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Leidos Partners With SANS Institute to Enhance Offerings at CyberEDGE Academy, Address Cybersecurity Talent Gap
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Leidos Partners With SANS Institute to Enhance Offerings at CyberEDGE Academy, Address Cybersecurity Talent Gap

Leidos has announced the federal IT and engineering service provider will partner with the SANS Institute to deliver cybersecurity training and certifications for the Leidos CyberEDGE Academy, a program developed in response to the nation’s talent gap in the cybersecurity sector.

The company’s CyberEDGE Academy, which is open to Leidos employees and qualifying external candidates, has successfully completed three cohort programs with over 50 graduates and has plans for future expansion.

Jason McCarthy, vice president of Leidos’ Homeland Security Solutions sector, said, "As we continue to address the cybersecurity workforce shortage facing organizations and agencies including DOD and DHS, the entire cyber community needs to work together to upskill, reskill and in general, protect and defend citizens, assets and information."

McCarthy also noted that the company’s strong partnerships with the SANS Institute and universities will position Leidos to address these shortages and contribute to building a capable cyber workforce.

The Dean of Leidos’ CyberEDGE Academy, James Beamon, commented, “SANS is a pioneer in cyber leadership and training, and Leidos looks forward to continuing our efforts to close the cybersecurity talent gap and ensure these highly trained professionals embark on meaningful cyber careers where they can bring their talent to bear in a national security environment."

Utilizing the SANS SEC:275 Foundations course platform to educate students in key areas such as Linux, programming, networking and foundational computing, the CyberEDGE Academy enables students to earn several industry certifications, including the GIAC Foundational Cybersecurity Technologies Certification.

Over the academy’s six month training period, students receive the education, skills and certifications necessary to secure jobs in a range of critical cybersecurity areas including cloud security engineering, cyber defense analysis, cyber threat intelligence analysis and cyber program management.

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DLA Extends Avon ESAPI Body Armor Contract; Paul McDonald Quoted
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DLA Extends Avon ESAPI Body Armor Contract; Paul McDonald Quoted

The Defense Logistics Agency will be exercising the first of two one-year extension options under the DLA Enhanced Small Arms Protective Inserts body armor contract with U.K.-based Avon Protection Systems to supply body armor plates from its ballistic protection business, Ceradyne.

The company said Friday the initial option extends the contract to September 2022 and activates a minimum order value of $19 million for the option year.

“This contract extension demonstrates our ongoing position as a leading supplier of body armor to the U.S. armed forces, as well as underpinning our FY22 body armor revenue expectations,” said Paul McDonald, CEO of Avon Protection.

Additionally, McDonald commented that he is pleased with Avon’s progress since December to address product approval delays.

With first article testing underway and progressing as the company has anticipated, formal approval for the DLA ESAPI body armor products is expected to be received during the first quarter of 2022, and initial shipments are to be expected in the second quarter.

Additionally, exercising the extension option will trigger a consequent $3 million of contingent consideration payable to 3M under the terms of Avon’s acquisition of Ceradyne, bringing the total contingent consideration payable to $7 million.  

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DHS, NIST List Goals for Cyber Best Practices
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DHS, NIST List Goals for Cyber Best Practices

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) have jointly classified cybersecurity practices into nine categories as bases for cyber performance goals.

The nine categories each have specific objectives with regard to how secure control systems are operated and deployed, NIST said Thursday. The two agencies expect these goals to help organizations adopt effective cyber practices and controls.

This partnership aligns with President Biden’s memorandum that aims to foster cybersecurity improvement across critical infrastructure control systems.

The nine category-based goals are:

  • Architecture and Design
  • Configuration and Change Management
  • Continuous Monitoring and Vulnerability Management
  • Incident Response and Recovery
  • Physical Security
  • Risk Management and Cybersecurity Governance
  • Supply Chain Risk Management
  • System and Data Integrity, Availability and Confidentiality
  • Training and Awareness

 

DHS, NIST List Goals for Cyber Best Practices

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released a preliminary list of the goals earlier.

