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Air Force Rolls Out Software Dev’t Skills Refinement Effort
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Air Force Rolls Out Software Dev’t Skills Refinement Effort

The U.S. Air Force is launching a software development program to refine the technical skills of personnel through “low-code, no-code” or minimal training activities.

The CyberWorx program is aimed at establishing partnerships with academia and industry to help train airmen on executing software development tasks on an expert level, C4ISRnet reported Thursday.

Col. William Waynick, director of the CyberWorx initiative, said at a C4ISRnet event that the Air Force and Army are collaborating with five vendors to establish tracking capabilities for monitoring equipment and other training-related matters for the program.

He noted that CyberWorx team is currently working on an application to streamline the pitching process for both government and industry entities. The team will submit a progress report to Lt. Gen. Timothy Haugh, commander of the 16th Air Force, in March 2021, according to Waynick.

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NSA, Army to Launch Quantum Info Science Lab for Collaborative R&D Programs
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NSA, Army to Launch Quantum Info Science Lab for Collaborative R&D Programs

The National Security Agency (NSA) has partnered with the U.S. Army Research Office to establish a laboratory that will house collaborative research and development efforts involving quantum information science. 

NSA said Thursday that its Laboratory for Physical Sciences is partnering with the Army to launch the LPS Qubit Collaboratory (LQC) in line with goals under the National Quantum Initiative.

The agency also plans to issue a broad agency announcement in an effort to identify government, industry and academic partners interested in LQC programs. LQC initiatives will also include training and workforce programs to promote opportunities in QIS as well as its applications such as cryogenics.

Mark Segal, acting research director at NSA, said LQC’s creation builds on LPS and ARO’s over two-decade collaboration on quantum computing projects.

“The LQC will combine collaborative research across the country and research experiences at LPS to understand the limits of quantum information technology,” he noted.

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NIST Releases Guide for Multilevel Security Control Baselines
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NIST Releases Guide for Multilevel Security Control Baselines

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has created a guide to help agencies ensure compliance with risk management requirements for processing personally identifiable information.

NIST said Thursday the “quick-start” guide is called “Control Baselines for Information Systems and Organizations” and is meant to complement the agency’s Special Publication 800-53 Revision 5 that covers privacy and security controls.

The new guide includes baselines to help agencies address risks in the low, moderate and high levels, according to NIST.

“Many external programs and organizations depend on the NIST recommendations to help protect cloud, health care, financial, transportation, manufacturing, defense and industrial control systems,” said Ron Ross, a fellow at NIST and co-author of the guide. “It’s our goal to get all of them the right kind of protection.”

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GSA to Implement New Digital Signing, Multi Factor Authentication in Contracting
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GSA to Implement New Digital Signing, Multi Factor Authentication in Contracting

The General Services Administration has announced it will require contractors to use the DocuSign platform to digitally sign offers and modification requests starting Nov. 30.

Contractors would use DocuSign when applying via eOffer/eMod, a tool designed to electronically facilitate contract offer submissions and modification requests, GSA said Wednesday. DocuSign’s implementation on eOffer/eMod aims to provide a secure, legally compliant signing tool for GSA’s information technology transformation pursuits.

GSA also plans to apply the Federal Acquisition Service ID multi-factor authentication to eOffer/eMod in the second quarter of 2021. FAS ID’s multi-factor authentication adds a second layer of security to protect contractor accounts and GSA applications from unauthorized access.

The eOffer/eMod tool’s transition to DocuSign will run from Nov. 25th to 29th, a period when users will temporarily not be able fully submit offers and modification requests. Users will also be required to present digital certificates when accessing eOffer/eMod during the tool’s transition to FAS ID.

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NSF Invests $125M in Mid-Scale Research Facilities; Sethuraman Panchanathan Quoted
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NSF Invests $125M in Mid-Scale Research Facilities; Sethuraman Panchanathan Quoted

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has allotted $125 million for the development of mid-scale facilities where researchers may perform quantum, biogeochemistry and energy grid studies. 

NSF said Thursday that it will use these funds to finance three projects, each valued between $20 million and $70 million, that will consist of research expertise, equipment and instrumentation for pursued research topics, community engagement and education.

The first facility, titled the High Magnetic Field Beamline, will explore the quantum properties of materials via X-ray technologies. The Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source will host and develop this facility in partnership with the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.

Second, the Global Ocean Biogeochemistry Array will deliver 500 robotic floats designed to gather data on chemistry and biology in the ocean. Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute will work with institutional and industrial partners to develop the array's robotic floats. The array will also support monitoring of the ocean's physical and biological health.

Lastly, the Grid-Connected Testing Infrastructure for Networked Control of Distributed Energy Resources will openly offer research assets and leverage data analytics to support energy grid studies and education. The University of California in San Diego will host this facility.

"U.S. researchers need cutting-edge tools to stay at the forefront of science and technology," said Sethuraman Panchanathan, director at NSF.

