Northrop Grumman has successfully completed the first flight for the Global Hawk Ground Station Modernization Program (GSMP), the company reported on Monday. 

“New, modern ground stations for Global Hawk will significantly improve the system and allow operators to more efficiently deliver timely ISR data to warfighters and connect the joint force through its global communications node mission,” said Leslie Smith, vice president Global Hawk, Northrop Grumman.

Northrop Grumman’s GSMP team has leveraged agile development and an open architecture design to transform the human-machine interface and the underlying software. These efforts will increase interoperability with other Air Force systems, enhance responsiveness to ad hoc tasking and lower impact updates.

Global Hawk ground stations will enhance operator experience, featuring new cockpit displays, the ability to fly all Global Hawk variants without software or configuration changes, simpler maintenance interfaces and improved situational awareness and environmental conditions for pilots and sensor operators.

Global Hawk collects ISR data to allow decision makers to act faster with more accurate information. Global Hawk to connect the joint force through high capacity backbone, pseudo-satellite communications coverage and joint all-domain command and control.

“Not only will it allow the operators to conduct their missions from an enhanced, building-based control element, it will deliver critical Diminished Manufacturing Sources solutions and system security enhancements that will ensure this vital capability continues to be secure from cyber threats,” said Col. William Collins, Global Hawk System program director, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman solves the toughest problems in space, aeronautics, defense and cyberspace to meet the ever evolving needs of our customers worldwide. Our 90,000 employees define possible every day using science, technology and engineering to create and deliver advanced systems, products and services.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued guidance for equipment vendors and critical infrastructure operators to ensure the resiliency of positioning, navigation and timing systems to GPS spoofing or jamming activity.

DHS said Friday it coordinated with other federal agencies and the private sector to create the Resilient PNT Conformance Framework as part of efforts to help end users make deployment decisions and manage potential disruption risks.

The guide outlines four levels of resilience to serve as a common reference point for securing PNT systems of systems, receivers and source components from interference or disruption.

Such technology helps power the country's energy, transportation, telecommunications and emergency response assets, according to the department.

Willian Bryan, acting undersecretary for science and technology at DHS, said the department's new framework can work as a risk management tool when combined with the National Institute of Standards and Technology's PNT cybersecurity profile.

David Spirk, chief data officer at the Department of Defense (DoD), said DoD developed its data strategy with the Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) concept in mind, Federal News Network reported Friday. 

He said the department’s cross-functional team responsible for developing JADC2 has adopted the goals of the data strategy. The Pentagon released in October the data strategy that considers data as a strategic asset critical to building and maintaining operational advantage on the battlefield.

“We’ve come to an agreement to bring the JADC2 data interoperability working group into one of our working groups under the DoD CDO Council,” he said. “When you lay the data strategy out and you really go to the principles inside of it, it’s about creating operational advantage and efficiencies. The operational advantage puts JADC2 right at the heart of the data strategy, and it was designed to be that way."

Spirk said the Pentagon’s view of data has transformed from an “outside-in” to an “inside-out” mindset.

“When we talk about inside-out, we’re really talking about putting the warfighter and senior leader who needs to make a better decision at the center of everything, and ensuring that the data can flow. The requirements flow from them to the portions of the machine that need to make their data available so it can be pulled back to the center, be aggregated, be analyzed, and render decisions in a faster manner at the speed of mission,” he said.

The National Security Agency (NSA) has published new guidance on how to address cyber threats that tamper with authentication systems to illegally access cloud-based data. 

NSA said Thursday that its recent advisory, titled “Detecting Abuse of Authentication Mechanisms,” references state-sponsored cyber actors who forged credentials and exploited vulnerabilities to obtain unauthorized access.

The advisory tackles two types of tactics, techniques and procedures or TTPs that can breach through security systems via vulnerability exploitation. The first TTP focuses on manipulating an authentication system's on-premise components, and the second one exploits a global administrator account linked to the targeted system. 

The agency advises organizations to fortify and monitor on-premise federated and identity systems for signs of breaching. The full advisory can be found here.