If you are interested in learning more about the current landscape of cybersecurity, check out ExecutiveBiz's event titled “Supply Chain Cybersecurity: Revelations and Innovations” on Oct. 26th.

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DLA Transfers Hardware Supply Chain to Domain-Specific Units
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DLA Transfers Hardware Supply Chain to Domain-Specific Units

The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is transferring an industrial hardware supply chain from its troop support unit to divisions respective of battlefield domains, DOD News reported Thursday.

DLA Aviation and DLA Land and Maritime will receive responsibility over more than 900,000 items including bolts, nuts and seals, as the agency seeks to support the missions of other government entities.

The agency expects to complete the transfer on Sept. 30th, which would be a year earlier than originally planned.

“Although customers shouldn’t notice much difference, they’ll now be able to get answers to all their questions on industrial hardware from one source depending on which type of system is involved,” said John Bray from DLA's human resources unit.

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DHS Kicks Off ‘Cooling Solutions’ Competition to Boost Climate Resilience; Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Quoted
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DHS Kicks Off ‘Cooling Solutions’ Competition to Boost Climate Resilience; Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Quoted

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has launched a series of competitions intended to bolster the nation’s climate resilience and advance the development of innovations that address climate change risks. 

The DHS said Thursday that its science and technology directorate and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will lead the first series of competitions focused on inventions that counter heat-related illnesses and death. 

The “Cooling Solutions Challenge,” which will offer a total prize of $195,000, is aimed at helping the DHS strengthen equity in disaster preparedness and response initiatives of the agency in underserved groups.  

“Through this competition, DHS will increase access to tools that help communities increase their resilience and address the existential threat of climate change,” said Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of Homeland Security and 2021 Wash100 Award winner. 

Interested participants can submit proposals for the two-stage challenge until Dec. 7th.

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DARPA Program Aims to Create System Design-Level Cybersecurity Approaches
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DARPA Program Aims to Create System Design-Level Cybersecurity Approaches

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has launched a program that aims to help developers understand emergent behavior in computers to prevent cyber attackers from generating malicious and unintended computations using already embedded features of critical systems.

DARPA is seeking interested proposers for the Hardening Development Toolchains Against Emergent Execution Engines initiative to study theories and approaches and develop tools for mitigating emergent software behaviors throughout the software development phase where they are usually overlooked, the agency said Wednesday.

The HARDEN effort seeks to address the current process of system designers unknowingly enabling emergent behaviors because of their focus on ensuring a software can perform its task, taking away time to consider what unexpected conduct it could exhibit.

Aside from theory analysis and tool development, participants will explore methods to disrupt the exploit execution engine located at the design level that causes a system to act awry and apply such ideas to concrete technological use cases of integrated software.

“We want to ensure we’re creating models that will be of actual use to critical defense systems,” said Sergey Bratus, a program manager in DARPA’s Information Innovation Office.

The agency plans to discuss the program with potential offerors at a virtual meeting scheduled for Thursday.

DARPA Program Aims to Create System Design-Level Cybersecurity Approaches

ExecutiveBiz, sister site of ExecutiveGov, will host a forum about supply chain cybersecurity. Visit the EBiz Events page to register for this timely forum and view other upcoming events for the GovCon community.

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Army Seeks to Encourage Troops to Trust AI Through Project Ridgway; Col. Dan Kearney Quoted
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Army Seeks to Encourage Troops to Trust AI Through Project Ridgway; Col. Dan Kearney Quoted

The U.S. Army has launched a training program that seeks to encourage soldiers to use and develop artificial intelligence tools to gain military advantage on the battlefield, Defense One reported Wednesday.

Through Project Ridgway, the Army wants commanders and service members to recognize the importance of digital data and how it could be put to use to improve survivability in future conflicts.

“We have to put the force in a position so that when artificial intelligence efforts are thrust upon us, we are in a position to go ahead and employ them immediately,” said Col. Dan Kearney, XVIII Airborne Corps plans officer and head of Project Ridgway.

