The federal government is well aware of the dangers of cyber attacks. In December 2024, Chinese hackers penetrated a Treasury Department vendor and accessed more than 3,000 unclassified files related to high-ranking officials. Just a month earlier, researchers had discovered Salt Typhoon, a Chinese attack breaching eight U.S. telecom providers; the attack began as much as two years ago and still infects the companies’ networks. These and...

The federal government is well aware of the dangers of cyber attacks. In December 2024, Chinese hackers penetrated a Treasury Department vendor and accessed more than 3,000 unclassified files related to high-ranking officials. Just a month earlier, researchers had discovered Salt Typhoon, a Chinese attack breaching eight U.S. telecom providers; the attack began as much as two years ago and still infects the companies’ networks. These and...

Federal agencies understand that cybersecurity has to be the foundation of their operations, from online to back office. For instance, the telecommunications breach by Salt Typhoon, a Chinese government-backed hacking group, targeted both U.S. political leaders and national security information. First detected in early summer, in December the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said at a press conference there is no way to...

Using a Zero Trust (ZT) architecture for cybersecurity has become essential throughout the public sector, because it both strengthens cyber defenses and enables continuity of operations in the event of an attack. It further benefits an agency by reducing the time lost and lowering the cost of recovery. Working in a ZT-based environment makes the addition of innovative technologies such as cloud computing and AI safer; every new technology intr...

As the federal government changes its scope and shape, technology transformation is required to improve operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness. In a time of “doing more with less,” current and emerging technologies are the best way to bring about those changes. Learning Objectives: Outline the processes needed to manage all the assets in your organization Delineate ways to make return-to-office easier on employees and the wo...

Federal agencies have spent the last several years putting their Zero Trust (ZT) architecture in place as the foundation for a “never trust, always verify” cybersecurity strategy. The Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has been a key facilitator for agencies pursuing ZT, since continuously identifying and fixing cybersecurity threats is one of CISA...

Within our energy agencies, the integration of AI, data, and cybersecurity is essential for advancing the technology modernization required for a stronger future. The federal government supports the use of AI for streamlining operations, increasing productivity, improving program output quality, and containing costs by integrating interactive dashboards and visualizations for program transparency and efficiency. Learning Objectives: Explore ho...

The opportunities in AI are vast, from enhancing citizen services to bolstering national cybersecurity. In fact, there are over 1,200 active and planned AI use cases across the public sector supporting a wide array of missions. For AI to be successful, agencies need trusted data as its foundation. With data spread across cloud and on-premises centers, agencies can benefit from a new secure hybrid model to support their missions. Learning Objec...

Even though cybersecurity is crucial to the many missions of federal agencies, it is easy to overlook the growth of the threat surface due to the increasing use of application programming interfaces (APIs), often driven by the use of generative AI. APIs serve as the communications hub between different applications, connecting agencies’ services to the applications that deliver those services. A recent study reported that 99% of AI vulne...

HR leaders play a crucial role in shaping workplace culture, employee experience, and organizational success. However, securing executive buy-in for strategic HR investments—whether it’s technology, training, or talent initiatives—can be a challenge. There are proven approaches to help HR professionals build compelling business cases, align HR needs with agency and departmental goals, and effectively communicate ROI to key de...