The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has identified a malware dubbed Supernova used by advanced persistent threat actors to compromise an organization’s enterprise network through a Pulse Secure virtual private network device.

CISA said Thursday hackers use Supernova to conduct reconnaissance and domain mapping and steal credentials and sensitive data.

According to the agency, threat actors connect to the network through the VPN appliance and go to the entity’s SolarWinds Orion server through a lateral movement to install the malware, which is described as a “malicious webshell backdoor.”

CISA noted that the threat actor responsible for Supernova is different from the hacker linked to the SolarWinds supply chain compromise. “Organizations that find SUPERNOVA on their SolarWinds installations should treat this incident as a separate attack,” the advisory reads.

CISA recommends that organizations implement multifactor authentication, deploy endpoint defense tools, secure remote desktop protocol, and other remote access tools and maintain up-to-date antivirus engines and signatures, among other measures, to improve the cybersecurity posture of their systems.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., have introduced a bill to help the federal government attract professionals with skills in artificial intelligence and related fields by offering scholarships.

The proposed AI Scholarship-for-Service Act would offer scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students provided that they would serve in the public sector after graduation for a period equal to the length of the scholarship's term, Thune’s office said Thursday.

“As advancements in artificial intelligence continue, the federal government must be prepared to promote ethical applications based on American values to counter competitors like the Chinese government, which prioritizes investments in this revolutionary technology,” said Peters, who serves on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee with Thune.

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Under the bipartisan legislation, scholarship recipients would gain access to internships and an opportunity to secure positions at federal, local, state, and tribal government agencies once they complete their degrees.

“By incentivizing more talent to pursue training in this field, we can ensure America remains competitive globally in this emerging technology,” Thune said.

The Internet Association, BSA|The Software Alliance, Carnegie-Mellon University, Dakota State University and the University of Michigan support the proposed measure.

Sonny Bhagowalia, chief information officer of the Customs and Border Protection (CBP), said the agency has baked in cybersecurity measures as part of its process for managing the life cycle of data in a cloud computing environment, Federal News Network reported Thursday.

Bhagowalia said on the Federal Monthly Insights show that CBP uses cloud technology to manage privacy and protect sensitive agency data from advanced persistent threats while ensuring continuity of operations amid the pandemic.

“Even though this remote work and everything else that we’ve been doing, most of our folks are still on the front lines. Cloud has become a very important capability that we use to deliver things," Bhagowalia noted.

Technology supports agency missions such as counterterrorism, border security, transnational crime prevention, according to the CBP CIO.

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The U.S. Navy has announced plans to experiment with an information warfare cell at a maritime operations center later this year. The Navy created information warfare commanders at every one of their strike groups as the focal point for a strike group commander to consolidate and integrate different aspects of information warfare from electromagnetic spectrum to cyberspace to intelligence to oceanographic operations.

The information warfare cell idea arose from the addition of information warfare composite commanders at the carrier strike group level, according to  Vice Adm. Jeffrey Trussler, deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare. C4ISRNET reported the story on Thursday. 

Trussler added that the new concept has been well received by Navy personnel, stating, “I talk to every strike group commander that comes to the Pentagon; I ask him specifically, ‘How is that IWC (information warfare commander) concept working?’ Every one of them loves their IWC and loves that concept. It’s worked out very well.”

Information warfare is quickly becoming important for warfighting capabilities. The Navy wants to have information warfare abilities at both the tactical level and operational level. These experiments scheduled for later this year will evaluate how information warfare can be utilized and optimized at the operational level. 

Similar to Trussler, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday also wants to create dedicated information warfare cells within fleet maritime operations centers, a project that was supposed to be informed by the results from an exercise that was postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Navy’s upcoming experiment with the information warfare cell at its Large Scale Exercise scheduled will utilize feedback to evaluate the concept further.

“We think it’s a powerful concept. We think it’s just a continued maturation of the information age, and we need to manage that information differently, not only with the tools we’re going to develop but with how we process that in the decision-making of a commander and his staff,” concluded Trussler. 

Army Research Laboratory (ARL) has launched an effort to study how autonomous exoskeleton technology can adapt to soldier users. The study aimed to identify brain and muscle signals, walking performance metrics and movement profiles that can be used to track an individual's state when using an exoskeleton, the Army said Tuesday.

Researchers assessed these indicators through an exoskeleton boot worn by a soldier. The boot is designed to move in synchronization with its wearer.

“These signals could give the exoskeleton a better understanding of the human at any moment so that it can make better decisions on how to assist the human," said Cortney Bradford, a research scientist at Army Research Laboratory.

Bradford said the technology and its human user must mutually adapt through the dynamic flow of operations. The research team will assess the gathered data over months, then present the results in summer.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill to establish an office dedicated to cyberspace diplomacy, CyberScoop reported Wednesday.

The Cyber Diplomacy Act would create the Bureau of International Cyberspace Policy at the State Department, and appoint a cyber diplomacy ambassador to lead the office. The government would use the potential office to better augment the norms of global cyberspace.

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., who co-introduced the bill with Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., said the U.S. needs specific structures to promote cyberspace interests in the increasingly connected world.

“Moving forward, a Bureau of International Cyberspace Policy at the State Department will empower our diplomatic corps to ensure like-minded nations speak with one voice in the face of norms-busting behavior," Langevin said.