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Bipartisan Legislation to Enhance Federal Govt Accountability
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Bipartisan Legislation to Enhance Federal Govt Accountability

Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Reps. Jody Hice, R-Ga., and Ted Lieu, D-Calif. have introduced a bill to enhance accountability and transparency within the federal government.

The Oversight.gov Authorization Act aims to launch and maintain a website that will provide the public with access to reports generated by inspector generals, the office of Chuck Grassley said Tuesday.

The bill will also update the website that houses data on COVID-19-related funds and the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee's efforts to increase accountability.

"IGs are critical to rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in our government, and this website will make their findings more accessible to the American people," said Sen. Hassan.

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GSA, DoD Re-Award $4.4B DEOS BPA to CSRA; Dana Deasy, Emily Murphy Quoted
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GSA, DoD Re-Award $4.4B DEOS BPA to CSRA; Dana Deasy, Emily Murphy Quoted

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and U.S. Department of Defense have re-awarded the approximate $4.4 billion, ten-year Defense Enterprise Office Solutions (DEOS) Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) to CSRA, with Contractor Teaming Partners Dell Marketing L.P. and Minburn Technology Group.

“DEOS is a key part of the Department’s Digital Modernization Strategy and its fit-for-purpose cloud offering will streamline our use of cloud email and collaborative tools while enhancing cybersecurity and information sharing based on standardized needs and market offerings,” said DoD CIO and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, Dana Deasy.

Under DEOS, CSRA will provide productivity tools, including word processing and spreadsheets, email, collaboration, file sharing and storage. “With the award of DEOS, the Department will be able to transfer a significant part of the ongoing technical and management load to the integrator and free up strained resources to execute other priority missions,” Deasy added. 

The DOD CIO and Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) have worked with GSA to reduce duplicative efforts across the Department, simplify contract administration and reduce associated costs by using GSA’s IT Schedule 70 contract vehicle to deliver commercial cloud technology.

The Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Cloud Smart Strategy has established a method for federal agencies to adopt cloud solutions. consistent with the President’s Management Agenda and will run in close alignment with the DEOS acquisition strategy.

“DEOS demonstrates how DOD-GSA collaboration achieves better financial, security, and mission results,” said GSA administrator Emily Murphy, who is also a 2020 Wash100 Award recipient. “While the cost savings are themselves compelling, more importantly DEOS will enable DoD to more easily share mission-critical information across all military services and enhance cybersecurity.”

The contract includes a five-year base period with two two-year options and one one-year option. 

About GSA

The mission of the U.S. General Services Administration is to deliver value and savings in real estate, acquisition, technology, and other mission-support services across government. One of its four strategic objectives is to improve the way federal agencies buy, build and use technology.

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Microsoft Further Developing CMMC Acceleration Program for DoD Suppliers
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Microsoft Further Developing CMMC Acceleration Program for DoD Suppliers

Microsoft announced the CMMC Acceleration Program in April 2020 to arm the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) with information and enablement services for compliance with the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) set of practices.

“The defense industry is looking to Microsoft for leadership in assisting the DIB to secure the supply chain.  Our cloud technologies and compliance solutions available provide a major step forward.  By working with the DIB community of customers and partners, we are developing solutions for CMMC leveraging the comprehensive capabilities of the cloud.  In particular, our CMMC Acceleration Program is being developed with and for partners to deliver end-to-end compliant solutions,” said Richard Wakeman, Senior Director of Aerospace & Defense with Microsoft Azure Global.

The Aerospace and Defense organizational unit of Microsoft announced an update this month providing greater detail on the program and an updated vision and timeline. Before the latest update, Microsoft created a series of educational materials for CMMC compliance and best practices information pertaining to Microsoft 365 GCC High and Azure Government.

Additionally, Microsoft has actively met with regulatory council, stakeholders, and special advisors from industry like Summit 7 Systems (Summit 7), a national leader for Cybersecurity and Compliance Solutions for the Aerospace and Defense industry, to build out a knowledge base for DIB companies.  Scott Edwards, President of Summit 7, commented on the recent update and shared “Microsoft has and continues to be out in front with reference documentation for meeting CMMC and DFARS requirements, but now that transition to Microsoft 365 GCC High and Azure Government will be streamlined for greater ease and adoption.”

The reinvigorated CMMC Acceleration Program includes learning resources and tools to identify and report proper security configurations within respective Microsoft environments for meeting applicable compliance requirements.

Microsoft intends to release several artifacts by the end of 2020: Microsoft Product Placemat for CMMC, Control Implementation Summary, and Azure blueprint for CMMC Level 3. Additional tools are expected to become generally available in 2021 – such as the Microsoft Compliance Manager for GCC High, System Security Plan (SSP) covering Microsoft and customer responsibilities, and scripted architecture for Managed Service Providers (MSP).

Edwards added, “We are excited to work with the industry in creating and using some of these tools to speed up the path to compliance and provide additional cost savings when transitioning to Microsoft 365 Government.”

It is important to note many of the Program resources are samplings and require some additional revising or policies to match a company’s full security landscape and environment. Moreover, Microsoft explicitly states these resources do not equate to compliance or a successful CMMC assessment.

