How System Integrators address evolving Government ICT

whitePaper | June 10, 2022

The public sector is feeling the squeeze between an increase in cyber attacks and a lack of increased resources to keep up. In a recent survey conducted on behalf of SolarWinds, public sector respondents reported increased concern over ransomware, malware and phishing the most over the previous year, but time to detection and resolution had not improved for the majority.1 To bolster application security, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memorandum directing agencies to identify critical software and implement the latest protections outlined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Another OMB memorandum presented a federal zero trust architecture (ZTA) strategy that requires agencies to meet specific cybersecurity standards and objectives by the end of FY2024.

whitePaper | September 7, 2022

Application programming interfaces, or APIs, enable government agencies to seamlessly share data across federal, state, and local levels. They are quite frankly the glue that allows agencies to deliver services to mission partners, civilians, and even disabled veterans. Similar to how retailers create personalized experiences by integrating location, inventory, and payment data, government agencies also create contextual experiences for constituents and personnel by leveraging APIs. The impact of APIs can be seen across all major sectors of government, including traffic and transportation management, utilities, healthcare, social services, agriculture, as well as law enforcement. With the seamless connection between datasets and agencies, government personnel are able to innovate faster and drive speed to mission. How exactly? APIs reduce the workload and redundant operations performed by developers by allowing them to access data stored elsewhere. This enables them to quickly execute on tasks and take on more important projects of greater impact.

whitePaper | January 29, 2020

Individual government contractors face more rigorous scrutiny, as private companies can monitor employee’s social media as part of their continuous vetting and insider threat protocols. However, despite the existence of a directive permitting them to do so, government agencies do not monitor their employees’ social media. Our interviews found this is due to a lack of clear guidance on how to implement the existing directives and security policies. This shortcoming can be remedied by government agencies agreeing upon a single common standard regarding the use of publicly available electronic information, specifically social media, for personnel security and insider threat purposes. The DNI, as Security Executive Agent for the government, must then develop guidelines for the implementation of this standard throughout the sector.

whitePaper | November 21, 2022

Cyber attacks and data breaches are at the forefront of the national agenda - and the issue isn’t going away. These types of attacks aren’t necessarily new, however the exponential increase in data combined with data ubiquity, the massive increase in Software as a Service (SaaS) applications, and the shift to remote work have expanded our attack surface, while also shifting the network load to the perimeterless internet.

whitePaper | March 30, 2022

Why have we written disparaging statements about government when our firm is so deeply committed to public sector excellence? These include statements like “as the fire rages on, our governments seem powerless” and “hunches no longer pass for evidence these days, unless we’re talking about government policy.” We have compared the policy-making process to a chaotic game of tag and suggested that government policymakers can act as seemingly irrational as Cosmo Kramer did on Seinfeld.

whitePaper | January 28, 2022

Goals and processes for improving existing technology infrastructure and avoiding the risks associated with outdated systems: a roadmap for IT Modernization within the Federal Government