“You want leaders to trust that the algorithm is going to go ahead and extrapolate from the right data sets to go ahead and come out with this recommendation. And if commanders don’t trust it, they won’t use it, and they’ll second-guess it, and it will slow down the kill chain,” Kearney added.

Kearney said the program will have two lines of effort and the first intends to “create a culture of innovation that respects data as a strategic asset” through large-scale, voluntary training on the role of data in AI and other emerging technologies. The project’s second line of effort will involve service members who want to build up skills in data management and app development. 

This effort will include a four-month training via the software coding bootcamp Galvanize, six-month training through Joint Special Operations Command’s Gap program and applied data science training through Coursera. The other two lines of effort will deal with data governance and data infrastructure elements such as cloud and data storage technologies.

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Andrew Cox: USSF to Give Industry Overview of Force Design Process
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Andrew Cox: USSF to Give Industry Overview of Force Design Process

Andrew Cox, director of the U.S. Space Force's Space Warfighting Analysis Center (SWAC), said that SWAC plans to discuss its digital approach to the force design process with potential industry partners at an Oct. 27th classified business event, C4ISRNET reported Friday. 

Cox noted that he would offer attendees to the business fair an overview of the models of emerging threats and how the service branch intends to confront targets in the next decade.

A special notice posted on SAM.gov says the event is intended to help the private sector gain insight into SWAC's force design and model-based systems engineering (MBSE) approaches. 

The center applies the MBSE method to the branch's missile warning and tracking mission areas, but the notice states that the upcoming event is not related to any acquisition program.

USSF will share the process with industry five months after Gen. John Raymond, chief of space operations at USSF and a 2021 Wash100 Award recipient, outlined the branch's digital service vision.

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GAO: Space Force Should Present More Transparent Schedule, Cost Risk Data for Next Gen OPIR Program
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GAO: Space Force Should Present More Transparent Schedule, Cost Risk Data for Next Gen OPIR Program

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has recommended that the Space Force provide congressional defense committees with more transparent data about cost and schedule risks facing the Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) missile warning satellite program to improve congressional oversight and decision-making.

GAO found that program officials continue to report stable cost estimates and on-track timeline for the Next Gen OPIR program despite being aware of schedule risks, according to a report published Wednesday.

The congressional watchdog called on the Department of Defense (DOD) to formalize a plan to coordinate initiatives across multiple agencies to ensure that Next Gen OPIR capabilities meet warfighter needs.

“Without documenting roles, responsibilities, and plans, DOD risks ineffective collaboration and unsynchronized delivery of warfighter capabilities,” the GAO report reads.

The first Next Gen OPIR satellite is expected to launch in 2025. The program seeks to replace the Space-Based Infrared System that has been in operation since the mid-1990s.

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Laura Stanton: On-Ramps, No-Price Awards Among Features GSA Wants for Polaris GWAC
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Laura Stanton: On-Ramps, No-Price Awards Among Features GSA Wants for Polaris GWAC

Laura Stanton, assistant commissioner for the office of information technology category at the General Services Administration’s (GSA)  Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), said GSA is looking to integrate key features to the Polaris governmentwide acquisition contract for small IT businesses.

Those features include on-ramps, access to emerging technologies and no-price awards with pricing negotiated at the task order level to drive competition, Stanton wrote in a blog post published Wednesday.

She said GSA also intends for Polaris to have a maximum ordering period of 10 years with no contract ceiling, utilize the cloud business model for serving offerings and provide support for IT modernization and emerging technologies, including cloud, storage and quantum computing services.

“We are developing a dynamic contracting program that provides flexibility to establish additional industry partner pools on Polaris in the future as we continue to assess technology trends and changing customer needs,” Stanton noted.

She said GSA is seeking insights from VETS 2 industry partners about including a pool for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses on Polaris, which will include cybersecurity and supply chain risk management requirements.

Stanton added that the agency is working to release an updated draft solicitation for Polaris scorecard and sections L and M and plans to hold an industry forum on the contract on Oct. 20.

In December, GSA released a draft request for proposals for Polaris and announced that the contract will be divided into three pools: small business, HUBZone and women-owned small business pools.

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