ID Technologies announced on Thursday that the company has acquired Attila Security, an innovative developer of data security products for federal government customers. The acquisition will have Attila integrate with the ID Technologies Archon secure solutions division and bolster Archon’s position as the leading commercial solution for Classified (CSfC) enterprise solution providers.

“We’re thrilled to welcome the exceptional people of Attila Security on board. Together, the Archon and Attila Security teams create an industry-leading CSfC practice that is hard to find anywhere else and boost the company’s value as a CSfC Trusted Integrator,” commented Chris Oliver. ID Technologies’s CEO. 

“Combining their accredited technology, expertise and experience enhances the performance and scalability of our award-winning Archon solution suite and enables us to bring it to new government and commercial customers,” added Oliver. 

The acquisition and integration of Attila add complementary product IP and technical capabilities, new customers and greater sales capacity to the Archon secure product portfolio. 

Oliver also stated, “The acquisition of Attila Security is part of our investment in new CSfC and ultra-secure product innovations focused on both mobile device and mission platform security, creating new opportunities with customers that need to access classified data from anywhere the mission demands.”

Gregg Smith, Attila Security’s CEO will continue to lead the Attila team during the integration process. His involvement ensures Attila’ current clients and partners will continue to enjoy Attila’s products and capabilities. 

“In thinking about the next strategic move for Attila Security, we talked to several potential investment partners. What made us feel good about ID Technologies was our shared vision and approach to the CSfC marketplace and total alignment on the value of joining forces,” said Gregg Smith. 

“Combining GoSilent with Archon creates a full-service CSfC delivery platform that our partners and customers can rely on for the entire CSfC lifecycle. We’re excited for the potential of what we can achieve together,” concluded Smith. 

A cross-sector evaluation team led by the Department of Homeland Security’s science and technology (DHS S&T) directorate expects to continue testing Ocean Aero-built autonomous marine vessels for the rest of summer.

The acceptance trials are part of a collaborative effort among eight organizations to demonstrate unmanned surface and underwater vehicles powered by solar or wind energy for maritime border security and law enforcement missions, DHS S&T said Wednesday.

Efforts are underway at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Marine Research Center to evaluate the navigation, surface and diving capabilities of six Triton vessels.

S&T collaborates with USM, Ocean Aero, Cherokee Nation Strategic Programs, the Naval Research Laboratory, the Pennsylvania State University’s Applied Research Laboratory and the Homeland Security Systems Engineering and Development Institute in the testing program.

Ocean Aero developed the Triton system under a multimillion-dollar agreement with the directorate and delivered the first vessel to USM MRC in November 2020.

The directorate noted that offshore tests in Gulfport will continue into the early fall once NRL and ARL equip the watercraft with sensors.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected 12 qualifying teams to compete in the next phase of a contest that will showcase algorithms designed to help robots navigate simulated underground scenarios for object localization work.

Participants can submit their autonomous systems for the preliminary round of the Subterranean Challenge virtual competition finals on the program's online portal through July 29 and the top teams will advance to the prize round that will take place from Sept. 21st to 24th, DARPA said Wednesday.

The agency chose eligible virtual robots from SubT Tech Repo, a digital library of subterranean technologies. DARPA will hold the SubT Challenge's virtual and real-world segments simultaneously, with the latter setting taking place at the Louisville Mega Cavern in Kentucky.

Both events will feature tunnel, cave and urban environments with similar challenge elements such as a rough terrain. The grand winner will receive $750,000 while the second and third placers will get $500,000 and $250,000, respectively.

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program is seeking public feedback on initial draft guidance meant to help cloud service providers develop the authorization boundary associated with their cloud offerings.

The guidance document provides CSPs with information on how to illustrate their cloud services’ authorization boundary, network interconnections and data flow diagrams, FedRAMP said Wednesday.

The document presents an overview of definitions of several terms, including authorization boundary, federal information, federal metadata, interconnections and external services, outlined in the Office of Management and Budget A-130 and National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-37 and SP 800-53.

The FedRAMP Program Management Office and Joint Authorization Board also offered guidance on how CSPs should approach and handle such terms. For example, service providers should include in an authorization boundary all federal data, including metadata, generated by a federal customer within the cloud service offering.

Public comments are due Sept. 13.

The U.S. Army has asked information on potential vendors with a capability to supply commercial items to meet the requirements of the Common Hardware Systems-5 contract.

The CHS-5 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract enables the rapid procurement of hardware, commercial off-the-shelf items and other commercial information technology products and services in support of the tactical and operational requirements of the Army, Department of Defense and federal government agencies, according to a request for information posted Wednesday.

CHS-5 supports the acquisition of common hardware components and related peripherals to facilitate the delivery of command, control, communications and computers mission equipment aimed at improving connectivity and interoperability on the battlefield.

Army Contracting Command is asking interested stakeholders about their capability to provide equipment with warranties, procure an average of 60,000 items and deliver approximately 125 orders annually and support requests to ruggedize or configure items managed by General Dynamics’ mission systems business, which is the incumbent on the IDIQ contract.

Responses to the RFI are due July 21.

Verizon announced on Wednesday that the company remains the most reliable network in the latest RootMetrics’ latest 1H 2021 US State of the Mobile Union report. The company ranked first in accessibility, call and text award categories.

“Customers have come to expect a higher level of reliability and performance from their mobile network after spending the past 15 months largely connected to a wired internet connection,” commented Kyle Malady, Verizon’s chief technology officer.

“RootMetrics’ stringent nationwide drive-test methodology demonstrates that Verizon customers can expect unbeaten reliability and network performance whether they travel cross-town or cross-country,” added Malady.

The company’s well-known network was awarded best overall network performance and network reliability for the sixteenth consecutive time. Verizon has won best network performance more than any other wireless company in the history of RootMetrics testing.

The COVID-19 pandemic illustrated the value of network reliability. Morning Consult conducted a survey on Verizon’s behalf and network reliability was the most important factor to consumers when considering upgrades to a mobile plan, phone, or carrier, with nearly 9 in 10 Americans saying it is important.

The RootMetrics report reported Verizon won or shared an exceptional 738 Metro Area RootScore Awards out of 875 total chances. The company also won the most Network Speed RootScore Awards of any carrier at 85.

Verizon took home the Verizon registered 43 markets with median speeds of at least 40 Mbps, 117 Reliability RootScore Awards, more than all other carriers measured by RootMetrics.

RootMetrics conducted real-world tests by driving nearly 300,000 miles across the nation, covering all 50 states and 125 metro areas. RootMetrics testers conducted almost three million tests across seven categories. Their scientific methodology tests networks side-by-side, at the same time and in the same locations.