Author Archive
Adam Mazmanian
Executive Editor
Adam Mazmanian is executive editor of FCW.
Before joining the editing team, Mazmanian was an FCW staff writer covering Congress, government-wide technology policy and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Prior to joining FCW, Mazmanian was technology correspondent for National Journal and served in a variety of editorial roles at B2B news service SmartBrief. Mazmanian has contributed reviews and articles to the Washington Post, the Washington City Paper, Newsday, New York Press, Architect Magazine and other publications.
Click here for previous articles by Mazmanian. Connect with him on Twitter at @thisismaz.
Cyber
DOD revamps controversial CMMC program
After a nine-month review, the Defense Department is replacing its original cyber compliance program for the industrial base with CMMC 2.0, putting more emphasis on self-assessment.
- By Adam Mazmanian
IT Infrastructure
Biden administration picks former Microsoft exec for VA CIO
Kurt DelBene, a former senior executive at Microsoft and Defense Innovation Board member, is being tapped by the Biden administration to serve as CIO of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
- By Adam Mazmanian
Cloud
GAO backs Microsoft's protest of $10 billion NSA cloud award to AWS
The Government Accountability Office agreed that aspects of the National Security Agency's evaluation of a major cloud award were "unreasonable."
- By Adam Mazmanian
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Cyber
State Department to get cyber bureau
The secretary of State named cybersecurity and emerging tech as critical areas for capacity building at State, alongside climate, global health and multilateral technology.
- By Adam Mazmanian
Cyber
CISA seeks 24-hour cyber incident reporting timeline
Two separate Senate bills set different deadlines for federal contractors, critical infrastructure providers and other covered companies to report cyber incidents to the federal government.
- By Adam Mazmanian
IT Infrastructure
CMMC's Arrington sues DOD to clear her name
Katie Arrington, who has been off the job since May, is suing the Department of Defense to get resolution on her personnel case.
- By Adam Mazmanian
Cyber
DHS adds cyber requirements for transportation industry
The Transportation Security Agency and the Coast Guard are getting increased authority over industry cybersecurity.
- By Adam Mazmanian
Cyber
CISA chief floats fines to compel threat info sharing
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly told lawmakers that fines may help enable disclosure compliance and enforcement.
- By Adam Mazmanian
IT Infrastructure
White House pushes back on efforts to restore program cuts in NDAA
The Biden administration appears determined to stick to plans to retire legacy platforms and systems.
- By Adam Mazmanian
IT Infrastructure
Senators push DHS to focus intel activities on foreign threats
The Senate version of the annual intelligence authorization bill, which passed out of committee last week, includes a warning to DHS' intelligence arm to distinguish more carefully between its foreign and domestic missions.
- By Adam Mazmanian
Cloud
Microsoft nabs top secret cloud ATO
Azure Government Top Secret is now "generally available" for national security workloads, Microsoft announced in a blog post.
- By Adam Mazmanian
Cyber
CISA debuts vulnerability disclosure platform
Federal civilian agencies can tap a bug reporting system fielded as a shared service by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to gather information on potential website and software vulnerabilities.
- By Adam Mazmanian
Cyber
FBI wants more help from hacked companies
Without regular, prompt and transparent participation of the private sector, the FBI will “have a heck of a time winning this conflict," Director Chris Wray told Senate appropriators.
- By Adam Mazmanian
Cyber
CISA lacks insights into agency network defenses
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency doesn’t have the data to determine if agencies are segmenting and segregating their networks, according to CISA acting Director Brandon Wales.
- By Adam Mazmanian
Cyber
Would CMMC compliance block a SolarWinds-style attack?
At a Senate hearing on Defense Department cybersecurity, lawmakers wanted to know whether a program aimed at hardening the security of the defense industrial base would thwart supply chain attacks.
- By Adam Mazmanian
Cloud
Lawmakers seek new probe into AWS JEDI collusion
Letters from Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Attorney General Merrick Garland and acting Defense Department Inspector General Sean O’Donnell asking for information, documents and, in the case of the Justice Department, a probe into possible anticompetitive behavior on the part of Amazon Web Services.
- By Adam Mazmanian
Cloud
Court will hear JEDI political interference case against Trump
A complaint of political inference by former President Donald Trump in the Defense Department’s award of the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud computing contract to Microsoft in 2019 may now proceed.
- By Adam Mazmanian
IT Infrastructure
Defense bill prevails over Trump veto
The U.S. Senate joined the House of Representatives in overturning President Trump's veto of the annual defense policy bill in a rare New Year's Day vote.
- By Lauren C. Williams and Adam Mazmanian
IT Infrastructure
AWS again challenges JEDI award
Amazon Web Services is taking another run at getting the court to set aside the Pentagon’s 10-year, $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud contract award to Microsoft.
- By Adam Mazmanian
Cyber
NSA warns industry about China hacks
The National Security Agency released details on 25 existing vulnerabilities that Chinese state-sponsored threat groups are using to try to penetrate defense industrial base networks.
- By Adam Mazmanian