///
GAO: FAA Must Update Approach to Avionics Cybersecurity Oversight
Published on
GAO: FAA Must Update Approach to Avionics Cybersecurity Oversight

A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report has found that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) needs to strengthen its oversight of cybersecurity in aircraft and avionics systems.

GAO said in the report released Friday that although “extensive cybersecurity controls” are in place, the FAA needs to consider the emerging threat landscape and increasing connections between airplanes and various systems.

The watchdog noted that the FAA has not fully implemented best practices for executing a “risk-based cybersecurity oversight program” and must identify priority avionics cybersecurity risks.

The FAA must also develop a cybersecurity training program for avionics technology and issue guidance for third-party cybersecurity testing, the report states. GAO added that the FAA must create a “tracking mechanism” to monitor progress in fortifying cybersecurity posture.

“Until FAA establishes a tracking mechanism for cybersecurity issues, it may be unable to ensure that all issues are appropriately addressed and resolved,” according to GAO. “Further, until it conducts an avionics cybersecurity risk assessment, it will not be able to effectively prioritize and dedicate resources to ensure that avionics cybersecurity risks are addressed in its oversight program.”

///
USMC Vet Billy Bob Brown Named Asst Director at CISA
Published on
USMC Vet Billy Bob Brown Named Asst Director at CISA

Billy Bob Brown Jr., a 20-year U.S. Marine Corps veteran, has been appointed assistant director for emergency communications at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Brown previously held the role of associate director at the agency’s priority telecom services sub-division, CISA said Thursday.

He led the first phase of the Next Generation Networks Priority Service initiative as program manager and supported process improvement efforts and the U.S. Air Force’s implementation of lean principles. He also served as an infantry officer at USMC.

CISA Director and two-time Wash100 Award recipient Christopher Krebs said Brown’s expertise will potentially allow stakeholders to secure access to CISA services. The certified project management professional completed his studies at the Air Force Academy.

///
DoD’s Dana Deasy on Zero-Trust Network Mgmt, Vendor Challenges
Published on
DoD’s Dana Deasy on Zero-Trust Network Mgmt, Vendor Challenges

Dana Deasy, chief information officer of the Department of Defense (DoD) and a 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, has said the Pentagon is assessing ways to implement zero-trust networks from a management and operations standpoint.

Deasy said at a prior media roundtable that the DoD has been studying the implementation of zero-trust environments beyond the network architecture as organizations continue telework operations amid the COVID-19 pandemic, C4ISRnet reported Monday.

He noted that the DoD is also working to identify various vendors that can manage disparate elements of a zero-trust network. According to Deasy, a lot of work is required for validating each vendor that will work on “environments that are highly unusual”. 

“So the biggest challenge is going to be bolting them together, getting them at scale, and then how do you operationalize it,” he added.

//
FirstNet Wins Army Task Order to Advance Public Safety Communications; Jill Singer, Kevin Comfort Quoted
Published on
FirstNet Wins Army Task Order to Advance Public Safety Communications; Jill Singer, Kevin Comfort Quoted

The U.S. Army has awarded FirstNet a task order to support firefighters, law enforcement and security personnel at 72 Army installations across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, the company reported on Tuesday. FirstNet will provide support and mission-focused tools to help the Army ensure reliable, secure communications capabilities during national emergencies.

"FirstNet is helping us improve vital communications on our installations, depots and arsenals, including during catastrophic disasters or emergencies when communications capabilities are strained," said Col. Kevin Comfort, Command Provost Marshal at Headquarters, Installation Management Command. 

Under the task order, AT&T will deliver nearly 3,200 lines of FirstNet services, more than 3,000 FirstNet-capable devices and over 700 signal boosters to help improve indoor connectivity. The company will also provide staging and kitting of devices, including preloading multiple FirstNet apps on the devices. 

"We're adopting FirstNet because it is designed for public safety professionals with priority, preemption and highly reliable data communications that will improve our overall response and our interoperability with our civilian partners," Comfort added. 

In addition, the U.S. Army will gain access to more than 76 land-based and airborne portable cell sites stationed across the country to provide connectivity during significant events in support of public safety's mission.

"It's an honor to help the U.S. Army enhance its vital communications with FirstNet capabilities," said Jill Singer, vice president of Defense and National Security, AT&T Public Sector and FirstNet. Singer is also a 2020 Wash100 Award recipient and notable GovCon Expert.

//
US, ‘Five Eyes’ Allies Seek Public-Private Sector Commitment to Encryption Policies
Published on
US, ‘Five Eyes’ Allies Seek Public-Private Sector Commitment to Encryption Policies

The U.S. attorney general and four government officials representing Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the U.K. have signed a joint statement seeking renewed commitment on encryption and data security.

