The Wrap: The Secret to Zero Trust: TMF; Improving the Hiring Experience; ‘Serious Vulnerabilities’ at FHFA

Welcome to The Wrap for Wednesday, August 14!

From the newsroom at MeriTalk, it’s the quickest read in Federal tech news. Here’s what you need to know today:

The Secret to Zero Trust: TMF

There is a secret sauce to accelerating your zero trust journey, and that sauce is known as the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF). At least according to TMF Executive Director Larry Bafundo, who urged agencies this week to submit proposals for TMF funding to help accelerate their zero trust efforts. What is the TMF? For those who need a refresher, the TMF was created in 2017 under the Modernizing Government Technology Act to provide money to Federal civilian agencies to undertake tech modernization projects. “Federal agencies that have not yet embraced zero trust should submit a proposal for TMF funding,” Bafundo said in an Aug. 13 blog post. “With TMF’s support and resources, agencies can accelerate their zero trust journey, ensuring a more secure future for themselves and the nation.” For any agencies looking to accelerate their zero trust journey with TMF funding, Bafundo encouraged them to visit the TMF website or email [email protected] .

Improving the Hiring Experience

It’s no secret that the Federal government’s hiring process is a lengthy one. However, new joint guidance out today from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) aims to improve the Federal hiring experience for job applicants, managers, and human resources (HR) professionals. The memo – addressed to agency and department heads – builds upon previous steps the Biden administration has taken to improve the Federal hiring experience, including talented-related efforts under the President’s Management Agenda. “We aim to continuously improve the Federal government’s ability to recruit, hire, and retain a diverse and skilled workforce to strengthen the way agencies deliver on their missions for the American people,” OPM Acting Director Rob Shriver said in a statement. “This memorandum builds on that success and is a culmination of years of data-driven and innovative thinking about the Federal hiring experience.” For a look into the guidance and recommendations to agencies, please check out the full story here.

‘Serious Vulnerabilities’ at FHFA

A new report out this week by the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that FHFA’s network has “serious vulnerabilities that increase the likelihood that hacking attempts will succeed.” The key takeaway: The OIG said it performed penetration testing from October 2023 to January 2024 and found it was able to gain “unfettered access” to FHFA’s IT infrastructure. Remind me, what does the agency do? The FHFA is a smaller Federal agency with less than 1,000 employees. It regulates Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the 11 Federal Home Loan Banks – which are government-sponsored enterprises that provide more than $8.4 trillion in funding to the U.S. financial institutions and mortgage markets. “We determined that FHFA’s security controls were not effective to protect its network and systems against internal threats,” the agency’s OIG wrote in its report published on Aug. 12. “Our penetration testing demonstrated that the Agency’s network has serious vulnerabilities that increase the likelihood that hacking attempts will succeed.” The OIG made 22 recommendations in its report to FHFA’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) Luis Campudoni, who agreed to all 22.

GSA Welcomes U.S. Digital Corps Fellows

Congrats to the 70 fellows joining the U.S. Digital Corps (USDC)! The General Services Administration (GSA) welcomed the new cohort on Tuesday after receiving a record-breaking 2,000 applications. The USDC is a two-year paid fellowship position that allows early-career technologists to work across the Federal government. This year’s fellows will be USDC’s third cohort, providing fellows with the opportunity to focus on AI-related projects. “Growing the U.S. Digital Corps is crucial to driving innovation across the Federal government, especially as emerging technologies like AI evolve,” said GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan. “GSA is focused on delivering great value to our customer agencies and the American people, so we are proud to help lead the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to bring tech talent into government to deliver those results.”

Once again, let’s “call IT a day,” but we'll bring you more tomorrow. Until then, please check the MeriTalk breaking news website throughout the day for the latest on government IT people, process, and policy. And finally, please hit the news tip jar (with leads, breaking news, or simply your two cents) at [email protected] .