About Microsoft 365 GCC High

Microsoft 365 GCC High is built on Microsoft Azure Government within dedicated US-sovereign data centers. Azure Government is currently certified to FedRAMP High, as well as the entire suite of GCC High services hosted in Azure Government. Many DoD contractors choose GCC High and Azure Government because the infrastructure is managed by background checked US persons, Microsoft attests to meet DFARS flowdown clauses, and reporting requirements for regulatory compliance.

About Summit 7 Systems

Summit 7 Systems is a national leader in cybersecurity and compliance for the Aerospace and Defense industry and corporate enterprises. Summit 7 won the 2020 Microsoft US Partner Award in Security and Compliance for its Microsoft Cloud solutions regarding CMMC, DFARS, NIST 800-171, ITAR, and CUI. Summit 7 Systems is privately held and headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama.

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Lumen Automates DDoS Mitigation Service to Secure Applications; Chris Smith, Martha Vazquez Quoted
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Lumen Automates DDoS Mitigation Service to Secure Applications; Chris Smith, Martha Vazquez Quoted

Lumen Technologies has upgraded its distributed denial of service (DDoS) Mitigation Service to increase response speed, the company reported on Tuesday. Lumen’s integrated features will help users protect web-facing assets and applications. 

"Lumen is focused on developing platforms that help customers deploy and secure the applications that power 4th Industrial Revolution," said Chris Smith, vice president of global security services at Lumen. "We leverage our insights to automate detection and response at a global scale, and this allows our customers to maintain the critical web-facing assets that power their businesses."

Lumen's new DDoS capabilities have integrated Rapid Threat Defense, a Three-Tiered Scrubbing Architecture and DDoS Hyper, which will  and reduce the risk of collateral damage during attacks.

Rapid Threat Defense is a software-based, automated detection and response service that will block threats and improve application security and availability. The solution has leveraged threat intelligence developed by Black Lotus Labs, which will increase application and threat visibility.

Lumen’s Three-Tiered Scrubbing Architecture is the company’s proprietary platform that will use a scrubbing approach with next-gen technology to mitigate attacks based on size and complexity. The company’s intelligent routing system will send complex attacks to the larger scrubbers to enable applications to continue to perform while under attack.

DDoS Hyper is part of the new Lumen digital buying experience, which will enable customers to order, configure  and deploy DDoS mitigation services via a self-service portal quickly.

"With the recent spike in DDoS attacks, the speed of response to new attacks is more crucial than ever before," said Martha Vazquez, senior security research analyst, IDC Research. "Service providers are at a point where they need to speed up response times to stop these advanced attacks from occurring immediately. Having an automated response that can prevent bad traffic from ever reaching the customer is critical.”

About Lumen

Lumen is guided by our belief that humanity is at its best when technology advances the way we live and work. With approximately 450,000 route fiber miles and serving customers in more than 60 countries, we deliver the fastest, most secure platform for applications and data to help businesses, government and communities deliver amazing experiences.

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USAF Extends Boeing Contract to Deliver Japan KC-46 Tankers; Col. Jason Lindsey, Will Shaffer Quoted
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USAF Extends Boeing Contract to Deliver Japan KC-46 Tankers; Col. Jason Lindsey, Will Shaffer Quoted

Boeing will deliver the third and fourth Boeing KC-46 tanker through the Foreign Military Sale (FMS) process for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s (JASDF), following the U.S. Air Force's extension option, the company reported on Friday. 

“Japan’s new tankers will play an invaluable role in the security alliance between our two countries,” said Col. Jason Lindsey, U.S. Air Force KC-46 System program manager.

Boeing’s KC-46 will be a force multiplier in the U.S.-Japanese defense alliance. The tanker is able to refuel all U.S., allied and coalition military aircraft compatible with international aerial refueling procedures. It also has the ability to carry passengers, cargo and patients.

The company currently assembles KC-46A aircraft for both the U.S. Air Force and the JASDF on its 767 production line in Everett. Japan’s first KC-46 is scheduled for delivery in 2021.

“This order further enhances our enduring partnership with Japan,” said Will Shaffer, president of Boeing Japan. “The KC-46 will be an unparalleled asset to Japan’s air mobility fleet for decades to come.”

The Boeing KC-46 team began assembling Japan’s first next-generation tanker, loading a 82.4-foot long wing spar in the company’s 767 production facility, in Sept. 2019. Boeing was awarded a FMS contract for one KC-46A aircraft and logistics services in Dec. 2017, following the Japan Ministry of Defense’s KC-X aerial refueling competition.

The U.S. Air Force exercised an option for Japan’s second aircraft in Dec. 2018. Boeing began developing the KC-46A for the U.S. Air Force in 2011 and delivered the first tanker in January 2019. Japan is the program’s first international customer. 

About Boeing

Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading provider of commercial airplanes, defense, space and security systems, and global services. As a top U.S. exporter, the company supports commercial and government customers in more than 150 countries. Building on a legacy of aerospace leadership, Boeing continues to lead in technology and innovation, deliver for its customers and invest in its people and future growth.

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