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Army Conducts NetModX Field Experiment to Test Radio, Satcom Capabilities
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Army Conducts NetModX Field Experiment to Test Radio, Satcom Capabilities

The U.S. Army tested approximately 30 technologies during the Network Modernization Experiment 2020 and reported breakthroughs on satellite communications, millimeter waveforms and radio resiliency as part of the next set of tactical network tools called Capability Set ’23, C4ISRNET reported Friday.

The C5ISR Center of the service’s Combat Capability Development Command conducted the NetModX field experiment from July 20 through Oct. 2 at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey and one of the technologies tested for Capability Set ’23 is a Silvus-built radio.

The radio team at the C5ISR Center integrated power control and interference avoidance capabilities into the Silvus radio as part of the experiment. One of the satcom capabilities tested by the service during NetModX is the interference cancelation technology.

“Interference cancellation has very advanced algorithms that are actually able to separate the interference from the original signal of interest, the signal that you want to receive, clean it up and present that back at the sanctuary hub, thus allowing the communication to continue going on even though you’re being jammed by an adversary,” said Jeremy Zwirn, an electronics engineer for the C5ISR Center’s satcom resiliency team.

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AFCEC Fields Explosive Ordnance Disposal Robot; Kaelob King Quoted
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AFCEC Fields Explosive Ordnance Disposal Robot; Kaelob King Quoted

The U.S. Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC) deployed a remotely operated robot built to trace, validate and dispose unexploded explosive ordnance and other hazards to Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida.

AFCEC developed the Man Transportable Robot System Increment II to replace the Air Force Medium Sized Robots destroyed by Hurricane Michael in 2018, USAF said Thursday.

The center delivered a total of seven MTRS II robots to the 823rd Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron and the 325th Civil Engineer Squadron.

Master Sgt. Justin Frewin, explosive ordnance disposal program manager at AFCEC, said the center plans to ship three to five robots and an operational new equipment training program to EOD flight teams for the 16 to 18 months.

"Being able to update or rewrite the software means the Air Force can easily expand our capabilities down the road by adding tools, sensors and other attachments, whereas the old model required hardware updates," said Kaelob King, a senior airman at the 325th Civil Engineer Squadron. 

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VA Looks to Implement Tokens-Based Multifactor Authentication; Paul Cunningham Quoted
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VA Looks to Implement Tokens-Based Multifactor Authentication; Paul Cunningham Quoted

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is planning to roll out a tokens-based approach to user authentication as the department continues to implement telework operations.

Paul Cunningham, chief information security officer at the VA, said at a CyberScoop event that the VA has fully implemented multifactor authentication and is looking into “bump and go” authentication techniques that involve physical credentialing through tokens, FedScoop reported Thursday.

According to Cunningham, the VA has been using multifactor authentication for years and is now assessing the feasibility of using the approach for medical visits and pharmaceutical requests for added security.

“To the greatest extent possible, we want to use multi-factor authentication,” he noted. “Anything to [bring] the risk posture down … is going to be a good thing.”

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FBI, CISA: Russian Cyber Actor Targets U.S. State, Local Gov’t Networks
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FBI, CISA: Russian Cyber Actor Targets U.S. State, Local Gov’t Networks

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have reported about a Russian state-sponsored cyber actor that has attacked non-federal government and aviation networks. 

Various state, local, territorial and tribal government bodies within the U.S. have experienced cyber threats from Russia-based actors identified with the names “Berserk Bear,” “Energetic Bear,” “Crouching Yeti,” "Koala," "TeamSpy," “Dragonfly,” and “Havex," CISA said Thursday.

The attacks may have started in September 2020, with at least two unauthorized data extrusions as of Oct. 1. The cyber actor steals credentials to access networks and exfiltrate high-value asset data. 

Illicitly accessed information includes critical network passwords, procurement information and standard operating procedures. FBI and CISA have not identified cases of this actor targeting the upcoming U.S. elections, but will continue to surveil for such. 

The list of internet protocol addresses used by the actor can be found here.

