The Federal Advisory Committee on Data for Evidence Building is working to introduce the Federal Data Service to enhance how agencies link, access and safeguard data and is looking at dashboard projects of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to enable the proposed service to help agencies accelerate data maturity, FedScoop reported Monday.

“It was a real big culture change,” Ted Kaouk, chief data officer at USDA, said Friday during a meeting of the 25-member advisory panel. “It was about making visible some of the data quality issues.” Kaouk said his department made a “modest” investment of $2 million to begin implementing the dashboard projects across 19 agencies.

“Largely it was about consolidating resources we already had,” Kaouk said. “We had Tableau servers across multiple mission areas, and we were able to bring them into a common platform and I think in many cases actually save money as agencies were looking to move their own cloud platforms.”

He noted that working with the data and analytics center of excellence and four other COEs of the General Services Administration (GSA) helped USDA, which developed over 500 dashboards across 29 agencies, advance data maturity assessments and speed up dashboarding work.

Viasat has been approved to receive cyber threat intelligence through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Enhanced Cybersecurity Services (ECS) program. 

"The added DHS ECS intelligence coupled with the advanced capabilities inherent in the Viasat cyber offering, enables us to better fortify our customers' cyber posture and maintain a vigilant and watchful defense against the world's most advanced adversaries,” said Ken Peterman, president, Government Systems, Viasat.

As an accredited ECS provider, Viasat will receive DHS-provided sensitive and classified cybersecurity threat indicators and information to defend U.S.-based public and private computer networks. DHS accredited Viasat as one of four companies able to pass ECS program requirements. 

Viasat received the authorization following an audit of Viasat's cybersecurity capabilities, security architecture and facilities. DHS ECS service providers must achieve a high standard of security competence and compliance, such as maintaining the ability to safeguard sensitive and classified information, and security approvals for personnel, facilities and computer network systems.

Viasat's ECS solution has leveraged Viasat's National Security Agency (NSA)-certified Trusted Cyber Sensor (TCS) to monitor network traffic with government provided classified indicators without routing traffic through its data center. 

The company has placed its TCS devices within a customer's network and securely manages, maintains and configures them remotely from Viasat's Cyber Security Operations Center (CSOC). Once in the customer's network, the TCS devices inspect network traffic on-premises, inside the customer perimeter boundary, ensuring customer privacy is preserved.

Viasat's ECS solution has utilized the ECS Netflow Analysis capability, to provide network traffic flow indicators that help customers detect malicious activity within their network. “This added insight allows us to create a more accurate, customized, real-time cybersecurity picture that will enable customers to reach advanced cyber resiliency levels needed to reduce overall risks against cyber threats," Peterman added. 

FirstNet has announced that its network now covers more than 2.71 million square miles, the company reported on Monday. In 2020, AT&T added nearly 100 thousand square miles to the FirstNet coverage footprint. 

"2020 made it clearer than ever before how critical it is for first responders to have the tools and wireless infrastructure they need to communicate with each other wherever their mission takes them. Now tens of thousands of towns and cities have access to FirstNet, bringing America's public safety community the only network built to their strict specifications and requirements,” said Jason Porter, senior vice president of FirstNet Program at AT&T. 

FirstNet has worked to support public safety, and has extended the nationwide reach of FirstNet to give agencies reliable connectivity and modern communications tools they require. The company has worked to build connectivity with direct feedback from public safety and local stakeholders. 

With the build, FirstNet will deploy public safety's spectrum, which will supply public safety with a dedicated connectivity when needed. FirstNet will also launch more than one thousand purpose-built FirstNet sites, as part of the initial FirstNet expansion to connect rural, remote and tribal areas. 

“The FirstNet Authority is pleased that the buildout continues to be ahead of schedule and that we are moving closer to fully realizing the vision of a nationwide network that serves all of public safety,” said Edward Parkinson, CEO, FirstNet Authority. 

In addition, FirstNet will collaborate with rural network providers to address rural coverage needs and expand the reach of FirstNet for the public safety community. The company will also expand the FirstNet fleet of portable network assets for public safety agencies' emergency response needs, with more than 750 requests from public safety in 2020.

FirstNet will work to increase network resiliency to provide public safety in the case of an emergency. As FirstNet builds out cell sites, the company will include fixed generators to expand support on existing infrastructure. 

"These are major milestones in the growth, adoption and deployment of public safety's network. This progress shows the strength of our partnership with public safety and how their involvement is critical to the success of the network," added Parkinson. 

Dave Zvenyach, director of the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Technology Transformation Services (TTS) unit, has said that TTS has been making progress in its programs and execution of assisted acquisition authorities.

Zvenyach, who also serves as deputy commissioner for the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), told Nextgov in an interview published Friday that TTS and the 18F digital services unit are partnering for assisted acquisition efforts to support agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Administration for Children and Families.

The 18F unit also launched efforts to promote best practices through the De-risking Government Technology Guide under the 10x transformation program, according to Zvenyach.

He noted that TTS worked to drive partnerships with industry through cloud efforts including the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program. 

In addition, Zvenyach said that TTS’s work supporting the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force by creating a portal on USA.gov has enabled the public to leverage government information sources for COVID-19 inquiries.

"I think the perception around 18F is exclusively being focused about disruption, frankly, misses the point,” said Zvenyach.

“We're here as public servants. Our job is to work with agency partners and deliver exceptional experiences for the public. As long as we're doing that, I'm good. If we're not doing that, then we need to work.”

The U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) has released a solicitation seeking potential sources of user activity monitoring technologies that can help the Department of Defense (DoD) manage possible threats across its unclassified and classified networks.

The Marine Corps issued the sources-sought notice on the SAM.gov website Thursday as part of efforts to pilot a UAM tool that can continuously audit and observe the DoD’s network activity in line with the Marne Corps Insider Threat Program.

According to the draft performance work statement, USMC's insider threat initiative covers UAM activities on Marine Corps Enterprise Networks at the non-classified and secret internet protocol levels.

Data from UAM platforms will be integrated with information such as counterintelligence, law enforcement and human resources data to support visualization, investigation and defense against MCEN insider threats.

The UAM tool must also handle file and systems activity monitoring to enable early mitigation of insider threat behavior such as violent acts.

Responses to the solicitation are due on Mar. 19.