ACT-IAC Cybersecurity Innovation Initiative Ideas

There is a rapid increase in cyber insurance across the commercial landscape. This is getting the C-level attention because the risk and costs are being codified into actual numbers, not just fear of something bad happening. The Federal Government should leverage off this trend and require all Government contractors to have a level of insurance, which will likewise drive a level of accountability and measurement. This... more »

No real accountability exists today for executives in regards to IT Security failures. Accountability should exist in cases where known security issues existed before the breach and executives failed to address them. Risk acceptance should not be used as an excuse for addressable security gaps.

In 2011 the White House via OMB issued a Memo M-11-11 that stated "Effective the beginning of FY2012, existing physical and logical access control systems
must be upgraded to use PIV credentials , in accordance with NIST guidelines, prior to the agency
using development and technology refresh funds to complete other activities." https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2011/m11-11.pdf. This memo, had... more »

I like the idea of cybersecurity interns next summer , but I couldn't figure out how to comment on it.

I think the government needs to realize that there are big bucks to be made in the private sector if you are really good at this, and so they can't expect people to stay in Government. The Government should be prepared to depend on private sector contractors, who can do this work well.

However, experience in other... more »

Currently agencies self assess their cybersecurity posture. OMB should create a assessment standard and have an independent assessment board of government and industry SME's assess each agency, via a framework such as the one used for FEDRAMP.

Organizations in government tend to be overly optimistic about their capabilities and performance, reference OPM's epic failure. Cyber security is too important to be left to self-assessments. An organization should be externally assessed and rated by unbiased and competent evaluators. Risk is only one aspect of management performance. Governance, culture and technical competence are but three key facets that determine... more »

Part 1 - Security Risk Management
(Regular print are supported ITAPS recommendations in response to questions, italics are expanded recommendations to more explicitly address questions, not directly addressed by ITAPS; participated in and collaborated with ITAPS OMB-OPM-NSC Task Force)

1. Addressing Cyber Fundamentals
How do we move from inconsistent security/privacy protection control approaches to solid fundamentals... more »

Governance and Accountability:

Establish an outcome-focused Governance Framework that covers all aspects of the enterprise, resulting in effective direction-setting, decision-making, oversight, transparency, and accountability. For example, fully execute and enforce the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) as contemplated in the authorizing legislation and seek legislative reform where necessary.

Escalate... more »

People and Organizations:

Make information security a core part of organizational culture, ensuring greater awareness and better computing practices. For example, information security training should be mandatory for all government employees and contractors and information security performance should be an item in performance reviews.

Optimize enterprise and workforce planning to leverage consolidation in security... more »

Finance and Procurement:

Organizational procurement programs should have clearly defined and communicated priorities, accompanied by clear direction to procurement agents on the procedures to acquire technology consistent with those priorities, resulting in a consistent, predictable, and agile acquisition approach that will result in more secure technology deployments. For example, the Director of the Office of Management... more »

(Paragraphs preceded by [Non-ITAPS] are expanded recommendations to more explicitly address questions, not directly addressed by ITAPS; participated in and collaborated with ITAPS OMB-OPM-NSC Task Force)

How can agencies sharpen focus on vulnerabilities created by (or exposed by) uninformed business/program users and the array of technology solutions embedded in service delivery that does not account for cyber?

[Non-ITAPS]... more »

(Regular print are supported ITAPS recommendations in response to questions, flagged are expanded recommendations to more explicitly address questions, not directly addressed by ITAPS; participated in and collaborated with ITAPS OMB-OPM-NSC Task Force)

How can agencies effectively address current time lags with detection of and response to vulnerabilities and threats that will significantly compress breach-to-detection-to-response... more »

Consistent with the concept that security is the responsibility of all employees, all agency employees should be educated and trained on general incident response planning concepts and any related responsibilities, including how to notify response organizations, the information to report, and other relevant activities.

All incidents, exercises, and general activities offer opportunities to learn and improve planning.... more »

(Regular print are supported ITAPS recommendations in response to questions, flagged are expanded recommendations to more explicitly address questions, not directly addressed by ITAPS; participated in and collaborated with ITAPS OMB-OPM-NSC Task Force)

How should the government expand beyond its emphasis on perimeter defense and even defense-in-depth, and instead put more relative resources toward combining actionable... more »

(Regular print are supported ITAPS recommendations in response to questions, flagged are expanded recommendations to more explicitly address questions, not directly addressed by ITAPS; participated in and collaborated with ITAPS OMB-OPM-NSC Task Force)

How can agencies and industry implement and sustain threat data sharing and create a robust, timely and systemic sharing environment (more than just incidents) that can... more »