Author Archive
Derek B. Johnson
Derek B. Johnson is a former senior staff writer at FCW.
Court fight upends $4B DHS software buy
A push to buy a modernized DHS financial management system is being held up by another court battle, one that threatens to again upend a project that already suffers from a long history of failure.
- By Derek B. Johnson
White House wants cybersecurity built into space tech
A White House memo proposes that space-based technology must have cybersecurity built in at the design stage while also allowing flexibility for operators to adapt on the fly.
- By Derek B. Johnson
OMB's interim supply chain rule targets 'untrustworthy' vendors
The Office of Management and Budget's interim regulation sets rules for how an interagency panel can exclude vendors from federal procurement if they are deemed untrustworthy.
- By Derek B. Johnson
U.S. imposes new restrictions on Huawei, semiconductor industry
The Department of Commerce is tightening rules targeting the Chinese telecom's supply chain around computer processing chips and restricting sales of chips made with U.S. technology.
- By Derek B. Johnson
New NDAA pushes more cyber amendments, national director
Much of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission's agenda is being pushed into this year's defense authorization process, including its crown jewel idea of a national cyber director.
- By Derek B. Johnson
DOE eyes 'rip and replace' strategy for power systems
Department of Energy officials say they plan to use a recent executive order to tear out foreign-made parts and components if they believe they pose a national security or economic risk.
- By Derek B. Johnson
DHS contractors face new COVID-19 screening procedures
DHS is putting new restrictions in place for contractors as federal agencies and industry grapple with how best to collaborate on projects under quarantines and social distancing guidelines designed to limit in-person gatherings.
- By Derek B. Johnson
Telecoms, defense contractors favorite targets for foreign hackers
China spent the year targeting telecommunications infrastructure to feed its spying and IP theft, while Iran shifted to target defense contractors in the latter half of the year.
- By Derek B. Johnson
IRS faces challenges with security, modernization and people
A new audit says that the IRS should focus on modernizing IT, improve security control, eliminate critical vulnerabilities in servers used for personal devices and address its "serious" human capital crisis.
- By Derek B. Johnson
DOD's cyber requirements prompt industry questions
The Pentagon wants to make big changes to improve cybersecurity in its industrial base, but the changes have many wonder if it'll work as planned.
- By Derek B. Johnson
Contractors face big changes from DOD's Cybersecurity Maturity Model
Contractors will be facing big changes and tight timelines when DOD's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification goes live next year.
- By Derek B. Johnson
JEDI and C2E: Is it worth comparing the DOD and ODNI cloud plans?
The intelligence community's top IT official said that DOD is "where we were five years ago" when the CIA opted to pursue a single vendor, single cloud solution.
- By Derek B. Johnson
New cyber guidelines out for government contractors
Government contractors are under constant cyber attacks and now NIST has new requirements for contractors.
- By Derek B. Johnson
Will geopolitics muddy the supply chain security efforts?
Members of industry involved in supply chain security efforts worry that international trade and other geopolitical concerns are muddying the security focus of their work.
- By Derek B. Johnson
New CDM award expected in coming days
A new award will attempt to refashion the dashboard to better incorporate emerging technologies and make better use of the "treasure trove" of data created through CDM.
- By Derek B. Johnson
Symantec joins DOD threat-sharing group
Cybersecurity firm Symantec has joined a Department of Defense information-sharing program designed to spot threats targeting the defense contracting base.
- By Derek B. Johnson
IRS asking for $2.7B to modernize IT
The IRS chief wants to fix the agency's long-standing IT problems through a multi-billion dollar, six-year program.
- By Derek B. Johnson
DHS wants to revamp data centers, move to cloud
The Homeland Security Department is looking for industry advice on how it can overhaul its data centers and make better use of the cloud.
- By Derek B. Johnson
DARPA wants tech to fix supply chain uncertainty
DARPA and private companies are looking to improve supply chain security through the use of tiny chips and diamonds that can authenticate IT parts used by the government.
- By Derek B. Johnson
New House modernization panel formed
A new House select committee led by Rep Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.) will examine how to modernize outdated technology and procedures.
- By Derek B. Johnson