Author Archive
Carten Cordell
Deputy Editor, Nextgov/FCW

Carten Cordell is the deputy editor at Nextgov/FCW. Cordell has covered federal government, technology and acquisition for Federal Times, FedScoop and Washington Business Journal. An Alabama native, Cordell hold bachelor’s degrees in history and journalism from Auburn University and a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. His work has also appeared in USA Today, Writer's Digest and many other publications. He comes to Nextgov/FCW after a stint at Sage Communications, a marketing services agency that focuses on the government contracting market.
Cybersecurity
GAO identifies new infosec deficiencies in IRS system controls
The watchdog's annual audit of the agency turned up new recommendations on system access controls and security configurations, alongside a limited release report and previous recommendations.
- By Carten Cordell
Acquisition
DOJ tees up infrastructure program management recompete
The Justice Department is conducting market research for a potential $75 million recompete contract to provide enterprise infrastructure services support within the CIO's office.
- By Carten Cordell
Cybersecurity
Energy Department officials eye 2027 date to stand-up cyber intelligence center
Officials from the department's Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response told House members Tuesday that work within the threat-sharing pilot program has already shown progress and could use more resources from Congress.
- By Carten Cordell
IT Modernization
Four federal departments have not fully implemented cloud security practices, GAO says
The departments of Agriculture, Homeland Security, Labor and Treasury have made varying amounts of progress in applying crucial cloud security practices, but remain far from fully executing them, the watchdog found.
- By Carten Cordell
Defense
The future of zero trust is about more than thwarting hackers, officials say
Defense Department officials noted that while progress has been made on deploying zero trust architecture on their networks, its capabilities don't stop with identity management.
- By Carten Cordell
Acquisition
VA seeks cyber operations help
The Department of Veterans Affairs is looking for capabilities ranging from cyber incident response and cloud threat detection to insider threat analysis to support its security operations center in a new market research request.
- By Carten Cordell
Defense
DOD plans free software tools to support cyber compliance by small biz
The Department of Defense wants to bolster the number of small contractors it does business with, so it's planning to debut a series of free software tools to make it easier to work with industry.
- By Carten Cordell
Acquisition
What's going on with DHS' enterprise cloud plan?
The Department of Homeland Security teased its plan for a 10-year enterprise cloud contract in the fall and then went relatively quiet. Based on previous cloud procurements, that could be a good thing.
- By Carten Cordell
Acquisition
DHS wants software to manage biometrics system requirements
The department is asking for market research on new tools that can help it manage, define and engineer multiple systems requirements across its biometrics identity system.
- By Carten Cordell
Acquisition
Army wants help with safeguarding datasets for AI use
The military service is preparing for a report on how to secure the datasets used with the emerging technologies and called for a range of collaboration in a new request.
- By Carten Cordell
Cybersecurity
DISA wants to take Thunderdome pilot to full production in ’30 to 60 days,’ director says
Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner said following the successful test of the zero trust architecture prototype, the Defense Department’s information technology agency is working on an acquisition plan to scale the program.
- By Carten Cordell
Defense
DISA seeks toolkit to implement a key piece of its zero trust framework
The Defense Department's information technology agency is asking for info on software products for a potential contract to support its Comply-to-Connect Program.
- By Carten Cordell
Defense
AFRL wants white papers for $500M quantum information science solicitation
The Air Force’s scientific research component issued a broad agency announcement calling for the research, design and development of quantum technology.
- By Carten Cordell
Defense
DOD components on the clock to certify compliance with classified access rules in the wake of Discord leaks
Defense agencies have until May 2 to ensure IT systems are in compliance with a Defense Department memo outlining procedures for safeguarding classified materials.
- By Carten Cordell
Acquisition
TSA wants automated ID verification, ML detection algorithms at security gates
A new market research request has the agency exploring automated capabilities for its airport security screening technology.
- By Carten Cordell
Acquisition
GAO wants Air Force, Navy plans for directed energy weapons to transition the ‘valley of death’
A new report calls for the armed services to detail how they plan to shift directed energy weapons from prototypes to programs of record.
- By Carten Cordell
Cybersecurity
CISA's plan to bake security into software development
New international guidance calls back to the National Cyber Strategy's recommendation that software developers take more responsibility for the security of their products.
- By Carten Cordell
Cybersecurity
IARPA's plan to hack the brains of hackers
The intelligence research agency released a broad agency announcement on Tuesday for a program that looks to leverage psychological biases among hackers for cyber defense.
- By Carten Cordell
Defense
Pentagon lags on software buying reforms, GAO says
A GAO report has found that DOD has yet to implement several recommendations from advisory boards towards achieving its modernization goals.
- By Carten Cordell
Defense
DOD wants innovation to counter drone swarms
The Defense Department is planning a July outreach event to find new solutions from industry that can counter AI-enabled drone swarms over land, sea and air.
- By Carten Cordell