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DHS to Deploy Updated CDM Dashboard to Other Agencies Through FY 2021; Betsy Kulick Quoted
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DHS to Deploy Updated CDM Dashboard to Other Agencies Through FY 2021; Betsy Kulick Quoted

Officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said an upgraded dashboard for the Continuous Diagnostic and Mitigation (CDM) program is now up and running at four small agencies and that DHS plans to roll out the platform to other agencies by the end of fiscal year 2021, FCW reported Thursday.

Betsy Kulick, CDM deputy program manager at DHS, said Thursday at an FCW event a “medium-sized agency” will start using the updated CDM dashboard by the end of November 2020.

“Over the rest of the fiscal year we anticipate moving all the rest of the [Chief Financial Officers] Act Agencies onto the elastic platform and ultimately slowly decommissioning” the legacy system, Kulic added.

The new CDM dashboard features a new tool – Elasticsearch – from search company Elastic and works to provide DHS greater visibility into federal networks and seeks to standardize cyber threat monitoring for agencies.

“What we found there is it is achieving our objectives of being able to scale better, being higher performing, better visualization, better analytics than what were originally available in our first dashboard,” Kevin Cox, CDM program manager at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), said of the upgraded dashboard.

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Bill Lietzau: DCSA Adds More Mission Areas to Advance Security Clearance Transformation
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Bill Lietzau: DCSA Adds More Mission Areas to Advance Security Clearance Transformation

Bill Lietzau, director of the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA), said DCSA hired at least 100 additional employees and added more mission areas at the start of fiscal year 2021 as part of its security clearance transformation efforts, Federal News Network reported Thursday. 

He said DCSA, which was formed through the merger of the Defense Security Service and the National Background Investigations Bureau, acquired more than 12 information technology systems from other agencies and Department of Defense (DoD) components. 

Those IT systems include the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) legacy platform for processing security clearances and the National Background Investigation Services system. 

Lietzau said his office has worked on new requirements for the NBIS project with plans to integrate the Trusted Workforce 2.0 initiative and the continuous evaluation and vetting program. 

“We’re putting it all together in a way that best protects our security,” Lietzau said at a meeting of the National Industrial Security Program Policy Advisory Committee. “We are in a timeline where we have completed most of the transfers. There’s a few more things that are happening a year from. We’re in transition, and then we’re in the thick of transformational efforts right now as an organization."

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Karen Evans: DHS Begins Search for New Chief Data Officer
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Karen Evans: DHS Begins Search for New Chief Data Officer

Karen Evans, chief information officer at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said DHS is looking to hire a new chief data officer to support planning and evaluation work, Nextgov reported Thursday. 

She said the new CDO office will have a council composed of chief information officers and chief technology officers and that the CDO will collaborate with the chief financial officer and CXOs in support of the management directorate. 

“The chief financial officer also has the performance piece, and the planning and evaluation piece under the data act,” Evans said Thursday during a conference. “And so this office will have that key relationship and that key partnership about building that out, not only within our CXO community but also within our components.” 

Evans said she believes the new CDO will likely play a key role in the department’s Cyber Talent Management System and a pilot project that seeks to facilitate COVID-19 vaccine distribution using artificial intelligence and machine learning. 

“What we're really looking at is how we can do contact tracing for our employees, as well as mapping that up with public health information as it relates to vaccination distribution,” she said, “because what we really need to have is a dashboard, that's going to be able to utilize this data for our senior leadership to be able to do some predictive modeling."

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US-EU Aviation Safety Agreement Updated to Expand Scope of Cooperative Efforts
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US-EU Aviation Safety Agreement Updated to Expand Scope of Cooperative Efforts

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has expanded its areas of collaboration with the European Commission (EU) under an updated US-EU safety agreement that reflects new annexes regarding flight simulator equipment and pilot licensing.

Both parties moved to implement cooperative efforts they initially agreed upon in late 2017 through the signing of four decisions to the agreement during the 14th Bilateral Oversight Board meeting, FAA said Thursday.

FAA and EC decided to facilitate the conversion of private pilot licenses and aircraft and instrument ratings between the US and European aviation regulators, as well as to conduct recurrent simulation technology assessments on each other's behalf.

Under the agreement, European authorities will reduce the design change fees they charge to U.S. aerospace manufacturing firms and allow certified technicians to maintain civil aeronautical systems.

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Air Force to Name Preferred Spacecom HQ Location in Early 2021
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Air Force to Name Preferred Spacecom HQ Location in Early 2021

The Department of the Air Force has unveiled the six finalists for the location of U.S. Space Command headquarters, with the winning site to be announced early next year.