William Barr and the allied signatories wrote in the statement dated Oct. 11th that they support strong encryption approaches that help protect privacy, personal data, trade secrets, intellectual property and cybersecurity.

The group said that law enforcement agencies are responsible for prosecuting crime related to data security while tech companies must ensure that end-to-end encryption technology enables user authorities.

Industry must also work with governments and stakeholders to inform system designs and address “serious concerns” on the illegal access of personal content, they wrote. According to the statement, companies should allow law enforcement agencies to access such content “in a readable and usable format” subject to legal approval.

“We are committed to working with industry to develop reasonable proposals that will allow technology companies and governments to protect the public and their privacy, defend cyber security and human rights and support technological innovation," the statement notes.

The signatories include Priti Patel, the U.K. secretary of state for the home department; Peter Dutton, Australian minister for home affairs; Andrew Little, New Zealand minister of justice; and Bill Blair, Canadian minister of public safety and emergency preparedness.

//
Booz Allen Launches SnapAttack to Advance Cybersecurity; Garretson Blight Quoted
Published on
Booz Allen Launches SnapAttack to Advance Cybersecurity; Garretson Blight Quoted

Booz Allen Hamilton has launched SnapAttack, a cloud-based software solution that will merge actionable threat intelligence and hacker detection by unifying the security lifecycle into a single solution, the company reported on Tuesday. 

“We built SnapAttack to satisfy a critical need to help our own red and blue teams collaborate more effectively. This approach continually increases our confidence in detecting sophisticated threats through threat hunting and improving our defenses in support of clients worldwide,” said Garretson Blight, Booz Allen’s director of Dark Labs.

Booz Allen’s SnapAttack will mimic attacks from intelligence data, share insights of malicious behavior and develop vendor-agnostic behavioral detection analytics to stop advanced adversaries.

“We’re now offering this product, borne out of Booz Allen’s expertise in commercial and nation-state-level cyber operations to help our clients do the same,” Blight added. 

As a cloud-based software solution, SnapAttack is always up to date. New attack techniques and analytics are regularly pushed to subscribers, but advanced teams can harness the full power of the platform to create their own attack techniques and analytics based on internal threat intelligence.

SnapAttack will offer a centralized offensive tradecraft to capture and organize adversary tradecraft to help security teams gain confidence in their organization's ability to prepare for, prevent, and detect emerging threats. 

Booz Allen’s solution will also improve detection with existing tools, leveraging the company’s advanced analytic builder to create, test and deploy high-quality behavioral analytic. Booz Allen has also followed MITRE ATT&CK framework to validate security controls against true positive attacks. 

“SnapAttack addresses the needs of CISOs and SOC leads to deploy proactive, preventive security measures that continuously test cyber defenses to get ahead of attacks by identifying and addressing potential vulnerabilities and control gaps before the adversary can,” said Brad Medairy, a Booz Allen EVP and leader of the firm’s cybersecurity and engineering business.

/
Maxar Enters Contract Extension with Esri to Continue Licensing Data; Dan Jablonsky Quoted
Published on
Maxar Enters Contract Extension with Esri to Continue Licensing Data; Dan Jablonsky Quoted

Maxar Technologies has signed a multi-million dollar contract extension with Esri to continue licensing data for the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World through 2023, Maxar reported on Tuesday. The agreement will provide access to Maxar imagery and expanded rights for Esri developers focused on commercial location-based applications to integrate Maxar imagery products.

“Maxar is exceptionally proud to continue its longstanding partnership with Esri, one of many organizations whose users demand the unrivaled quality of our imagery products,” said Dan Jablonsky, Maxar CEO. “The investments we’re making in our next-generation WorldView Legion satellites ensure that we will be able to continue delivering these imagery products to our customers for many years to come.”

Maxar has continued to serve as Esri’s foundation imagery provider, supplying high-resolution satellite imagery for the Living Atlas of the World. The offering includes geographic information layers and data sets, such as maps, apps and data layers and population statistics of all types. 

Maxar Vivid and Metro offerings, which are global imagery basemaps made from Maxar satellite imagery available on the market. Under the partnership, Living Altas will also gain access to NaturalVue 2.0, an image mosaic, to create a seamless, virtually cloud-free, 15-meter basemap that reflects the Earth’s true colors. 

Additionally, Maxar will offer National Urban Change Indicator (NUCI), a commercial urban change detection product. 

“Esri is excited to leverage the power of Maxar’s commercial imagery as a key component of our global Living Atlas. Their offerings provide our company with exceptional quality, both in resolution and geometric accuracy,” said Jack Dangermond, Esri founder and president. 

About Maxar

Maxar is a trusted partner and innovator in Earth Intelligence and Space Infrastructure. We deliver disruptive value to government and commercial customers to help them monitor, understand and navigate our changing planet; deliver global broadband communications; and explore and advance the use of space. 

