The National Security Agency (NSA) has announced a Mitre-developed framework designed to bolster the cyber resilience of national security systems, as well as the defense industrial base. 

The NSA-funded D3FEND framework provides defensive countermeasures that cybersecurity professionals can use against common cyberattacks, NSA said Tuesday.

D3FEND complements Mitre's existing ATT&CK framework, which focuses on the behavior and common tactics employed by malicious cyber actors. 

ATT&CK describes cyber adversary techniques, as D3FEND helps cybersecurity operators customize systems in ways that correspond to specific cyber threats. Government and industry organizations may use both D3FEND and ATT&CK to analyze and report cybersecurity situations.

Interested cybersecurity professionals may contract Mitre to submit feedback on the D3FEND framework via this link.

NATO hopes to introduce a defense technology accelerator that will enable the alliance to work with academia, private sector and nongovernmental organizations to expedite trans-Atlantic collaboration on emerging technologies, C4ISRNET reported Tuesday.

David van Weel, assistant secretary-general for emerging security challenges at NATO, said the alliance intends to have the initial components of the Defence Innovation Accelerator of the North Atlantic (DIANA) set up by 2022 and expects the accelerator to achieve initial operating capability by 2023.

He noted that DIANA will focus on defense and national security and will have headquarters in Europe and North America that will work with test centers across member countries to co-design, validate and test applications in the areas of emerging and disruptive technologies.

DIANA will build and oversee a network that will help startups advance growth initiatives and support the alliance’s technology needs through grant programs. 

Van Weel said the accelerator will support the development of seven emerging and disruptive technologies: artificial intelligence; quantum-enabled technologies; big data processing; hypersonics; biotechnology; space and autonomy.

DIANA will also enable small businesses to connect with pre-qualified investors through a trusted capital marketplace. Van Weel said NATO will work to protect technologies from “illicit transfers” by screening investors ahead of time.

NATO will also back companies working on dual-use technologies through a venture capital fund and van Weel said the NATO Innovation Fund would be underwritten by approximately $83 million on an annual basis and would run for about 15 years.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will hand over to the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, a program meant to help Marines develop concepts of multidomain fighting operations using a set of software training and experimentation tools.

DARPA said Tuesday that it concluded a five-day demonstration for the Prototype Resilient Operations Testbed for Expeditionary Urban Scenarios (PROTEUS) program with Marines this spring at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and found that PROTEUS offered insights in support of the Force Design 2030 plan of the Marine Corps.

“Using the PROTEUS software, Marines were able to visualize and manipulate their electromagnetic footprint, apply logistics support automation, and obtain quantitative analytics on the effectiveness of force packages and tactics in real-time,” said John Paschkewitz, PROTEUS program manager at DARPA’s strategic technology office.

“PROTEUS brings the power of multi-domain force package and CONOPS (concept of operations) development to the platoon, company, and battalion. In terms of thinking about the future fight, where you have to be sensitive to your electromagnetic emissions or seek to employ unmanned assets in effective ways, PROTEUS is a powerful tool,” Paschkewitz added.

Companies that have developed technologies for PROTEUS are Cubic, Mitre, Metron, Cole Engineering Services, Data Machines Corp. and Guard Unit. Launched in 2017, PROTEUS has three components: ULTRA, COMPOSER and the Parametric Data Service.

ULTRA is a synthetic environment that acts as a multidomain operations military sandbox for analysis and experimentation. COMPOSER is a dynamic composition engine that includes logistics and electromagnetic spectrum operations wizards. PDS helps ensure that maps, models and other elements of COMPOSER wizards and ULTRA are authoritative and collects data from USMC sources to ensure that vehicle parameters, weapons ranges and radio specifications show actual capabilities.

Kathleen Hicks, the deputy secretary of defense and 2021 Wash100 Award winner, has unveiled an effort to accelerate the Department of Defense's (DOD) trust-building and implementation of artificial intelligence technology, DOD News reported Tuesday.

The DOD AI and Data Acceleration initiative would execute exercises and implementation tests that aim to incrementally build the military's understanding of AI. She also stated that U.S. military commanders must build trust toward explainable AI. 

“Its goal is to rapidly advance data and AI dependent concepts, like joint all-domain command and control, to the ADA initiative," Hicks said virtually at the DOD's AI Symposium and Tech Exchange.

Hicks has presented a set of data decrees that DOD could use to boost the visibility, security and trustworthiness of artificial intelligence. The deputy secretary said commanders must understand AI in moral, ethical and legal aspects, and trust the technology's outputs.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has agreed to help the U.S. Space Force promote safety across commercial space operations at the service branch's facilities.

The Department of the Air Force said Monday that it partnered with FAA to implement common safety standards and eliminate redundant processes for commercial space activities at Vandenberg Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

FAA will approve the department's ground safety standards, studies and processes if they align with the former's regulations. In exchange, the department will accept FAA's licensing actions and will not implement its own requirements during a commercial mission's flight and reentry segments.

“The launch licensing standards provided in the agreement will support a rapidly expanding commercial launch sector and strengthen our space industrial base, bolstering our economy and enhancing our security as a nation," said John Roth, acting secretary of the Air Force.

Third Way, a public policy think tank, said state governors have asked for the National Guard's assistance to respond to ransomware, more often than to other types of cyberattacks.

The National Guard has supported state cybersecurity efforts since 2018, with 23 of the 41 recorded cases being related to ransomware, the think tank said Monday. Eight of these ransomware attacks struck local government agencies and seven targeted public school systems. 

The National Guard can create incident response plans, analyze cyber defenses, assess threats and perform cyber response efforts for state governments. Governors have also asked the National Guard for help with cyber issues that involve election security.

Last month, Reps. Andy Kim, D-N.J.,  and Joe Wilson, R-S.C., presented a bill that would provide governors more flexibility in how they would deploy National Guard personnel for cyber response.