How Sending Security Clearance Checks to Defense Will Affect the Workforce

Government Executive | April 30, 2019

Now that President Trump has signed a long-awaited executive order authorizing the transfer of the National Background Investigations Bureau from the Office of Personnel Management to the Defense Department, what does that mean for OPM? In short, the details are not clear yet. The executive order calls for the transfer of roughly 2,000 employees at OPM’s National Background Investigations Bureau to the Defense Department under the Defense Security Service, now renamed the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. But that new agency has until June 24 to become the “primary entity” to conduct background investigations, and it is not slated to handle all clearance checks until September.

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Cybersecurity

Carahsoft, Forescout, stackArmor Partner with Google Public Sector on Authority to Operate (ATO) Pilot Program to Secure Federal Workloads

GlobeNewswire | August 31, 2023

Carahsoft Technology Corp., The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider®, Forescout Technologies, Inc., a global cybersecurity leader, and stackArmor, an advanced security and compliance solutions provider with a proven track record of delivering FedRAMP, DoD CC SRG, CMMC 2.0 and StateRAMP compliance acceleration, today announced a partnership with Google Public Sector to accelerate the availability of Forescout cybersecurity solutions to state, federal, and department of defense agencies. As part of an ATO pilot program, specialist solution providers like stackArmor combine with Carahsoft’s proven public sector market services, to provide ISVs like Forescout with a holistic “accreditation to acquisition” solution. "Google Public Sector is committed to working with partners like stackArmor and Carahsoft to accelerate the availability of Forescout cybersecurity solutions to state, federal, and Department of Defense agencies,” said Troy Bertram, Managing Director of Partners, Google Public Sector. “This pilot brings together partners with deep expertise and local knowledge to help ISVs accelerate the path to compliance and rapidly bring innovative technology to government agencies.” The Forescout® Cloud, built on Google Cloud, is a unified SaaS platform for security visibility, risk, and operational management. It continuously discovers and analyzes all connected cyber assets, whether they are managed or unmanaged for IT, OT/ICS, IoMT, IoT and cloud, and is a foundation for Forescout solutions that address challenges related to risk and exposure management, and threat detection and response. “We are delighted to be a partner of this ATO pilot program, which provides us with an accelerated pathway towards FedRAMP compliance and uniquely brings together engineering, compliance advisory and continuous monitoring services as well as market access solutions,” said Paul Kao, VP Product & Engineering, Forescout. “We selected stackArmor after a rigorous evaluation process and were impressed with their engineering expertise and ability to help us remove delays and friction from our aggressive accreditation roadmap.” stackArmor rapidly delivers a dedicated Google Cloud Landing Zone with NIST-compliant security services, a complete FedRAMP ATO documentation package and post-ATO continuous monitoring. To ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of sensitive data, ThreatAlert® provides a standardized secure by design architecture that is deployed “in-boundary” to ensure the highest levels of security and the ability to meet stringent government cybersecurity requirements including FedRAMP Moderate, FedRAMP High, DOD Impact Level 4 and 5 among others. “Reducing the time and cost of implementing NIST SP 800-53 based cybersecurity controls to achieve an ATO in compliance with FedRAMP, FISMA/RMF, DoD CC SRG and CMMC 2.0 requirements is a strategic necessity for commercial ISVs, critical infrastructure enterprises and public sector organizations, especially given the sharp rise in cybersecurity threats,” said Gaurav “GP” Pal, CEO and founder, stackArmor. “We are excited to expand our partnership with Carahsoft to bring our ThreatAlert® ATO Accelerator, which provides a secure by design cloud landing zone, defense in depth security services, OSCAL ready documentation package and continuous compliance automation to ISVs like Forescout, to accelerate the delivery of FedRAMP accredited cybersecurity services to government agencies.” "Interest in FedRAMP-accredited cloud services has accelerated since the passage of the FedRAMP Authorization Act in December of last year, which opens new opportunities for expanding the portfolio of available accredited SaaS and PaaS offerings in the federal marketplace," said Craig P. Abod, Carahsoft President. "stackArmor’s ThreatAlert® ATO Accelerator combined with Carahsoft’s unique market access solutions provide a compelling accreditation-to-acquisition solution." About Carahsoft Carahsoft Technology Corp. is The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider®, supporting Public Sector organizations across Federal, State and Local Government agencies and Education and Healthcare markets. As the Master Government Aggregator® for our vendor partners, we deliver solutions for Cybersecurity, MultiCloud, DevSecOps, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Open Source, Customer Experience and more. Working with resellers, systems integrators and consultants, our sales and marketing teams provide industry leading IT products, services and training through hundreds of contract vehicles. Visit us at www.carahsoft.com. About Forescout Forescout Technologies, Inc. a global cybersecurity leader, continuously identifies, protects and helps ensure the compliance of all managed and unmanaged connected cyber assets – IT, IoT, IoMT and OT. For more than 20 years, Fortune 100 organizations and government agencies have trusted Forescout to provide vendor-agnostic, automated cybersecurity at scale. The Forescout® Platform delivers comprehensive capabilities for network security, risk and exposure management, and extended detection and response. With seamless context sharing and workflow orchestration via ecosystem partners, it enables customers to more effectively manage cyber risk and mitigate threats. www.forescout.com About stackArmor stackArmor provides cloud migration, security and compliance engineering services for compliance-driven markets, including Public Sector, Government Agencies, Healthcare, Education, Space & Defense, Financial Services, and Non-profit organizations. stackArmor’s ThreatAlert® ATO Accelerator provides a unique “in-boundary” solution that helps organizations rapidly achieve FedRAMP, FISMA/RMF, DOD CC SRG and CMMC 2.0 among other government-driven cybersecurity compliance frameworks. Learn more by visiting https://stackArmor.com