Our unique approach combines decades of deep mission understanding and a proven commercial and defense foundation to deploy solutions and deliver insights with unrivaled speed, scale and cost effectiveness. Maxar’s 4,000 team members in 20 global locations are inspired to harness the potential of space to help our customers create a better world. Maxar trades on the New York Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange as MAXR.

/
Northrop Grumman Successfully Completes System Requirements Review for Aether Spy; William Phillips, Thomas Dalrymple Quoted
Published on
Northrop Grumman Successfully Completes System Requirements Review for Aether Spy; William Phillips, Thomas Dalrymple Quoted

Northrop Grumman has successfully completed the System Requirements Review (SRR) and will now enter into the design phase of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Aether Spy next-generation multifunction radar program, the company reported on Tuesday.

“Aether Spy will enable significant improvements in surveillance and battle management missions in the future battlespace. The multifunction aspects are enabled by both software and hardware programmability that will ensure this sensor will have operational impact for years to come,” said Thomas Dalrymple, technical advisor for Sensor Subsystems at the AFRL Sensors Directorate.

Aether Spy will expand multifunction wideband digital Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) technology, leveraging advanced microelectronics created on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Arrays on Commercial Timescales (ACT) program.

“The advanced integrated circuits, digital AESA architecture and multifunction software developed on Aether Spy will become foundational building blocks for the next generation of multifunction radio frequency (RF) systems supporting the future mission needs of the Department of Defense (DoD),” said William Phillips, director, multifunction systems, Northrop Grumman.

Aether Spy will develop the next generation of integrated circuits, such as additional processing and key design features. The advanced devices will be developed and integrated into an advanced digital AESA to create a multifunction system. The system will be able to simultaneously perform multiple sensing, communication and electronic warfare functions.

“We look forward to demonstrating how the advanced digital AESA technology enables unmatched system agility that will meet the challenging mission requirements of advanced platforms,” Phillips added.

The solution will support the DoD trusted microelectronics strategy.

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.

///
NASA to Fund Battelle Study on Chemical Properties of Tree Canopy Structure; Keith Krause Quoted
Published on
NASA to Fund Battelle Study on Chemical Properties of Tree Canopy Structure; Keith Krause Quoted

Battelle has announced that NASA will fund a three-year collaborative project to investigate how the chemical properties of leaves and tree canopy structures affect remote sensing observations. 

“The goal of the research is to understand the linkages between canopy structure and the leaf traits that influence photosynthetic capacity,” said NEON’s Keith Krause, who is leading the research. “This should allow us to improve our interpretation of remote sensing data and to better map and monitor rates of productivity in forest ecosystems.”

Funded under NASA’s Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science program, the study will be led by Battelle, the Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of New Hampshire using data from the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) program.

The researchers will leverage multi-modal remote sensing with passive solar-reflected hyperspectral and active discrete/waveform LiDAR data to study structure and trait relationships across a wide range of spatial resolutions. NEON’s data with NASA’s satellite technology will provide a more expanded knowledge of structure and trait relationships.

Researchers will investigate how trees grow, provide different habitats for various animals and what factors affect the exchange of carbon dioxide with the atmosphere. The researchers will also study the vegetation chemistry and forest health. 

Researchers will use two existing NEON sites for the study: the Harvard Forest in Massachusetts and the Bartlett Experimental Forest in New Hampshire. The study will use field measurements and remote sensing data from the sites to augment with simulations of realistic forests. 

About Battelle

Every day, the people of Battelle apply science and technology to solving what matters most. At major technology centers and national laboratories around the world, Battelle conducts research and development, designs and manufactures products, and delivers critical services for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio since its founding in 1929, Battelle serves the national security, health and life sciences, and energy and environmental industries.

//
Bruce Jette on US Army’s Project Convergence
Published on
Bruce Jette on US Army’s Project Convergence

Bruce Jette, the U.S. Army’s acquisition chief and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, told Defense News in an interview published Monday about Project Convergence and how it allows the service to integrate existing capabilities.

“Project Convergence was, in many ways, a weaving together of existing capabilities that had not been brought together in the manner that they were for that demonstration,” Jette told the publication. “There were changes to DOTMLPF pieces, [or doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, and facilities], that were significant.”

He mentioned the TITAN ground station as a program of record and the Army’s move to an architectural approach and design.

“The optionally manned fighting vehicle is going to be a cornerstone for us driving toward an architected vehicle development,” Jette said. “Our objective is to establish a fundamental architecture for where these are — not just the vehicles but our entire system of systems, which then become a core requirement of any system that gets bid out."

1 … 1,271 1,272 1,273 1,274 1,275 … 2,600