• Participants in the Thrift Savings Plan will see some new features available on the TSP mobile app. Users now have the option to use facial recognition or a fingerprint to log into their accounts from their phones. Once logged into the app, TSP participants can access a summary of their retirement accounts, along with other investment information. The TSP app was first launched in 2022 as part of a major update to the TSP’s platforms.
  (TSP mobile app update - Thrift Savings Plan)
• The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will update its separation policies after several employees left the agency without returning their laptops. In a new audit, the NRC inspector general found multiple instances in 2023 where departing staff held onto their work computers. The IG found the NRC did not have a policy for ensuring the return of items under a $2,500 threshold. The NRC agreed with recommendations to update its policies and complete an inventory of agency-issued laptops, desktops and tablets.
  (Evaluation of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Information Technology Asset Management - NRC IG )
• The Defense Information Systems Agency’s intelligence director is laying the foundation for the agency’s brand new intel shop. The new intelligence unit will initially comprise about 30 people, which is small compared to other J2 units. Army Col. Richard Leach, DISA’s intelligence director, said he wants to start with a more agile team and scale it in the future. Onboarding all 30 people and fully operationalizing the intel shop will take at least two years. Last year, DISA introduced the J-code system, creating the first-ever intelligence unit at the agency.
  (DISA working to fully operationalize its new intel shop - Federal News Network)
• The Army is getting more serious about the transition to IP version 6. Leo Garciga, the Army's chief information officer, set a series of deadlines for all of the service's new and existing IT-related networks and systems. Garciga said starting in fiscal 2025, all new information systems must be IPv6 enabled before they are approved for operational use. For existing systems, they must transition to IPv6 or operate in both IPv4 and IPv6 environments by the end of 2025. Finally, any system that cannot be transitioned to IPv6 must have a plan to be replaced or retired by the end of 2025. Garciga said he will issue a separate policy focused on operational technology and its migration to IPv6 in the future.
  (Chief Information Officer Guidance for the Army’s Transition to Internet Protocol Version 6 - Department of the Army)

        Join us Jan. 27 for our Industry Exchange Cyber 2025 event where industry leaders will share the latest cybersecurity strategies and technologies.

• The Defense Information Systems Agency is developing a system that will allow cyber analysts to search data across multiple data sources from a single interface. This will provide analysts with a federated search capability where they can search for data wherever it exists within the agency without having to log into various databases. Creating a federated search capability is part of the agency’s efforts to get rid of data silos and connect its security tools as the agency is working to achieve a target level of zero trust by 2027.
  (DISA wants to automate 75% of cyber activities, but it’s nowhere near the goal - Federal News Network)
• Federal employees and citizens with disabilities will see changes to the areas in front of and around federal buildings in the coming years. As part of adopting new accessibility standards for real property design and construction, the General Services Administration will shorten travel distances from on-street parking to building entrances, will increase the sidewalk sizes, and will reduce the incline around passenger loading zones. GSA issued a final rule under the Federal Management Regulation outlining the changes to ensure areas around federal buildings are readily accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities. The rule applies to all new construction, alteration and renovation projects.
  (Federal Management Regulation; Accessibility Standard for Pedestrian Facilities in the Public Right-of-Way - Federal Register)
• Federal workforce diversity is still lagging in higher levels of the General Schedule. People of color make up about 40% of the federal workforce overall, according to 2023 data. But at the same time, they take up just about a quarter of career positions in the Senior Executive Service. The SES is also disproportionately male. Just about a third of career SES members are women. Data from the Partnership for Public Service shows that there is a slight trend toward more racial diversity in the SES, rising by 1% in the last year.
  (Federal workforce diversity still lagging in more senior roles - Federal News Network)
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services continues to grapple with staffing challenges. In a new report, the USCIS ombudsman found the agency has about 21,000 employees — 3,000 positions less than its fully authorized workforce. The ombudsman said USCIS is struggling to fill positions after a lengthy hiring freeze was lifted in 2021. Still, the agency was able to cut the immigration backlog for the first time in a decade last year. USCIS handled about 40,500 requests for various immigration benefits each business day in 2023.
  (USCIS Ombudsman 2024 report - Department of Homeland Security)
• A public-sector advocacy group is suing the Office of Personnel Management over a nearly seven-year delay in implementing a law passed by Congress. The Administrative Leave Act allows agencies to put federal employees on paid administrative leave for a maximum of 90 days while they investigate alleged wrongdoing. The group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility says federal employees have spent years on paid administrative leave, and seen their careers suffer. OPM introduced proposed guidance for the legislation in 2017, but has yet to finalize it. PEER filed its lawsuit to compel OPM to finalize its guidance.
  (Lawsuit urges OPM to end 7-year delay to keep feds off indefinite paid administrative leave - Federal News Network )
• The IRS expects it will recover billions of dollars in taxes owed — just as soon as it sorts through a backlog of more than 30,000 whistleblower claims. The IRS paid nearly $89 million dollars to more than 120 whistleblowers in fiscal 2023. That’s about a quarter of the $338 million those whistleblowers helped the IRS recover. But it’s no quick payday. Whistleblowers wait, on average, between 10 and 11 years before receiving a financial award for their disclosure. The IRS only pays whistleblower awards once taxpayers under investigation have exhausted all of their appeal rights. The IRS Whistleblower Office has helped recover nearly $7 billion in taxes owed since 2007. Whistleblowers have gotten more than $1 billion of that money.
  (IRS recoups billions from whistleblower claims. Tipsters can wait a decade for their cut - Federal News Network )

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