With a March presidential executive order putting some breathing room between the Federal government and states on cybersecurity protections – and state and local governments hoping for a second go-round of funding from Congress under the 2021 State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP) – we checked in with Gary Barlet, Illumio’s public sector chief technology officer, for his read on the new landscape.

While the United States is home to more than half of the top universities in the world, there is more work to be done when it comes to artificial intelligence education – and that’s something NVIDIA is trying to improve. According to U.S. News & World Report, only 10% of the top global AI universities are in the United States.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has released a new guide for state, local, Tribal, and territorial election officials that provides a framework and practical tools for developing and implementing a year-round communications plan for election security.

A group of 21 tax officials from 18 states is urging the Department of Treasury (DOT) to disband the IRS’ new Direct File pilot program, citing potential tax filing problems they said could arise from confusion on the part of taxpayers.

Ahead of the 2023 and 2024 election cycle, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) earlier this month hosted the nation’s largest annual election security exercise in coordination with the National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors. 

In 2022, state and Federal policymakers significantly accelerated their efforts to help K-12 institutions across the U.S. shore up their cybersecurity defenses, a new report by the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) says.

Cybersecurity firm Emsisoft’s tally of publicly disclosed ransomware attacks in 2022 included 105 counties, 45 school districts, 44 colleges and universities, and over two dozen healthcare providers.

The Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Utilities Services (RUS) stated in a Federal Register notice that they have implemented the provisions of the 2018 Farm Bill that authorizes the agency, for the first time, to provide loans for stand-alone cybersecurity projects in rural communities.

The Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) has published its 2022 Biennial Performance Report that tracks state agencies’ technology progress in fiscal years 2021 and 2022, and set forth tech goals for the next five years.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a Nov. 16 report that Federal agencies need to up their ransomware assistance for state, local, Tribal, and territorial (SLTT) government organizations – including schools – by improving interagency collaboration, awareness, outreach, communication, and coordination with schools.