Department personnel will assess the downselected facilities through a site visit and a virtual tour based on criteria that include infrastructure capacity, community support, mission and cost factors, the U.S. Air Force said Thursday.

The six candidate Spacom HQ locations are as follows:

  • Kirtland AF Base in New Mexico
  • Offutt AFB in Nebraska
  • Patrick AFB in Florida
  • Peterson AFB in Colorado
  • Port San Antonio in Texas
  • Redstone Army Airfield in Alabama

 

Peterson AFB will be the unified combatant command's interim HQ until the department finalizes a preferred location. Spacecom aims to deter conflict, address aggression, exercise space combat power and protect U.S. vital interests.

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Navy Names Virginia-Class Attack Submarines as USS Tang, USS Wahoo; Kenneth Braithwaite Quoted
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Navy Names Virginia-Class Attack Submarines as USS Tang, USS Wahoo; Kenneth Braithwaite Quoted

Kenneth Braithwaite, secretary of the U.S. Navy, has announced that the service branch will name two of its future attack submarines as USS Tang and USS Wahoo.

The Navy said Wednesday the Virginia-class SSN 805 and SSN 806 submarines represent the third time that U.S. Navy submarines will carry the names Tang and Wahoo.

The first USS Tang was a Balao-class submarine designated as SS-306 in 1943. The second one, designated as SS-563, was commissioned in 1951 as the first Tang-class submarine.

SS-238, the first USS Wahoo, was a Gato-class vessel also commissioned in 1943. The second Tang-class SS-565 vessel was commissioned in 1952.

“Along with the previously named USS Barb (SSN 804), these boats will honor the strong traditions and heritage of the silent service,” said Braithwaite in a previous announcement.

The Navy’s attack submarines work to destroy surface ships as well as subsurface vessels. The submarines are built to support operations such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, mine warfare and power-projection activities with Tomahawk cruise missiles.

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Federal Mobility Working Group Issues 5G Testing Framework
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Federal Mobility Working Group Issues 5G Testing Framework

The General Services Administration’s (GSA) Federal Mobility Group (FMG) has released a framework for governmentwide testing and implementation of 5G technologies. FMG's 5G and Mobile Network Infrastructure Working Group issued the framework to serve as a guide for agencies seeking to select testing capabilities and implement laboratory- and testbed-based assessment approaches, FMG said Wednesday.

The guide, titled Framework to Conduct 5G Testing, identifies four main phases in the 5G modular testing architecture. The framework also details best practices to sharing testing resources across agencies to avoid duplication, FMG noted.

.According to the GSA component, the framework serves as a culmination of the FMG working group’s yearlong effort to evaluate approaches to 5G testing.

FMG was created in 2019 and is co-led by representatives from GSA, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). 

Federal Mobility Working Group Issues 5G Testing Framework

Join Potomac Officers Club for its 5G Summit on Jan. 7th, 2021 to learn about the impact that innovative technologies and 5G integration have on the private and public sectors, the steps the federal agencies have taken to remain up to speed with the rapid advancement of technology, and the future programs, plans and priorities as the nation aligns with emerging technology.

Hon. Ellen Lord, undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment at the Department of Defense (DoD) and four-time Wash100 Award recipient, will be featured as the keynote speaker.

Don’t miss out on this must see event! Register here for Potomac Officers Club's 5G Summit on Jan. 7th, 2021. 

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Senate Passes Bipartisan Bill to Improve IoT Cybersecurity; Rep. Robin Kelly Quoted
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Senate Passes Bipartisan Bill to Improve IoT Cybersecurity; Rep. Robin Kelly Quoted

The Senate has voted to pass legislation seeking to establish foundational standards for internet-connected technologies acquired by the U.S. government to help ensure the security of internet of things networks.

The IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act, introduced by Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., received unanimous approval in the House and was also unanimously passed in the Senate this week, Kelly’s office said Wednesday.

According to Kelly, the bipartisan bill will ensure that the government  “purchases secure devices and closes existing vulnerabilities to protect our national security and the personal information of American families.”

The bill’s passing comes after she introduced a resolution on governmentwide artificial intelligence efforts. Kelly currently co-chairs the House Tech Accountability Caucus.

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Maximus Reports Q4 FY 2020 Results; Bruce Caswell Quoted
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Maximus Reports Q4 FY 2020 Results; Bruce Caswell Quoted

Maximus has reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year, which ended Sept. 30, 2020, the company announced on Thursday. for fiscal 2020, revenue increased to $3.46 billion compared to $2.89 billion reported for the same period last year.

