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Joseph Marks

Senior Correspondent Joseph Marks covers cybersecurity for Nextgov. He previously covered cybersecurity for Politico, intellectual property for Bloomberg BNA and federal litigation for Law360. He covered government technology for Nextgov during an earlier stint at the publication and began his career at Midwestern newspapers covering everything under the sun. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and a master’s in international affairs from Georgetown University.
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Defense Bill Would Send Military Reinforcements to DHS’ Cyber Mission

3:53 PM ET FROM NEXTGOV arrow Military cyber pros would help the Homeland Security Department ensure the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure, such as energy plants, hospitals and airports, under the House version of a major defense policy bill released Wednesday. The military assistance would be limited to 50 cyber troops per year, according to the National...

Report: Insecure Contractor Emails Leave Government Vulnerable

5:00 AM ET FROM NEXTGOV arrow Out of 50 top government information technology contractors, 49 aren’t completely securing their email systems against spoofing and phishing attacks, according to a study released Wednesday. Only one of those contractors, Engility, is rejecting spam and phishing emails that use its domains entirely. Another, Tetra Tech, is warning recipients those...

DHS: No Evidence of Russia Targeting 2018 Elections Yet

April 24, 2018 FROM NEXTGOV arrow The Homeland Security Department has seen no evidence so far this year that Russian intelligence agencies are trying to hack into voting systems to undermine the 2018 midterm elections, the department’s cyber lead told Congress Tuesday. Government officials have consistently warned that Russia or another U.S. cyber adversary is likely...

Lawsuit Over Government’s Kaspersky Ban Hits A Turning Point

April 24, 2018 FROM NEXTGOV arrow Kaspersky’s legal battles against the U.S. government could be hurtling toward a conclusion or a tipping point after legal filings last week. The government filed documents April 16 that mark an end to the first phase of legal briefings in two separate cases in which the Russian anti-virus provider is...

State Reauthorization Elevates Cyber Office Tillerson Once Shuttered

April 23, 2018 FROM NEXTGOV arrow A State Department reauthorization bill coming soon from the House Foreign Affairs Committee would elevate and make permanent a cyber diplomacy office that former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson first shuttered and then restored during his short tenure. The reauthorization bill, which committee chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., released Friday, would...

DARPA Wants to Merge Human and Computer Cyber Defenders

April 23, 2018 SAN FRANCISCO – The Pentagon’s long-horizon research and development wing is betting it can combine human and computer cyber defenders in a way that adds up to more than the sum of their parts. The program, from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is called Computers and Humans Exploring Software...

Lawmakers Want Answers on FDIC Data Breaches and Stingrays

April 23, 2018 FROM NEXTGOV arrow The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation misled its congressional overseers about the seriousness of eight information security breaches during late 2015 and early 2016, according to an inspector general report and congressional letter released Friday. The breaches all stemmed from employees who left the FDIC during that period and improperly took...

DARPA Wants to Merge Human and Computer Cyber Defenders

April 20, 2018 FROM NEXTGOV arrow San Francisco – The Pentagon’s long-horizon research and development wing is betting it can combine human and computer cyber defenders in a way that adds up to more than the sum of their parts. The program, from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is called Computers and Humans Exploring Software...

DHS is Lukewarm on the Bug Bounty Programs Congress Keeps Pushing

April 19, 2018 FROM NEXTGOV arrow Congress is itching to launch a bug bounty program at the Homeland Security Department, but department officials are ambivalent about the idea. The Senate, on Tuesday, passed the Hack DHS Act, which mandates a bug bounty contest in which ethical hackers earn cash rewards for spotting digital vulnerabilities in Homeland...

DHS Funds Tech to Root Out Malware in Government Mobile Apps

April 18, 2018 FROM NEXTGOV arrow SAN FRANCISCO – Federal agencies have built hundreds of mobile apps during the past decade, ranging from useful to educational to um, this. Many of those apps weren’t built with security in mind, however, and even apps that were built securely half a decade ago may now be riddled with...