GAO Emphasizes Increased Cyber Risk To U.S. Government and Again Identifies Other Technology Risks

The Comptroller General again finds a number of technology programs and policies to be lacking in the biennial list of risky areas. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued its biennial High-Risk List and a number of technology issues remained at the fore, with some having become more serious since 2019 when the GAO last named … Continue reading GAO Emphasizes Increased Cyber Risk To U.S. Government and Again Identifies Other Technology Risks →

AI Commission Hands In Final Report

An AI commission calls on a massive restricting of the U.S. government, particularly funding, to best the PRC in the race to AI-supremacy. The Congressionally created National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) has completed its work and has submitted its final report recommendations to Congress on how the United States (U.S.) should change U.S. … Continue reading AI Commission Hands In Final Report →

White House Issues Supply Chain EO and Asks Congress For $37 Billion To Help Production of Semi-Conductors

The Biden Administration orders an assessment of key U.S. supply chains, including policy changes. The White House is also seeking funding to help ease the semi-conductor shortage. As rumored, President Joe Biden signed an executive order on United States (U.S.) supply chains. Executive Order (EO) 14017, “America’s Supply Chains” directs the new administration to undertake … Continue reading White House Issues Supply Chain EO and Asks Congress For $37 Billion To Help Production of Semi-Conductors →

Senate Intelligence Views SolarWinds From The Private Sector Perspective

Congress starts chewing over the hack of agencies and companies, hinting at policy prescriptions. The first public hearing on the massive hack associated with SolarWinds and most likely perpetrated by the Russian intelligence services occurred this week. The Senate Intelligence Committee heard from private sector witnesses, including from SolarWinds, in what will be the first … Continue reading Senate Intelligence Views SolarWinds From The Private Sector Perspective →

Wyden Gets DIA To Acknowledge Buying Location Data

Another agency admits to buying and using smartphone location data, using a loophole in the Fourth Amendment. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) has again prompted a national security agency to admit it is circumventing the Fourth Amendment bar against unreasonable searches and seizures in the United States (U.S.) However, given the current state of Fourth Amendment … Continue reading Wyden Gets DIA To Acknowledge Buying Location Data →

FCC Denies Trump Administration’s Request To Block Ligado

The FCC denies the NTIA petition, but language in the FY 2021 NDAA all but pauses the project. Earlier this month, the Trump Administration’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) denied the petition to stay submitted by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to stop the FCC’s April 2020 decision to let Ligado proceed with “a … Continue reading FCC Denies Trump Administration’s Request To Block Ligado →

Preview of Senate Democratic Chairs

It’s not clear who will end up where, but new Senate chairs will change focus and agenda of committees and debate over the next two years. With the victories of Senators-elect Rafael Warnock (D-GA) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA), control of the United States Senate will tip to the Democrats once Vice President-elect Kamala Harris (D) … Continue reading Preview of Senate Democratic Chairs →