The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is seeking comments on “remote user” provisions in the Trusted Internet Connections 3.0 guidance and the second volume of the National Cybersecurity Protection System Cloud Interface Reference Architecture.

The draft Remote User Use Case provisions build on the TIC’s Interim Telework Guidance, which covers multiboundary and network security recommendations for agency personnel working remotely. CISA released an updated version of TIC 3.0 in July.

Modifications in the remote-user use case include expanded definitions of mobile devices to include Bring Your Own Device provisions.

NCIRA Volume 1 standards on common cloud telemetry-based reporting patterns will be used as a basis for the draft NCIRA Volume 2 guidance.

Matt Hartman, acting assistant director of CISA's cybersecurity division, said the draft use-case guidances are meant to help agencies ensure the security of their systems upon their transition to telework approaches.

CISA also seeks to improve user experience by subjecting remote user connections to internal agency services as well as agency-sanctioned cloud services, he noted.

The agency will accept feedback on the draft TIC updates through Jan. 29, 2021.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has begun the scoping period for a planned environmental review of SpaceX’s Boca Chica site in Texas that will house launch operations for the company’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket.

FAA said Tuesday that the scoping period is meant to help the FAA assess potential environmental issues at the site as well as alternative operational approaches.

The agency noted that SpaceX’s proposed operational updates at Boca Chica fall beyond the company’s latest Environmental Impact Statement and require additional reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act.

SpaceX is preparing a draft environmental assessment and is slated to complete safety assessments as part of its clearance application princess.

FAA is also seeking public comments on its plans to prepare a programmatic environmental assessment for Boca Chia operations.

Interested parties must submit feedback through Jan. 22, 2021.

In September 2019, SpaceX submitted its application to the FAA to allow data-exchange operations at Boca Chica for the Starship Mk1 vehicle.

FAA approved suborbital missions for Starship at the South Texas location in mid-2020.

Accenture recently published a report that found chief financial officers (CFO) and financial executives need more real-time data to create value. In conducting the report, the company surveyed 450 CFOs and other finance leaders at companies with at least $1 billion in annual revenue. 

“CFOs have more data at their fingertips than anyone else in the company,” said Manish Sharma, group chief executive of Accenture Operations. “Operating with real-time data puts the CFO in a unique position to drive positive change for the business, pivoting the finance function from measuring value to creating value and driving growth.”

Accenture’s report found that 99 percent of respondents believe operating with real-time data is critical to navigating disruptions, such as COVID-19 or recession, and 16 percent of respondents are being informed by such data at the scale that’s needed.

49 percent of respondents stated that the potential impact of rising interest rates is the greatest area of concern to their business for 2021, while 47 percent noted disruption from the pandemic was the greatest concern. Economic recession and hiring and retaining the right talent were also cited as a concern, moving into 2021. 

Accenture’s report noted that 68 percent of the surveyed CFOs believe that a real-time financial model, which integrates AI/ML algorithms and real-time data sets, will be critical to enabling better business decisions, more-accurate forecasting models and improved data accuracy. 

Respondents noted that they will invest in building real-time operations and processes in 2021. 44 percent of respondents said they plan to have nearly all finance processes and operations in real-time over the next three years. 

“Not only do finance leaders need to outmaneuver uncertainty, but also leverage an intelligent finance operating model that draws upon data, applied intelligence, digital technologies and human talent to give them the speed they need to make the enterprise succeed,” said Dr. Christian Campagna, Ph.D., who leads Accenture’s CFO and Enterprise Value network.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released an advisory warning U.S. businesses of security risks associated with using data services and equipment from companies with ties to the Chinese government.

The Data Security Business Advisory highlights the risk posed by data theft sponsored by the government of the People’s Republic of China due to newly enforced laws that can pressure companies, academic institutions, research service providers and other entities to collect, store or transmit data, DHS said Tuesday.

“For too long, U.S. networks and data have been exposed to cyber threats based in China which are using that data to give Chinese firms an unfair competitive advantage in the global marketplace,” said Chad Wolf, acting secretary of DHS.

The advisory also cites China’s history of exploitation, manipulation and misuse of data to serve the country’s economic and business goals and presents recommendations U.S. businesses can take to address data-related risks.

These include implementing cybersecurity practices, identifying proprietary and sensitive personal information, ensuring “proper segmentation of network infrastructure from any external software use” and seeking trustworthy alternative equipment and service providers. 

“Practices that give the PRC government unauthorized access to sensitive data – both personal and proprietary – puts the U.S. economy and businesses at direct risk for exploitation. We urge businesses to exercise caution before entering into any agreement with a PRC-linked firm,” Wolf added.

A team of NASA engineers has tested the geographical image identification and processing functions of a navigation system from aerospace company Blue Origin during a lunar surface landing simulation exercise as part of a public-private partnership. 

NASA said Wednesday it integrated the aerospace company's BlueNav-L technology with agency-made navigation software for the test activity and demonstrated the potential of the system to determine a lander’s position when touching down on the moon's south pole.

The live simulation follows October tests of algorithms, two precision landing sensors and a computer on Blue Origin’s suborbital rocket, New Shepard, under the agency's Tipping Point program.

For the recent test, agency engineers used navigation algorithms that were built upon the Lander Vision System created at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

LVS is designed to identify a possible landing area between hazards based on orbital data from the sensor and support computation of a spacecraft position.

NASA added that LVS is similar to technology the agency expects to help the Perseverance rover land on Mars as part of an exploration mission.