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Christopher Krebs: Agencies Shifting to Telework Should Boost Investments in Cyber Tools
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Christopher Krebs: Agencies Shifting to Telework Should Boost Investments in Cyber Tools

Christopher Krebs, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and a 2020 Wash100 Awardee, said agencies transitioning to the cloud to support telework should consolidate and increase investments in security tools to better manage cyber threats, Nextgov reported Tuesday.

"We have to make sure that … when we have all these federal agencies that are shifting to a remote work environment or have shifted to a remote environment, that are introducing new risks, that are expanding their attack surface, that we don’t take our foot off the gas in terms of the progress we’ve made through programs like [Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation],” Krebs said Tuesday at the annual Billington cybersecurity conference.

“We should be doubling down on those investments right now, we should be accelerating the deployment of security tools like endpoint detection and response,” he added.

Krebs noted that CISA and other agencies that had moved to the cloud were able to steer clear of some vulnerabilities associated with virtual private networks that threat actors home in during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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JAIC’s Nand Mulchandani on Software-Defined Warfare, Joint All-Domain C2
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JAIC’s Nand Mulchandani on Software-Defined Warfare, Joint All-Domain C2

Nand Mulchandani, acting director of the Department of Defense’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, said software will play a decisive role in competing against adversaries in fast-paced future fights because rewriting code is faster than upgrading physical weapons, Breaking Defense reported Tuesday.

“The organization that’s going to be victorious in the future is going to be the organization [with] the maximum agility to bring out new capabilities and learn very, very quickly how to adapt,” Mulchandani told the publication in an interview.

“The speed at which you are able to change your tactics, change your planning, and react to changes your adversary is making is fundamentally where the game is going in the future – and the only way to take advantage of that… is to be more software-centric rather than being hardware-centric,” he added.

Mulchandani said the Joint All-Domain Command and Control program is not a “single piece of software” that will operate on a single network but will work as a meta-network designed to facilitate sharing of intelligence and data across ground, maritime, air, space and cyber domains.

“JADC2 allows you to start interconnecting and doing planning around very complex maneuvers [and then] execute those complex things in order," he said.

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Air Force to Highlight Digital Transformation Effort on Virtual Event
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Air Force to Highlight Digital Transformation Effort on Virtual Event

The U.S. Air Force (USAF) is slated to host a virtual industry day Sept. 21 to discuss the service branch's digital transformation initiative and strategy to industry and academia.

The industry day will showcase digital engineering efforts from select programs and expound how the Air Force and the U.S. Space Force will conduct business in the future, USAF said Friday. The Air Force aims to share best practices and encourage collaborations and feedback from the academia and industry via the event.

"We need to fully take advantage of digital tools and approaches to improve time and efficiency in each acquisition phase," said Gen. Arnold Bunch Jr., commander at Air Force Materiel Command.

Interested participants have until Sept. 19 to register for the event via the Beta SAM website.

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DHS Issues Explosive Trace Detector RFI
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DHS Issues Explosive Trace Detector RFI

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is looking for sources of explosive trace detectors that can analyze samples from vehicles, baggage and various objects. DHS said Friday it aims to explore the usage of detectors that could yield analysis results in less than a minute.

“Explosives trace detectors are one of the primary tools that front-line local, state, tribal and federal security personnel have at their disposal to detect explosives hidden in packages, vehicles, luggage and other items,” said John Kada, a chemist at the National Urban Security Technology Laboratory.

Kada added ETDs are used to intercept explosives and mitigate terrorist activities. Responses to the request for information are due Oct. 8.

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IRS Seeks Methods to Improve Procurement via Labor Data
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IRS Seeks Methods to Improve Procurement via Labor Data

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has launched a $7M solicitation to help the U.S. government improve deliveries of products and services, Nextgov reported Friday. The solicitation calls for industry to propose ideas on how to gather, analyze, visualize and manage labor data relevant to procurement.

The agency launched the solicitation through the Pilot IRS experimental contract vehicle in alignment with the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Frictionless Acquisition effort. OMB wants to have commercial item deliveries run at marketplace speeds.

“Maximizing the use of existing labor/wage data will result in better acquisition planning, improved contract negotiations and lower taxpayer costs," IRS said in the request for proposal notice.