"Fiscal year 2020 demonstrated our ability to quickly respond and rapidly scale operations in order to support the significant increase in demand from governments to address the extraordinary needs of citizens in the wake of the pandemic,” said Bruce Caswell, president and chief executive officer of Maximus and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient. 

The fiscal year 2020 revenue increase was driven by the Census contract in the U.S. Federal Services Segment and new COVID-19 response work to assist governments in supporting individuals and families during the global pandemic. 

“Our ongoing investments in technology and digital capabilities allowed us to enable thousands of employees into remote work environments in a span of weeks," Caswell added. 

Maximus reported organic growth of 15.7 percent in fiscal 2020, or 4.6 percent excluding the Census contract. The company’s operating margin was 8.3 percent and diluted earnings per share was $3.39 for fiscal 2020, which decreased from the prior year. 

The company reported reduced volumes on core programs in the U.S. where pandemic-related program changes were instituted at the direction of our state and federal clients, a greater mix of cost-plus work in fiscal 2020 and unfavorable pandemic-related impacts in operations outside the U.S.

During the fiscal year 2020, Maximus also renamed the U.S. Health & Human Services Segment to the U.S. Services Segment. 

"We will continue to support our clients' evolving needs and we stand ready to provide additional support as governments strive to slow the global pandemic. As we look into fiscal 2021, we anticipate that we will begin to benefit from increasing caseloads in our employment services markets outside the United States,” Caswell concluded. 

About Maximus

Since 1975, Maximus has operated under its founding mission of Helping Government Serve the People®, enabling citizens around the globe to successfully engage with their governments at all levels and across a variety of health and human services programs. 

Maximus delivers innovative business process management and technology solutions that contribute to improved outcomes for citizens and higher levels of productivity, accuracy, accountability, and efficiency of government-sponsored programs. With more than 30,000 employees worldwide, Maximus is a proud partner to government agencies in the United States, Australia, Canada, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

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Bechtel Cyber Experts Join (CS)2AI as Fellows; Mike Costas, Derek Harp Quoted
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Bechtel Cyber Experts Join (CS)2AI as Fellows; Mike Costas, Derek Harp Quoted

Katie Pehrson and Charlie Givens of Bechtel have been appointed to Control System Cyber Security Association International’s ((CS)2AI) fellowship program, Bechtel reported on Thursday. Pehrson and Givens will provide (CS)2AI members and industry with support and expertise on complex technical challenges across industrial control systems cybersecurity.

“With cyberthreats growing by the day, both Katie and Charlie have the industry expertise to help customers protect their control rooms, robotics, plant systems, sensors, and the surrounding community,” said Mike Costas, general manager of Bechtel’s Defense and Space business line.

Pehrson and Givens were appointed based on their more than 25 years of combined experience in Bechtel’s cybersecurity customer initiatives.

Pehrson is the manager of cybersecurity program directives with Bechtel’s Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity Laboratory and Tech Center, where she advises project teams on how to protect control rooms and other critical infrastructure from cyberthreats before and after installation.

She is an expert in developing detailed cybersecurity, overseeing complex test plans to inform systems implementation strategy and incorporating lessons learned and best practices from the NIST Risk Management Framework into the design, procurement and commissioning processes.

Givens is Bechtel’s industrial control systems cybersecurity chief engineer. He is an automation expert with a demonstrated history of working in information technology (IT), engineering automation and industrial control systems cybersecurity. He is a certified software quality assurance engineer and global industrial cybersecurity professional.

Givens brings expertise in database design, data analysis, software development and quality assurance, system management, process improvement, work process enhancement, solution deployment and software and system integration.

“We are very excited to have Katie Pehrson and Charlie Givens as part of our first cohort of (CS)2AI Fellows,” said Derek Harp, founder and chairman of (CS)2AI. “They each bring a tremendous body of experience, knowledge and expertise from which our association and our members stand to benefit greatly. We are also very glad to strengthen our connection with such a trusted critical infrastructure organization as Bechtel.”

About Bechtel

Bechtel is a trusted engineering, construction and project management partner to industry and government. Differentiated by the quality of our people and our relentless drive to deliver the most successful outcomes, we align our capabilities to our customers’ objectives to create a lasting positive impact.

Since 1898, we have helped customers complete more than 25,000 projects in 160 countries on all seven continents that have created jobs, grown economies, improved the resiliency of the world’s infrastructure, increased access to energy, resources, and vital services, and made the world a safer, cleaner place.

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