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DHS Unveils Results of Last Year’s Privacy Tech Event; Arun Vemury Quoted
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DHS Unveils Results of Last Year’s Privacy Tech Event; Arun Vemury Quoted

The Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate has released results of a 2020 effort that demonstrated privacy protection technologies.

DHS said Thursday that its 2020 Privacy Technology Demonstration aimed to showcase tools that can help maintain the privacy of people seen in visual media such as photos and videos.

“The purpose of this research is to nurture the development of privacy-enhancing technologies that can be used by organizations that have an interest in operating various types of camera systems, but recognize concerns related to face recognition surveillance," said Arun Vemury, director of S&T’s Biometric and Identity Technology Center. 

Five privacy technologies underwent testing at the event and demonstrated the ability to detect and censor the faces of individuals in a video. Interested parties may view the results at the website of S&T’s Maryland Test Facility.

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DISA to Decommission Enterprise Defense Collaboration Tool as Pentagon Adopts Office 365 Cloud Service
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DISA to Decommission Enterprise Defense Collaboration Tool as Pentagon Adopts Office 365 Cloud Service

The Defense Information Systems Agency is set to terminate an enterprise collaboration tool on the Department of Defense’s Non-classified Internet Protocol Network starting Sept. 1, in line with DOD’s move to Microsoft Office 365 cloud infrastructure.

DISA said Wednesday it will implement a phased approach for the Defense Collaboration Services program decommissioning process and that the DCS program office will limit performance and patching functions until deactivation.

The program’s instant messaging and web conferencing applications will continue to run on the department’s Secure Internet Protocol Router Network through fiscal year 2023.

According to a fact sheet, common access cards secure the DCS system across the Pentagon’s unclassified and classified networks.

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OIG Report: DOD Should Classify 3D Printers as IT Systems in Need of Cybersecurity Controls
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OIG Report: DOD Should Classify 3D Printers as IT Systems in Need of Cybersecurity Controls

The Department of Defense’s (DOD) office of inspector general (OIG) has recommended that the chief information officer include 3D printers and other additive manufacturing systems in the portfolio of information technology platforms and establish cybersecurity controls in compliance with DOD and federal guidance.

The DOD CIO should also direct owners of AM systems and 3D printers to implement security controls to help reduce risks, secure an authority to operate, update the operating systems of AM equipment to Windows 10 and screen all AM systems for cyber vulnerabilities, according to OIG’s report publicly released Wednesday.

The OIG assessed five sites and found that officials at DOD component agencies failed to consistently secure their computer workstations used for printing 3D products in order to avoid unauthorized changes and protect their design data from threat actors.

“Unless the DoD properly protects the confidentiality and integrity of its AM systems and design data, internal or external malicious actors could compromise AM systems to steal the design data or gain access to the DoD Information Network,” the report states.

“The compromise of AM design data could allow an adversary to re-create and use DoD’s technology to the adversary’s advantage on the battlefield. In addition, if malicious actors change the AM design data, the changes could affect the end strength and utility of the 3D-printed products,” the OIG noted.

The inspector general also found that DOD components considered 3D printers as “tools” instead of IT systems. Component agencies also called AM systems as equipment that do not need authority to operate.

The Pentagon CIO disagreed with the recommendation that new cyber guidance is needed for 3D printers, saying that DoD Instructions 8500.01 and 8510.01 already require cybersecurity controls for AM systems, according to the report.

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Col. Timothy Sejba: Space Force Opens Center for On-Orbit Experiment and Prototyping Work
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Col. Timothy Sejba: Space Force Opens Center for On-Orbit Experiment and Prototyping Work

The U.S. Space Force's acquisition and development organization unveiled a 5,930-square-foot facility at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico that will focus on developing and demonstrating warfighting technologies for the USSF mission.

The Space and Missile Systems Center invested $17 million to establish the Rendezvous and Proximity Satellite Operations Center with operations space built to host as many as 50 command-and-control system operators and support personnel, SMC said Wednesday.

SMC added the new facility, which has rooms for mission planning and conferencing use, will operate under Kirtland AFB's Research, Development, Test & Evaluation Support Complex.

“The REPR Satellite Operations Center allows us to carry out on-orbit experiments and prototyping efforts, develop innovative concepts of operation, and demonstrate game-changing technology for the United States Space Force and our mission partners," said Col. Timothy Sejba, director of SMC Space Development Corps.

The branch expects to take over operations of narrowband communications satellites currently managed by the Navy and payloads being operated by the Army in October.

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NASA, Northrop Set Launch of Next Cygnus Resupply Mission for Aug. 10th
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NASA, Northrop Set Launch of Next Cygnus Resupply Mission for Aug. 10th

Northrop Grumman is set to deliver another batch of NASA's science investigations, supplies and equipment to the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday, Aug. 10th. 

Northrop's Cygnus spacecraft will lift off onboard its Antares rocket from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia as part of the company's 16th commercial resupply mission, NASA said Thursday.

The mission will support research on 3D printing in space, the behavior of slime molds in microgravity, a spacecraft thermal protection system and a carbon dioxide removal technology.

The trip will also carry a new mounting bracket for the planned installation of a new pair of solar arrays outside the orbiting laboratory.

NASA is currently opening applications from U.S.-based media outlets to cover the Antares launch, with the deadline set on July 27th.

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Researchers Develop Magnetic Memory Device for AI Applications Under NSF-Funded Study; Pedram Khalili Quoted
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Researchers Develop Magnetic Memory Device for AI Applications Under NSF-Funded Study; Pedram Khalili Quoted

University researchers working under a National Science Foundation-funded study have created an external magnetic field-resistant memory technology that could potentially be used in artificial intelligence hardware, cryptocurrency mining and space exploration initiatives in the future.

