Brandon Wales, who leads the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on an acting basis, said CISA must make some changes to prevent federal network breaches, much like an incident that was discovered in Dec. 2020.

He said at a Business Council for International Understanding event that CISA is already working to improve the monitoring of federal network endpoints, FCW reported Thursday.

Wales' statement follows a cyber attack done in late 2020 with the SolarWinds Orion software. He acknowledged that Einstein, a critical part of the National Cybersecurity Protection System, was not enough to prevent the attack.

The acting CISA leader said the agency is now looking for ways to bolster visibility over potentially threatening internal network systems.

Gen. Charles Brown, chief of staff at the U.S. Air Force, said the Joint Chiefs of Staff is creating digital architecture standards as the Department of Defense (DOD) seeks to implement an integrated system of sensors in the battlefield, Nextgov reported Thursday. 

Brown said Wednesday at a Defense Writers Group meeting that chief data officers from all U.S. military service branches are talking about how they would transmit information under the Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) concept.

He noted that JADC2 revolves around how data moves in the multidomain battlefield in support of military readiness. The standards in development would guide how data can rapidly move back and forth as needed, he said.

Frederick Moorefield, a deputy chief information officer at the Department of Defense (DOD), told FCW in an interview published Thursday that spectrum information technology modernization would be one of the first priorities of the newly created Command, Control, Communications Leadership Board at DOD.

“We need to update and modernize our spectrum tools, as an example,” said Moorefield, deputy CIO for command, control, communications and computers and information infrastructure capabilities at DOD. “We believe that automation and tools are one of the biggest things that bridge between today and the future … ultimately going to fully autonomous capabilities in the future … where the machines will be talking to each other, sensing the environment, and moving across different spectrum bands.”

He said the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and other federal agencies will play a role in advancing automation and spectrum IT modernization.

Moorefield also shared his thoughts on the Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) concept and the need for a “flexible and adaptable, software defined kind of operations” to support JADC2.

“One of the things that we're thinking about on the spectrum side is what kind of policies and what kind of acquisition changes need to be made in acquisition policy and strategy to allow for flexible, adaptive, software defined spectrum operations to allow systems operate across a variety of different frequency bands even within their own frequency allocation, if that's what they decide,” he said.

Moorefield also discussed the challenge posed by regulatory spectrum policy and the need for spectrum sharing to be the “new normal.”

“I really believe whoever figures out how to share is going to own the spectrum space,” he said. “The U.S. wants to be the lead for this. We think there's a lot of business in that space. We're trying to push that from an industry perspective. We think there's an opportunity there from an economic perspective, but also from a national security perspective.”

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued an updated handbook that provides users with tools and key considerations when designing technology assessments (TA). The Technology Assessment Design Handbook offers information on three general design stages: determine the scope; develop initial design; and implement design, GAO said Thursday.

The handbook also lists seven cross-cutting considerations when designing a TA and these are the iterative nature of the TA design; resources; congressional and policymakers’ needs; independence; engaging external and internal stakeholders; potential challenges; and communication strategy.

GAO also discussed in the document the process for developing policy options and the four categories of challenges when it comes to designing and implementing tech assessments, including researching and communicating complicated issues and ensuring that the design and implementation of TAs lead to useful products for Congress and policymakers.

The congressional watchdog updated the handbook based on review of relevant literature, GAO team experiences and comments submitted by the public and external experts from Dec. 2019 through Dec. 2020.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released the fourth iteration of the Smart Grid Framework that intends to advance interoperability on the power grid. 

The Smart Grid Framework Release 4.0 lays out a new strategy to support the development of interoperable equipment and devices and offers resources and guidance for grid cybersecurity, NIST said Thursday.

“Flexibility is needed to accommodate all of these new clean energy technologies,” said Avi Gopstein, smart grid program manager at NIST and the framework’s lead author. “The wind doesn’t always blow, the sun doesn’t always shine, and people change the amount of electricity they use depending on their activities. Well, interoperability is all about providing flexibility.” 

The new NIST framework presents the concept of interoperability profiles to facilitate the development of certification and testing programs to improve smart grid interoperability.

The latest release also provides resources, including a cybersecurity risk profile and a free tool that details the overlap between North American Electric Reliability Corp.’s set of security requirements and NIST’s Cybersecurity Framework.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) needs public feedback on proposals to change existing policy regarding a program to clean up the supply chain of U.S. communications networks. 

These proposed modifications aim to allow communications service providers with 10 million or less customers to take part in the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program.

The program, created through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, funds efforts to throw away security-threatening network equipment, the commission said Wednesday. The bill allotted $1.89 billion for this objective.

FCC now wants the public's feedback on eligibility, prioritization schemes and other rules surrounding the reimbursement program. The agency also seeks comments on Huawei's and ZTE's designations as national security threats.

The Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology (DHS S&T) Directorate virtually trained California-based firefighters to use a geospatial tool made to provide situational awareness. DHS said Wednesday its Team Awareness Kit (TAK) allows firefighters to share videos, track fire equipment, forecast fires and determine fire perimeters.

TAK uses geospatial mapping technology designed to support national security missions, and has demonstrated use in live fire response. Responders from California used the kit to contain fire threats and facilitate evacuations via data from the Fire Integrated Real-Time Intelligence System.

“DHS S&T is committed to providing firefighters the tools they need to communicate with each other, especially as they battle the increasing threats of the wildland fire season," said Denis Gusty, program manager for S&T.

The directorate worked with the City of Corona's fire department and the FIRIS program to conduct the virtual TAK training.