The U.S. Army has funded scientists from Duke University and the University of Pennsylvania to study how micro-lasers can accelerate military communications and data transmission.

The photonics research team developed two-dimensional arrays of micro-lasers designed to collectively surpass the power density of a single micro-laser while maintaining the same stability, the Army said Thursday.

“The research results out of UPenn mark a significant step towards creating more efficient and fieldable laser sources.,” said James Joseph, program manager at the Army Research Office.

A two-laser array can produce two super-modes and quadratically increase its power output while maintaining the coherency and stability required to preserve the data in transit.

Light detection and ranging or LiDAR technology allows autonomous systems to optically sense objects. The researchers believe the array holds potential for LiDAR applications. The research team published its findings in the Science peer-reviewed journal.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DAPRA) is working on a computer science effort to address the security risks associated with reporting software vulnerabilities. 

DARPA said Thursday that its Securing Information for Encrypted Verification and Evaluation (SIEVE) program will use zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP) to better protect exchanges of vulnerability information.

ZKPs refer to problem statements that analysts may use to mathematically explain software matters. The SIEVE effort aims to produce computer science theory and corresponding software that would simplify cryptography and boost the effectiveness of ZKPs.

A Galois-led team demonstrated ZKP's use in communicating a memory-safety vulnerability found in the Game Boy Advance device. The team combined different protocols and program analyses to evaluate ZKP statements.

Trail of Bits leads a second team to model architecture-level vulnerabilities as ZKP-compatible Boolean circuits.

A Center of Excellence (CoE) supported by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has reported about how emerging technologies can address the risks brought by cross-border e-commerce. 

The University of Houston-led Borders, Trade and Immigration (BTI) Institute reported that e-commerce widens the potential for immigrants to violate trade laws and deliver dangerous products, DHS said Friday. The report states that lack of pre-arrival data may delay processing and affect the safety of products in transit. 

This data may include product identifiers and seller profiles. BTI believes emerging technologies can help traders address these risk-inducing data gaps found in cross-border e-commerce.

The CoE has laid out multiple options to reduce these risks. These options include the creation of new authorized economic operator programs specifically designed for the e-commerce landscape.

“With more of the market relying on e-commerce, it is even more critical that we do what we can to protect it from bad actors in this ever-evolving digital marketplace,” said Theophilos Gemelas, program manager at DHS's Science and Technology Directorate.

Responding to increasing demand for digital infrastructure powered by renewable energy, QTS Realty Trust (NYSE: QTS), a leading provider of hybrid colocation and mega scale data center solutions, today announced four additional data centers (QTS Hillsboro, QTS Fort Worth, QTS Eemshaven, Netherlands and QTS Richmond) are now powered by renewable energy.

The four locations join QTS data centers in Irving, TX, Chicago, IL, Piscataway, NJ and Groningen, Netherlands currently powered by renewable energy and support the Company's commitment to procure 100% of the power required for all of its data centers from renewable sources by 2025.

Approximately 36% of QTS' portfolio wide data center power requirements are now sourced from renewable energy with a visible path toward growing that percentage in 2021.

QTS' renewable power procurement strategy prioritizes sourcing power through innovative agreements that support the development of net new renewable energy in the markets where it does business. Through a variety of solar and wind purchasing agreements, QTS announced that its data centers in Hillsboro, OR, Fort Worth, TX and Eemshaven, Netherlands are now powered by renewable power.

The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket's first core stage is expected to arrive at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida where its integration with the rest of the vehicle and the Orion spacecraft will be conducted before the launch of the Artemis I lunar mission.

The core stage recently completed the Green Run series of design and system tests at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, NASA said Saturday.

Four Aerojet Rocketdyne-built RS-25 engines are fitted to the SLS core stage to help propel the rocket. The core stage, which measures 212 feet tall and 27.6 feet in diameter, was developed by prime contractor Boeing.

At Stennis, a team made up of representatives from NASA, Boeing, Aerojet Rocketdyne and Syncom Space Services, which led facility maintenance and operations at the center and the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, conducted a series of eight Green Run tests.

The core stage will help power the SLS rocket at launch as part of the Artemis program, through which NASA will send humans to the lunar surface. The initiative will also help the space agency prepare for eventual journeys to Mars.

The Department of Commerce’s (DOC) office of inspector general has issued a management alert stating that the Business Applications Solution (BAS) program’s focus on technology may miss business process-related risks.

The BAS program intends to modernize the department’s financial applications and processes through the procurement of cloud-based, commercial off-the-shelf software, according to the OIG alert dated April 19.

The OIG found that the program lacks a business process reengineering plan and the ongoing change efforts do not adhere to best practices, such as documenting existing processes for financial management and using a proven methodology for process improvement.

“These conditions present risk that financial management processes may not be adequately supported by the new BAS system, which could ultimately lead to schedule delays and cost increases,” Frederick Meny, assistant inspector general for audit and evaluation, wrote in the alert. 

“This approach may also miss an opportunity to fundamentally improve how the Department conducts its financial business.”

The OIG said it is not asking for a formal response since department officials were already notified prior to the release of the alert and that it will include the actions taken in response to the issues raised in an “audit report to be issued at a later date.”

In April 2020, the department awarded a potential $341 million contract to Accenture Federal Services (AFS) to support the BAS program by providing full system development lifecycle services to help consolidate finance and other business applications into a single suite of systems. 

The contract also includes the acquisition of hosting and licensing services for three new BAS software apps: Oracle Electronic Business Suite for financial management, Sunflower for property management and Procurement Request Information System Management for acquisition management, according to the alert.

John Sherman, acting chief information officer of the Department of Defense (DOD), said DOD plans to issue a strategy for zero trust architecture in 2021 as part of efforts to enhance the cybersecurity of its networks, FedScoop reported Friday.

“I think we are at one of these inflection points here,” Sherman said Thursday during the Billington CyberSecurity Defense Summit. “Our current approaches are not going to take us into the future here.”

Such a strategy could lead to changes to how the Pentagon segments a network and controls data access using the principles of zero trust. Sherman said DOD considers as security imperatives the full implementation of strategic, technical, and cultural changes involved in zero-trust.

“We have robust security…we have a lot of the pieces here,” he added.

To register for this virtual forum, visit the GovConWire Events page.

GovConWire Events will host its Defense Cybersecurity Forum to explore the progress that NSA and other federal agencies have made to protect U.S. national security and enhance its capabilities in threat intelligence, vulnerability assessments, and cyber defense to stay ahead of the nation’s adversaries in cyberspace. 

Morgan Adamski, chief of NSA’s Cybersecurity Collaboration Center, will serve as a keynote speaker. She will address the Cybersecurity Directorate’s mission, accomplishments in protecting U.S. assets, the role of commercial partnerships and the challenges still to come in cyber.