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DLA, GSA Officials Talk Supply Chain Mgmt Priorities
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DLA, GSA Officials Talk Supply Chain Mgmt Priorities

The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) has employed additive manufacturing and other techniques in its supply chain operations to support missions including the delivery of 10,000 face shields to health workers in New York City.

Sly Ahn, supply chain security lead at the Portfolio Program Support Division at DLA, noted during a recent industry event that the agency also used a “reverse logistics approach” to its missions beyond COVID-19 response including hurricane response, humanitarian assistance and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) support in California, Federal News Network reported Thursday.

“This is when one of our customers turns in something either for disposal or for reutilization, effectively making whatever is turned in into a supply chain of itself,” he explained. According to Ahn, this involves transportation lanes as well as infrastructure and information flow between stakeholders throughout the supply chain.

Shon Lyublanovits, senior adviser for cybersecurity at the Office of Information Technology Category (ITC) within the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), added that acquisition officials should also consider clarity when developing contract language for supply chain operations.

“I also think as vendors are trying to get on different schedules and sell their products, they need to understand coming in the door, what the expectation is,” she noted.

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JAIC, DIU Partner for AI-Based Diagnostic Pathology Initiatives
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JAIC, DIU Partner for AI-Based Diagnostic Pathology Initiatives

The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) and Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) are collaborating on efforts to use AI algorithms to establish new medical diagnostic techniques and improve the management of health data.

As part of the Predictive Health effort, the two Department of Defense (DoD) entities recently developed an augmented reality microscope (ARM) that uses AI algorithms to detect specific cancer cell types through cloud-based digital images, JAIC said Wednesday

The team is slated to deploy the first ARM device to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, before delivering more of the microscopes to military treatment facilities worldwide.

In addition to ARM, JAIC’s Warfighter Health Mission Initiative and DIU are also working to develop an application programming interface that leverages AI algorithms and digital data cards to improve the management of the DoD’s historical medical data.

The effort is envisioned to support the Defense Health Agency’s (DHA) Joint Pathology Center, which manages over 55 million pathology specimen slides and is working to digitize its repository in Silver Spring, Maryland.

JAIC’s Warfighter Health team plans to collaborate with other stakeholders to develop algorithms and use the digitized samples to support AI-driven cancer detection approaches.

DIU and JAIC expect to continue work on the Predictive Health initiative as the Warfighter Health team prepares to transition to JAIC’s Joint Common Foundation (JCF) development platform.

JAIC, DIU Partner for AI-Based Diagnostic Pathology Initiatives

In case you missed ArchIntel’s Artificial Intelligence in Competitive Intelligence Forum on Thursday, you can rewatch the full event by registering on ArchIntel Events.

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Gen. John Raymond: Space Force Nearing Completion of Planning for Systems-Focused Command
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Gen. John Raymond: Space Force Nearing Completion of Planning for Systems-Focused Command

Gen. John Raymond, chief of space operations and a 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, said the U.S. Space Force is in the final stages of planning a technology research-focused field command, Space News reported Thursday.

The service branch's future Space Systems Command would lead and manage efforts to design, develop and procure satellites and other space technologies. Raymond said Thursday at a virtual event that USSF expects to establish the command in spring next year. A three-star general would lead the future command.

The Air Force Association, the National Defense Industrial Association and the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association co-organized the event where Raymond spoke. Space Systems Command would follow the recently launched Space Operations Command as part of USSF's planned field command trio. 

Raymond previously announced plans to establish a digital service within USSF to bolster the force's security and economic stability.

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Bipartisan Bill Aims to Support National Guard’s State Cybersecurity Contributions; Maggie Hassan Quoted
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Bipartisan Bill Aims to Support National Guard’s State Cybersecurity Contributions; Maggie Hassan Quoted

Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, have introduced a bill to help the U.S. National Guard support cybersecurity modernization across state and local governments. 

The bill would allow state governors to request the National Guard for help to keep critical infrastructure systems secure, Hassan's office said Wednesday. These potential efforts would include cybersecurity services and training duties to be performed by the National Guard.

