The director of the National Science Foundation announced his departure Thursday after five years at the agency.  In a brief public statement, Sethuraman Panchanathan said he was stepping down effective Thursday and called it “an honor and privilege to serve as the Director of NSF.” He also informed employees at NSF in an internal memorandum viewed by FedScoop. “I believe I have done all I can to advance the critical mission of the agency and feel that it is time for me to pass the baton to new leadership,” Panchanathan said in the public statement. Panchanathan assumed the role as NSF director during the first administration of President Donald Trump and carried on under Joe Biden. Under his leadership, the department launched its 27 AI institutes, began its Technology, Innovation, and Partnership Directorate, which has funded regional hubs for innovation across the U.S., and started the National AI Research Resource pilot project. His departure comes soon after the agency began terminating grants that didn’t comply with the priorities of the current administration, including items related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and misinformation and disinformation.

A bipartisan pair of House lawmakers are pushing for the reauthorization of the law that launched the Technology Modernization Fund. Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Nancy Mace, R-S.C., on Thursday reintroduced the Modernizing Government Technology Act, which largely mimics legislation introduced during the last Congress, just with an updated sunset date of 2032 instead of 2031. The bill revises and adds some additional requirements to the original Modernizing Government Technology Act, which passed in 2017. Connolly said in a press release that the reauthorization bill is a “welcome show of support for the [TMF] and the critical goal that drove its creation — bringing federal IT into the 21st century.” The bill looks to increase the TMF’s effectiveness by creating new reporting requirements for the federal chief information officer and agency CIOs, requiring a list of high-risk legacy IT systems that are used, operated or maintained by the agency, according to the bill’s text.

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NSF director Panchanathan resigns; Bill to reauthorize TMF would extend program to 2032

Greg Otto talks with Rob Ragan, Principal Technology Strategist at Bishop Fox, as he shares his vision of building an “Iron Man suit” for human security testers that is shaping how AI is used in offensive cybersecurity. Rob dives into lessons learned from developing adaptive AI tools, the unique challenges and risks facing modern AI systems, and effective strategies for safeguarding against adversarial attacks and data leakage. Discover how ethical frameworks, innovation, and industry collaboration can drive responsible offensive security, what organizations often get wrong about AI threats, and what’s needed to secure the future as AI transforms the cybersecurity landscape.

In our reporter chat, Greg Otto talks with Matt Kapko about a new wave of zero-days impacting Ivanti products. 

Bishop Fox’s Rob Ragan and Iron Man Suit for pen testers

Greg Otto talks with Eran Barak, CEO and co-founder of MIND, on the dramatic rise of insider threats in cybersecurity, exploring recent high-profile cases and the factors fueling this surge. He discusses which industries and data types are most at risk, how insider tactics have evolved, and practical strategies for organizations to detect and prevent internal threats. In our reporter chat, Greg talks with Derek Johnson on how vibe coding can be secure as it grows into a practice that software developers rely on for their work.  


LINK: https://cyberscoop.com/vibe-coding-ai-cybersecurity-llm/


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A podcast covering the latest news & trends facing top government leaders on topics such as technology, management & workforce. Hosted by Billy Mitchell on FedScoop and released Monday-Friday.

NSF director Panchanathan resigns; Bill to reauthorize TMF would extend program to 2032

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