Password problems; FAA software meltdown; new State CIO Kelly Fletcher

The passwords of 5% of employees at the Interior Department include the word "password." That’s one of a number of issues the Interior Inspector General’s office found on the department’s network. Kate Ledesma is Senior Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs at SecurityScorecard, and former Senior Advisor at CISA. She covers some tools agencies have to protect themselves against their own employees making bad cyber choices. She also previews the forthcoming National Cyber Strategy; and CISA's internal digital transformation.

The software meltdown at the Federal Aviation Administration that grounded thousands of flights recently is 30 years old. NBC News reports a senior government leader told them it’s not scheduled for replacement for six more years. Kevin Walsh is a Director of the Information Technology and Cybersecurity Team at the Government Accountability Office. He has contributed to GAO's work on legacy IT. He explains how agencies can get ahead of legacy IT applications, and how to set priorities for funding and execution.

The State Department says one of the goals behind its new EVOLVE contract will be to "enable the department to buy technology services from companies with track records to implement Secretary Blinken’s modernization agenda." Dr. Kelly Fletcher recently celebrated her three-month anniversary as the Chief Information Officer at the State Department. She lays out what she found when she joined State; how she's simplifying the agency's infrastructure through the "Tech For Life" initiative; and how EVOLVE will help her hit her goals for IT transformation at Foggy Bottom and around the world.

Photo: Kelly Fletcher, delivering a keynote last year at AFCEA's TechNet Cyber conference, when she was acting Defense Department CIO, is now the new CIO at the State Department. Credit: Michael Carpenter