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Army Opens New ARCYBER Headquarters in Georgia; Gen. Paul Nakasone Quoted
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Army Opens New ARCYBER Headquarters in Georgia; Gen. Paul Nakasone Quoted

The U.S. Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER) has opened its new headquarters location at Fort Gordon in Georgia as part of the Army’s plans to consolidate the component's cyberspace, education, training and capability development operations. The new facility, dubbed Fortitude Hall, spans 336,000 square-feet and is valued at $366 million, the Army said Thursday.

Ron Pontius, deputy to the commanding general at ARCYBER, told attendees at the facility's dedication ceremony that the new location will help streamline ARCYBER’s network, defense and offense operations while driving collaboration between cyber forces and Cyber Center of Excellence (CCoE) trainers.

Lt. Gen. Stephen Fogarty, commander of ARCYBER, noted that the new location will facilitate collaborative partnerships for electronic warfare, information operations and cyber initiatives.

"Due to the partnerships that ARCYBER built and nurtured to date, the Army’s operational and institutional cyber forces enjoy unprecedented synergies, operating from a single, information power projection platform," said Gen. Paul Nakasone, head of U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) and a 2020 Wash100 Award recipient.

 ARCYBER previously partnered with Augusta-based academic and government entities including the National Security Agency’s (NSA) Georgia segment, he added. The Army first announced plans to consolidate its cyber organizations spread across three states and various facilities in 2013.

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Vice Adm. Ross Myers to Lead Navy’s Fleet Cyber; Gen. Paul Nakasone Quoted
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Vice Adm. Ross Myers to Lead Navy’s Fleet Cyber; Gen. Paul Nakasone Quoted

Vice Adm. Ross Myers, former deputy commander of U.S. Cyber Command, has been assigned to lead Fleet Cyber, a command tasked to administer the U.S. Navy's information and cyber activities. 

Myers leaves his USCYBERCOM post to Maj. Gen. Charles Moore who also received a promotion to lieutenant general. , USCYBERCOM said Thursday.

“As the J5, chief of staff and then the deputy commander, Ross has demonstrated his appreciation for partnership as a foundational leadership principle,” said Gen. Paul Nakasone, USCYBERCOM's commander and director of the National Security Agency (NSA) and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient. 

Myers' experience includes commandership over naval aviation forces such as Carrier Air Wing Five. He also served as USCYBERCOM's chief of staff and deputy executive assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations. Moore, Myers' successor, most recently served as USCYBERCOM's director of operations.

“To have the opportunity to continue to serve on the Cyber Command team and in close partnership with NSA is very humbling and exciting," Moore said.

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Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Steven Mnuchin Agree on Continuing Resolution Ahead of FY 2021
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Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Steven Mnuchin Agree on Continuing Resolution Ahead of FY 2021

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have entered into an agreement to introduce a short-term spending bill to prevent a government shutdown at the start of fiscal year 2021.

Mnuchin told Fox News that he and the House speaker agreed to work on a continuing resolution to extend the US government’s spending beyond Sept. 30th, The Washington Post reported Monday. He noted that he expects the resolution to secure government funding through December 2020, according to the report.

“The speaker and I have agreed we don’t want to see a government shutdown,” said Mnuchin. “The most important thing is to make sure at the end of the month, we don’t shut down the government and we get something past the election."

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Maria Roat, Deputy Federal CIO, Discusses Federal IT Modernization
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Maria Roat, Deputy Federal CIO, Discusses Federal IT Modernization

Maria Roat, deputy federal chief information officer (CIO) and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, recently discussed how developing emerging technologies, such as quantum computing, could invalidate encryption methodologies in the future. She added that federal systems must evolve to support innovation, FedScoop reported on Tuesday. 

“Even as I’m modernizing some of our old systems, our legacy systems, I have to make sure that our current systems as well are keeping up,” Roat said.

Roat noted that investing in modern zero-trust security architectures and flexible, scalable cloud-solutions is essential to agencies, as they configure a variety of platforms to capitalize on emerging technologies. 

In addition, the shift to telework has tested federal systems, which have seen a “huge escalation” in cyberattacks across the public and private sectors the pandemic began. Federal agencies have invested in defenses for blocking unwanted traffic and phishing emails to prevent cyberattacks. 

