FedScoop Radio

Federal agencies are trying to slow the flow of cybersecurity talent leaving government in addition to bringing new talent in. According to one solutions expert, the cybersecurity field must rethink how the next generation is being taught and welcomed to the field. “They understand a lot of these [cybersecurity] concepts, they just don’t have the hands on,” says Eric Irizarry. “We don’t teach those concepts in school. A lot of the school programs are about programming, understanding applications and stuff like that, but we don't teach the piping of what's the internet, the network.” This podcast was produced by Scoop News Group for The Daily Scoop Podcast and underwritten by MFGS, Inc. Guest: Eric Irizarry, Solutions Architect, MFGS, Inc. Host: Francis Rose, Host, The Daily Scoop Podcast

Whether it be to save time, to save money, or a lack of people in the workforce, pre-made technology solutions are becoming increasingly popular for the federal government. According to one IT expert, this is helping government organizations accelerate efforts including cloud adoption. This podcast was produced by Scoop News Group for The Daily Scoop Podcast and underwritten by AWS in collaboration with Applied Insight and Boeing. Guests: Chad Beaudin, chief engineer for DevSecOps at Boeing and Chris Smith, director of engineering at Applied Insight Host: Francis Rose, host, The Daily Scoop Podcast

As organizations begin to transition out of pandemic response, many will use the zero-trust architecture adopted during remote work to continue bolstering their security posture. According to one chief security officer, this means prioritizing endpoint protection. “If you think about the core pillars and constructs of zero trust, one of the more important ones is the endpoint,” says Sean Frazier, federal CSO at Okta. “Almost everything these days with regard to endpoint is mobility.” Guest: Sean Frazier, Federal Chief Security Officer, Okta Host: Francis Rose, Host, The Daily Scoop Podcast This podcast was produced by Scoop News Group for The Daily Scoop Podcast and underwritten by Okta.

Cybersecurity has quickly become a top priority for agencies across government. According to a former FedRAMP director, budget constraints are making IT modernization projects, like cloud adoption, a driver for cybersecurity upgrades. “When you look at it conservatively, only 10-to-15% of the budget on IT is spent on R&D, and maybe another 10-to-15% spent on modernization,” says Matt Goodrich of Salesforce. “Add in cybersecurity risks and that’s not enough money” Guest: Matt Goodrich, principal solutions architect, Salesforce Host: Francis Rose, Host, The Daily Scoop Podcast This podcast was produced by Scoop News Group for The Daily Scoop Podcast and underwritten by Salesforce.

Federal agencies are now tasked with rapidly integrating the customer experience and cybersecurity components of the President’s Management Agenda. According to one IT expert, being able to do this at speed will allow organizations to consistently tie together cybersecurity and operational capabilities. “Really driving the ability to reach compliance and operational security in context will make a huge difference,” says Arlette Hart, master solution architect at Leidos and former FBI chief information security officer. “And it’ll help ensure that the people who are using the systems really understand the safety and have reassurance that their information is secure and they can use these systems securely and safely.” Guest: Arlette Hart, master solution architect, Leidos Host: Francis Rose, host, The Daily Scoop Podcast This podcast was produced by Scoop News Group for The Daily Scoop Podcast and underwritten by Leidos.

As organizations begin releasing their back-to-office plans, human capital and technology leaders in government are grappling with finding the right balance in the hybrid work world. According to one technology evangelist, it’s most important for these leaders to let people be the most productive in whatever environment they choose to work in. “What we’re seeing is bringing people greater autonomy and empowerment in their work,” says Alexis Bonnell, chief technology evangelist at Google Cloud, on a recent episode of The Daily Scoop Podcast. “Finding that autonomy, but also really enabling people to work remotely, and most importantly, to have the technology to allow them to thrive while doing it.” This podcast was produced by Scoop News Group for The Daily Scoop Podcast and underwritten by Google Cloud.

Government agencies are handling more data than ever, increasing the need for tools to analyze that data in a timely manner. This ability is a top priority for IT leaders across government, according to Kinetica Chief Executive Officer Nima Negabhan. “What's more of an emerging trend is having that data constantly streaming in, and being able to actually analyze it in a meaningful way is what government enterprise IT professionals and organization leaders are looking for,” says Negabhan. “They're looking for that single pane of glass that shows them the latest data, where they have the ability to actually do analysis at the speed of thought.” This podcast was produced by Scoop News Group for The Daily Scoop Podcast and underwritten by Kinetica in collaboration with Amazon Web Services.

Through executive order and the Biden-Harris presidential management agenda, government agencies are being influenced to improve their customer experience with the American public. According to one IT expert, the transformation was jump-started by the shift to the virtual environment during the pandemic. “Huge gains are being made in the mission in terms of citizen-facing tools that allow citizens to interact with the government more efficiently,” says Salesforce Digital Transformation Executive Mia Jordan. “The pandemic propelled us forward, probably light years on, where if there hadn't been that push to do business online and virtually, it probably would have taken us another couple of years to get to where we are now.” Guest: Mia Jordan, digital transformation executive, Salesforce Host: Francis Rose, host, The Daily Scoop Podcast This podcast was produced by Scoop News Group for The Daily Scoop Podcast and underwritten by Salesforce.

Last year, President Biden’s executive order on cybersecurity put the transition to zero-trust architecture at the top of mind for IT leaders across government. According to one cybersecurity expert, it begins with organizations putting in place technologies that can support zero trust across the enterprise. “A tactical approach is beginning to say, OK, even as we have got what seems like an infinite amount of legacy technologies, proceeding with technologies that enable those zero trust principles is very much the way to go,” says Alexander Romero, director of strategy of the Chief Technologist Office at VMware End User Computing. “And wherever possible then, begin to transition out of the old and into the new.” Guest: Alexander Romero, Director of Strategy, Chief Technologist Office, VMware End User Computing Host: Francis Rose, Host, The Daily Scoop Podcast This podcast was produced by FedScoop and underwritten by VMware.

Phishing attacks are becoming an increasingly common avenue for threat actors to deploy malware and ransomware. According to one cybersecurity expert, an organization’s first line of defense against these attacks is getting all employees to realize they are high-value targets. “What organizations can do to help bolster cybersecurity within their organization is educating their employees that even if you don't necessarily believe you could be targeted, you might be surprised to learn that you could be used as a pawn in a much larger scheme,” says Kristina Balaam, senior threat researcher for threat intelligence at Lookout. This podcast is sponsored by Lookout and underwritten by FedScoop. Guest: Kristina Balaam, senior threat researcher, threat intelligence, Lookout Host: Francis Rose, The Daily Scoop Podcast Listen to The Daily Scoop Podcast in full on www.fedscoop.com/the-daily-scoop-podcast/