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Emerging Technology

Pexip Government Cloud Attains StateRAMP Authorization

PR Newswire | August 07, 2023

Pexip, a company that provides multi-platform software video technology, announced that its Pexip Government Cloud (PGC) Cloud Service Offering (CSO) has received StateRAMP Authorized status in the Moderate security categorization from the StateRAMP Project Management Office (PMO) and the StateRAMP Approvals Committee (SAC). In April, Pexip received an Authority to Operate (ATO) at the Moderate Impact level from the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor. The StateRAMP Authorization enables secure and compliant collaboration for state and local agencies on Microsoft Teams. Employees can easily join Microsoft Teams calls using Cloud Video Interop (CVI) from video conferencing systems in meeting rooms or from personal devices, whether from the office or home making collaboration seamless an efficient. Pexip also enables state and local agencies to manage their existing video infrastructure investments, making it a cost-effective solution. "We are very excited about our StateRAMP authorization and believe it represents another great example of Pexip's commitment to delivering secure and compliant solutions to our government customers," said Peter McCarthy, VP of Public Sector, Pexip. As agencies move to the cloud, Pexip stands ready to support them at every stage. The StateRAMP-authorized Pexip Government Cloud (PGC) platform offers secure video conferencing as a service, ensuring agencies can engage in productive collaboration while adhering to rigorous security standards. For agencies with the most stringent security requirements, such as On-Premise mandates or GCC-High Teams Tenants, Pexip offers the option to self-host its software. This enables complete data control and interoperability within these specialized environments. Pexips StateRAMP approval is a testament to its commitment to delivering safe and compliant solutions to its government customers. Pexip's StateRAMP approval includes: US Department of Defense (DoD) Unified Capabilities Approved Product List (UC APL) authorized Cryptographic Module Validation Program (CMVP) validated Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 module #3503 ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certified Section 508 compliant General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliant Supports Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance Supports zero trust security architectures About Pexips Pexip enables enterprises and organizations of any size to deploy and use video-based communication and collaboration. The Company’s portfolio of products ranges from self-hosted software to cloud service video solutions. Pexip provides seamless collaboration between previously incompatible video and audio technologies such as professional video conferencing systems, Skype for Business, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts Meet, and WebRTC. Pexip’s software-based meeting platform can also be used as a foundation for service provider offerings. Pexip has HQ in Oslo, Norway, main offices in London, UK, New York and Reston, US and Sydney, Australia, as well as sales offices across the globe.

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Emerging Technology, Government Business

CSG Government Solutions Selected for Program Management Office Services on the Connecticut Medicaid Enterprise Technology System Program

Prweb | August 03, 2023

CSG Government Solutions, a national leader in government program modernization, today announced that it has been selected by the Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS) to provide Program Management and Project Support Services for the Connecticut Medicaid Enterprise Technology System (CT METS) Program, including the implementation of an Enterprise Data Warehouse and Analytics module and Enterprise Provider module. CSG is supporting DSS’ initiative to replace their core MMIS and other systems supporting the Medicaid Enterprise with modern, modular solutions. The CSG team will provide full-service Program Management Office (PMO) services and expertise in Medicaid, enterprise architecture, system integration, Health Information Exchange, and security. The team is also providing quality assurance, risk management, schedule and resource management, and CMS certification support. “CSG is a leader in providing PMO and other services for Medicaid system modernizations across the country,” says Robin Dufresne, Executive Vice President and Senior Practice Director. “Our team applies our Medicaid expertise and dedication to help the DSS Medicaid Enterprise make a positive impact on the health and well-being of Connecticut’s individuals, families, and communities.” About CSG Government Solutions CSG Government Solutions is a leading government operations consulting firm helping states modernize critical program enterprises. We help governments leverage innovative technology and processes to meet the challenges of administering complex programs. Founded in 1997, CSG clients include 47 state and territory governments, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Labor, and large municipal governments. For more information, visithttp://www.csgdelivers.comand connect with us onLinkedInandTwitter.

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