"Cyberattacks can jeopardize our national security, shut down electrical grids and threaten the operations of our hospitals and schools — we must ensure that the National Guard can help with these types of threats just like any other threat that states face," Hassan said.

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QTS Launches Mega Data Center to House Hyperscale Deployments; Chad Williams Quoted
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QTS Launches Mega Data Center to House Hyperscale Deployments; Chad Williams Quoted

QTS Realty Trust has opened a new 495 thousand gross square foot mega data center on its Atlanta Metro campus, the company reported on Friday. QTS Atlanta-Metro Data Center 2 (DC2) features 240 thousand square feet of data hall space and 72 megawatts of power capacity.

“We are opening our new mega data center on our Atlanta Metro campus to expand our growth opportunity with hyperscale, large enterprise and government organizations in the Southeast,” said Chad Williams, CEO, QTS. “Atlanta Metro DC2 represents QTS’ third mega data center in the greater Atlanta area, further solidifying our presence as Atlanta’s market leader.”

DC2 has been designed for large-scale enterprise colocation and hyperscale deployments, leveraging QTS’ innovative standardized Freedom Building design and specifications. The company utilized its de-risked approach for development and capital allocation.

The data center will enable QTS to deliver the lowest cost of power to its customers in the southeast data center market at less than 4 cents per kilowatt hour. QTS’ campus is expected to support more than 275 megawatts of power capacity.

QTS’ Atlanta-Metro data center has approximately 250 embedded customers. The campus will offer networking, including more than two thousand cross connects supported by diverse connectivity for cloud and hybrid colocation, direct fiber access to a multitude of carriers, access to multiple fiber routes and IP providers, multiple dark and lit fiber providers, redundant transport paths and access to cloud providers.

QTS previously signed anchor tenant leases with two existing strategic hyperscale customers, which amounted to more than 16 megawatts at the new Atlanta-Metro DC2 site. These customers chose to expand with QTS based on QTS’ operational maturity, speed to market and commitment to a premium customer experience.

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SAIC Publishes Report on COVID-19 Effect on Work Operations; Mark Forman Quoted
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SAIC Publishes Report on COVID-19 Effect on Work Operations; Mark Forman Quoted

Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) has published an independent survey, conducted by Market Connections, of C-level federal government executives. The survey gauged their opinions of how COVID-19 has shifted the workforce. 

“The pandemic introduced unprecedented challenges for federal agencies, especially those in agencies charged with public health and economic security,” said Mark Forman, vice president, digital government strategy, SAIC. 

The report found that the majority of respondents expect the integrated technology platforms, as a response to COVID-19, to become permanent ways of conducting business. Federal agencies have rapidly transitioned to virtual work environments. 

As a result, 84 percent of respondents reported they are more or equally as productive since shifting to remote work, with 82 percent stating that they expect remote work to continue into the future. The survey found that 41 percent of respondents expect to telework an average three days a week after the pandemic, and 41 percent expect to telework four or five days a week. 

The survey polled 300 federal government respondents on their perceptions surrounding the challenges and requirements faced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The results revealed a significant spike in federal telework. 56 percent of respondents reported they are somewhat more productive or a lot more productive as a result of increased telework.

“There is no question about the dedication of the federal workforce to perform their mission in the pandemic, but it would not have been possible without IT. And as the survey showed, people working in health-related agencies not only moved online, but worked on average more than five days a week. For that, we are very grateful,” Forman added. 

Respondents also identified a number of challenges associated with remote work; safely returning to the workplace; and guarding against fraud, waste, and abuse. 77 percent reported they found it extremely or somewhat challenging managing federal IT systems to maximize telework. 75 percent reported they found it extremely or somewhat challenging detecting fraud, waste and abuse during the pandemic.

“At the same time, the pandemic has changed government operations, with digital transformation now viewed as essential,” Forman concluded. “The work environment of the future will be built around secure online access to data, applications, and collaboration tools.”

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