NSF said Tuesday a research team from Northwestern University and Italy's University of Messina used antiferromagnetic materials for the development of a new magnetic memory device.

Pedram Khalili, an electrical and computer engineer at Northwestern University's McCormick School of Engineering and the lead for the NSF-backed study, said antiferromagnetic materials present possibilities to address the issues of ferromagnetic, magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM).

Current memory devices are expected to be rendered unsustainable considering AI applications' increasing use of larger datasets to function.

"Antiferromagnets show the potential for scalability, high write speed, and immunity to tampering by external magnetic fields — all necessary components to make faster devices to support the rapid growth of the computing, networking and data storage industries," Khalili explained.

The antiferromagnetic memory device was designed to be compatible with existing semiconductor production approaches and to operate with low electrical current.

"This was a key milestone, as we demonstrated no new capital expenditure needed by companies that would want to adopt antiferromagnetic MRAM technology," Khalili said.

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27 DOE-Backed Projects to Study Earth’s Atmosphere in Face of Climate Crisis; Secretary Jennifer Granholm Quoted
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27 DOE-Backed Projects to Study Earth’s Atmosphere in Face of Climate Crisis; Secretary Jennifer Granholm Quoted

Twenty-seven projects have been awarded $15.6 million in Department of Energy (DOE) funds to study the interaction between aerosols and clouds for the DOE's Atmospheric System Research (ASR) program. 

Awardees will conduct studies over a three-year period with the goal of modeling climate systems and developing weather prediction tools to help the federal government tackle climate emergencies, DOE said Thursday.

Funding recipients will use data from the department's ground-based Atmospheric Radiation Measurement facility to look at how aerosol affects the cloud-forming process in the atmosphere and how clouds change the chemistry of aerosols.

"The Earth’s atmosphere holds the answers to how our planet is changing in the face of the climate crisis, as well as how we can predict and mitigate the effects,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

The department issued the competitive grants following a peer review of the projects through the ASR Program backed by its biological and environmental research office.

On Wednesday, DOE opened a $27 million funding opportunity for research into ocean wave energy converters.

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Maj. Gen. Ryan Heritage Takes Charge of USMC Cyber Organization
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Maj. Gen. Ryan Heritage Takes Charge of USMC Cyber Organization

Maj. Gen. Ryan Heritage, formerly commanding general of U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego and Western Recruiting Region, officially assumed new duties as head of the Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command (MARFORCYBER) at a ceremony held Wednesday at the U.S. Naval Academy, DVIDSHub reported.

He succeeds Lt. Gen. Matthew Glavy, who will transition to a new role as USMC’s deputy commandant for information. In his new capacity, Heritage will lead MARFORCYBER and its operations in the cyber domain to ensure the security of enterprise and joint force networks.

He will also lead the Marine Corps Forces Space Command, a component of the Space Command established to deliver operational assistance to the Fleet Marine Force.

“I am excited to return to the cyber domain and look forward to being part of this command’s legacy of great people, strategy and a culture of winning,” Heritage said.

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Andrew Malloy: DISA Explores Telework Enterprise Identity, Device Management Approaches
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Andrew Malloy: DISA Explores Telework Enterprise Identity, Device Management Approaches

Andrew Malloy, technical director of the Defense Information Systems Agency's (DISA) cyber development directorate, said that DISA is looking at strategies to manage user access and personal mobile devices within remote work environments, Federal News Network reported Tuesday.

The agency is conducting pilot programs to test an enterprise identity management service and determine a bring-your-own-device approach for the Department of Defense (DOD).

"That’s what we need to figure out moving forward is, how we manage that and how we manage that centrally, to where from a cybersecurity perspective, we don’t have as much of a threat surface area,” Malloy told the publication.

He also noted that DISA began migrating its global directory to the cloud-based Defense Enterprise Office Solution (DEOS) infrastructure and worked with the National Security Agency to develop a zero-trust concept.

DISA deployed an initial zero trust reference architecture in May to support military information security efforts.

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Serco Awarded $70M U.S. Navy Contract for C5ISR Electronic System Support; Dave Dacquino Quoted
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Serco Awarded $70M U.S. Navy Contract for C5ISR Electronic System Support; Dave Dacquino Quoted

Serco announced on Thursday that the company landed a potential $70 million U.S. Navy contract to provide engineering and technical support for aviation intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C5ISR) electronic systems. The single-award contract (SAC) has a five-year base period and one two-year option period.

“Serco stands ready to provide rapid response technical support to the U.S. Navy and other Department of Defense Air Traffic Control facilities impacted by natural disasters, war and other mission-critical support events,” commented Dave Dacquino, Serco’s chairman, CEO and 2021 Wash100 Award recipient.

The contract requires Serco to supply engineering and technical support services for a wide range of specialized, complex air traffic control, meteorology and oceanography and aviation command, control, communications, computers, combat systems, C5ISR electronic systems for the Naval Air Systems Command, NAVWAR and other government entities.

Serco will also perform support for modification, upgrade, sustainment, maintenance and emergency repairs of the aforementioned systems.

This recent award builds on the company’s potential $400 million re-compete contracts with the U.S. Navy awarded in July. This award requires Serco to provide engineering and technical support for aviation C5ISR electronic systems. The contract is a seven-year, multiple-award contract (MAC), has a five-year base period and one two-year option period.

The Navy awarded Serco another notable contract in March. This award was a $153 million initial delivery order under a potential $600 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide software, hardware and firmware maintenance services supporting the Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection (AT/FP) Ashore Sustainment Program.

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