The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency expects to receive tens of thousands of reports on hacks, ransomware attacks and other cyber incident data within the first year of new reporting regulations becoming effective.

CISA released a 447-page notice of proposed rulemaking for the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act (CIRCIA) today. The proposed rules will officially publish in the Federal Register on April 4. Comments on the proposal will be due by June 3.

The rules lay out how organizations across critical infrastructure sectors will be required to report cyber incidents to CISA.

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That new safe software attestation rule from the Homeland Security Department has become final. Contractors have to start planning now for when the rule goes into effect this fall. For more on how to ensure compliance, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Haynes Boone procurement attorney Dan Ramish.

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Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests keep rising every year. Some agencies have trouble responding to them on time, leading to growing backlogs. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the Justice Department bureau that oversees FOIA activity could improve its guidance on how to get out from under backlogs. For more, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with GAO's Director of Strategic Issues, Jay McTigue.

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Final rules have kicked-in for companies selling software to the government. They must now attest to the fact that they used secure development practices. Their reference must be the Secure Software Development Framework from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. For more, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked with the Chief Technology Officer of Legit Security, Joe Nicastro.

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On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin:

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After a months-long hiring freeze, the Social Security Administration is once again facing even further declining staffing numbers.

But with agency spending now determined for the rest of fiscal 2024, and hiring now unfrozen, SSA Commissioner Martin O’Malley is readying the agency’s plans to rebuild its workforce as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Currently, SSA is at its lowest staffing levels in 27 years, while serving more customers than ever before, O’Malley told lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee during a hearing last week. As a result, customer service has worsened — there are longer wait times on phone lines, and longer delays in receiving decisions on disability applications and appeals.

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Federal employees’ use of telework, in the long term, could give agencies a unique opportunity to get rid of office space they no longer need, according to a recent study.

The National Capital Planning Commission, in partnership with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG), released a study in February looking at the federal workforce’s use of telework and its impact on government office space.

The study finds that federal telework will “likely accelerate the implementation of reducing the federal footprint,” but may also shake up the local economy of Washington, D.C. and the surrounding area.

“Any changes in federal telework policy will have a significant impact on Washington, given that it has a large component of telework-eligible jobs,” the study states.

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When it comes to blue collar wages, a different standard seems to apply to federal agencies and to contractors. Two standards appear to apply when it comes to Trade Agreement Act Compliance. What's going on? For on view, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with federal sales and marketing consultant Larry Allen.

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The Justice Department recently said it would test a new rewards program for whistleblowers, who report "significant corporate misconduct." Payments will come from assets forfeited by defendants in both civil and criminal cases. For an assessment of the program, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked with whistleblower attorney Stephen Kohn of Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto.

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Even in the 21st century, surgery is never a routine matter. Recently, a Veterans Affairs program known as Surgical Pause received a national patient safety award. The Pause is a rapid way of screening surgery patients, who have a higher risk of complications. For the details, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked with two medical doctors from the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System: Daniel Hall, a surgeon and Mark Wilson, National Director of Surgery.

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