People

White House nominates top Army career civilian official to be DOD's comptroller

The White House has nominated Kathleen Miller, the administrative assistant to the Army secretary, to be the Defense Department’s deputy undersecretary of defense (comptroller).

Acquisition

Biden's first budget ups cyber and tech spending; gives feds a 2.7% pay raise

The Biden administration released its $6 trillion fiscal year 2022 budget proposal on Friday, including $1.5 trillion in discretionary spending across federal agencies.

Cybersecurity

Army wants teleworkers to switch off smart IoT devices

The Army announced it would require all military, civilian, and contractors to rid their telework environments of internet of things devices, such as smart TVs and speakers.

Acquisition

CMMC assessor training expected in late summer

The professional training needed to carry out assessments for the Defense Department's unified cybersecurity standard for contractors won't kick off until later this summer.

Modernization

Software and startups top priorities for DOD tech chief pick

Heidi Shyu, who previously served as the Army's assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, debuted her priorities to modernize the military with a strong emphasis on software during her Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing on May 25.

Acquisition

DOD oversight report tracks pandemic spending

A recent inspector general report looks at contractors who received COVID-19 reimbursement under a $1 billion allocation in the CARES Act

Acquisition

Is it time to test the limits -- and potential -- of expanding CMMC?

Calls for a certified baseline of cybersecurity seem to increase with every cyberattack. Is the CMMC model the right template for a universal and independently verifiable way to protect supply chains?

Cybersecurity

CMMC board adds new training head, board members

Melanie Kyle Gingrich will take over training daily operations for the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Accreditation Body as the vice president of training and development.

Cybersecurity

Moultrie's cyber background clears path to confirmation

President Joe Biden's pick to lead the Defense Department's intelligence and security office, Ronald Moultrie, appears to have a smooth path to Senate confirmation thanks in large part to his cybersecurity experience.

Digital Government

DOD issues 5 data decrees

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks issued a memo detailing DOD's five "data decrees," establishing rules for creating and managing data as an enterprise resource and strategic asset.

Acquisition

Lawmakers press White House for space acquisition chief

House appropriators lamented the absence of a dedicated space acquisition chief, challenging the new administration to make a nomination soon.

Digital Government

Lawmakers grow impatient with delayed Biden budget

House appropriators worry about Army modernization cuts as White House finalizes fiscal 2022 request.

Cybersecurity

DOD expands bug bounty program to public networks, systems

The vulnerability disclosure program, which was started from the Defense Digital Service's 2016 Hack the Pentagon initiative, was initially restricted to public-facing websites and applications.

Modernization

Navy looks to update business systems to improve vessel maintenance

Thomas Harker, the acting Navy secretary, told lawmakers that improved business systems would help enhance performance and reduce costs.

Acquisition

DOD seeks clean acquisition data for better policy oversight

Shelby Oakley, the director for contracting and national security acquisition for the Government Accountability Office, said the ability to conduct data-driven oversight was the Pentagon's acquisition office's biggest challenge.

People

Boosting student loan debt forgiveness could pay off for cyber recruiting

Almost all Defense Department personnel who have sought student loan debt forgiveness have been denied -- a trend that, if unchanged, could make it even harder to recruit and retain tech talent.

People

Senate defense committee delays NDAA markup

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), chairman for the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced that the committee would delay marking up the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act due to "uncertainty" in White House budget delivery.

People

Biden selects former Army acquisition exec for DOD's top tech job

The White House announced it would nominate Heidi Shyu, former assistant secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, to be DOD's undersecretary for research and engineering.

Acquisition

Consortium OTAs suffer from lack of guidance, data, IG finds

The Defense Department's internal watchdog found a lack of data on other transaction awards made through consortiums.

Digital Government

The Defense Information Systems Agency: Overview

DISA is driving cybersecurity, cloud and enterprise services across DOD, including the expansion of secure telework options.