Social Security Administration will soon transition to Login.gov platform

• Social Security online users will soon have to create Login.gov accounts, if they don't already have them. The website is a one-stop-shop for Americans to access government benefits and services online. The Social Security Administration is transitioning all users who made their accounts before 2021, to the Login.gov platform. Any beneficiary who already has a Login.gov account doesn't need to take any action. More than five million customers have already made the switch. SSA says the change aims to simplify the sign-in process, while providing more secure access to online services.
  (Upcoming changes to accessing online services - Social Security Administration)
• The cloud security program, known as FedRAMP, is now taking on another long-held frustration by its industry and agency customers: the need to automate system security plans. A new technical document hub, released last Friday, aims to give users technical documentation, best practices and guidance for creating and managing digital authorization packages using the OSCAL framework. By using this open source language, FedRAMP hopes vendor plans move from 600 page Word or PDF files to files that are machine readable and promote automation.
  (FedRAMP’s Automation Website: A new hub for technical documentation and guidance on digital authorization packages - FedRAMP)
• The Department of Homeland Security wants to reduce duplicative cyber incident reporting requirements. DHS is working on interagency agreements so organizations don’t have to report cyber incidents to multiple agencies. Those agreements fall under DHS’ implementation of the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act. DHS assistant secretary for cyber Iranga Kahangama. “We are going to be viewing and administering CIRCIA with an eye towards harmonization.” The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency published the draft CIRCIA rule in April. CISA expects to finalize the rule next spring.
  (DHS official details efforts to harmonize cyber reporting rules - Federal News Network )
• A new Senate bill would target counterfeit electronics in the federal government’s supply chain. Senators John Cornyn and Gary Peters introduced the Securing America’s Federal Equipment in Supply Chains Act or the SAFE Act last week. The legislation would require agencies to only buy electronics from original manufacturers or authorized re-sellers. The lawmakers say gray-market sellers can circumvent trusted supply chains and introduce risks into federal networks. Their bill does include an option to waive the requirements if it’s in the interest of national security.
  (Cornyn, Peters introduce bill to safeguard U.S. supply chains, cybersecurity - Office of Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tx.))

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• At the Department of Health and Human Services, using shared certificates has cut the agency’s time-to-hire by as much as 50 percent. Along with reducing time-to-hire, HHS human capital leaders say shared certificates create a better experience for candidates. They also help HR staff work more strategically. Sharing certificates is a relatively new recruitment practice in government. It lets federal recruiters expedite some of the early steps of the hiring process by sharing applications across different offices that are hiring for the same position. Over time, HHS has increasingly relied on shared certificates. In the last four years, HHS hired nearly 12,000 employees using that strategy.
  (‘An extraordinary opportunity’: How HHS uses shared certificates in hiring - Federal News Network)
• A new study finds significant increases in the diagnosis of chronic pain among female service members exposed to combat. Military wives also show higher odds of developing chronic pain when their spouses are deployed. Researchers looked into military health records of female patients suffering from chronic pain from 2006 to 2020. Researchers intended for the military wives to serve as a control group. But the research showed that military wives are at a much higher risk of developing chronic pain as well.
  (During combat, female service members show higher odds of chronic pain and so do military wives - JAMA Network Open)
• The Department of the Navy reported the greatest increase in suicide deaths in the first quarter of 2024. The news comes after the Navy’s internal survey revealed that the percentage of Sailors reporting “severe or extreme” levels of stress has increased significantly since 2019. The Air Force reported 17 deaths by suicide — up from 13 in the first quarter of 2023. Meanwhile, the Army saw a significant decrease in suicide deaths this year.
  (Military suicide rates continue to rise - Defense Department )

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