Digital Services Law

The website design standards pull together existing guidance for complying with the 21st Century IDEA Act, which requires all digital services to have a base level of quality and accessibility.

Modernization

IRS Reforms Free File Program, Drops Agreement Not to Compete With TurboTax

The changes come after ProPublica’s reporting showed how TurboTax maker Intuit tricked customers into paying for tax prep they could have gotten for free.

Emerging Tech

'Dark Patterns' Trick You into Spending More Online

There's a reason a website tells you how many other shoppers are looking at the same item you are.