“How the federal government operated around cybersecurity is really a testament to the maturity of the federal government around networking and its modernization over the last several years,” Roat said.

To combat insider threat, Roat stated that agency CIOs must invest in training their workforce to avoid mistakes and recognize phishing emails, so that the workforce can adapt to an evolving threat landscape. The CIO Council has assisted in training federal employees to identify cyberthreats first through its Federal Cyber Reskilling Academy and the Federal Data Science Training Program.

Potomac Officers Club recently hosted its Secure IT Modernization in Today’s Environment Virtual Event on Wednesday, August 26th. If you missed the event, you can still register to watch the footage in Potomac Officers Club’s Event Archive.

Michael Mestrovich, principal deputy chief information officer (CIO) for the U.S. Department of State, served as a keynote speaker at the event. Mestrovich addressed the integration and expansion of 5G and other emerging technologies; adaptation to a “new normal,” such as teleworking and reentry; and how leaders and businesses can use mission software factories to their advantage. 

“Collaborative platforms have been the key enabler as the world has transitioned to telework. As we adopt telework, utilizing sharing platforms, I’ve personally seen productivity increase, but that comes at the expense of the individuals. They no longer take breaks because it’s so easy to transition from meeting to meeting through these platforms,” Mestrovich said. 

Mestrovich then discussed which applications were already completed prior to the pandemic, and those that were in transition. Mestrovich said that the department’s cloud migration prior to COVID-19 was a “lynchpin” to the successful migration to telework.

To learn more on federal IT modernization, watch POC’s Secure IT Modernization in Today’s Environment Virtual Event.

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CRA Acquires Security Weekly to Advance Cybersecurity; Doug Manoni Quoted
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CRA Acquires Security Weekly to Advance Cybersecurity; Doug Manoni Quoted

CyberRisk Alliance (CRA) has acquired Security Weekly, an authoritative podcast network serving the cybersecurity community, CRA reported on Tuesday. CRA purchased the company from Defensive Intuition. 

“Security Weekly expands CRA’s domain expertise and a suite of mobile optimized delivery formats to better serve our audiences and marketing partners. Paul, Matt and their team have built an influential and unique franchise in cybersecurity,” CyberRisk Alliance CEO and founder, Doug Manoni said. 

With the acquisition, CRA will consolidate its best-in-class services that advance collaboration throughout the cybersecurity sector. Security Weekly has produced podcast programs presenting insider’s views on how to develop effective cybersecurity strategies. 

Security Weekly has also provided tools and solutions as well as functioned successfully in a variety of business environments. The company’s programs have covered issues in cybersecurity, featuring security experts and high-profile industry leaders. The platform has provided credible information and has validated products and services across the sector. 

Security Weekly’s founder, Paul Asadoorian, and CEO, Matt Alderman, will continue in their roles leading the company, and as program hosts. “They are trusted experts and their content is highly technical and authoritative, yet they deliver it in an entertaining manner,” added Manoni.

“We set out to help and educate the security community every day, and have fun delivering a wide variety of information security topics… We’re excited to work with the CRA management team to accelerate the growth of the business. It’s a terrific fit as they understand our mission, our culture, and how we help the security community,” said Asadoorian. 

The transaction marks the latest in a series of strategic acquisitions for CRA. The company’s earlier acquisitions include SC Media, Infosec World Conference and Expo, Cybersecurity Collaboration Forums and Cybersecurity Collaborative. The company also recently announced the launch of the CRA Business Intelligence Unit.

“Security Weekly’s programming will enrich our platform and enhance our digital offerings, with their mobile-friendly podcast and video capabilities. We’re excited to partner with the Security Weekly team, and we welcome them into our growing family of companies,” concluded Manoni. 

About CyberRisk Alliance

CyberRisk Alliance (CRA) is a business intelligence company serving the cybersecurity community. Our mission is to provide the knowledge and insight needed to navigate today’s complex security landscape, and to support and empower the industry’s leaders. 

Our trusted information leverages a unique network of journalists, analysts and influencers, policymakers and practitioners, and is delivered through events, research, media, and virtual learning. Our brands include SC Media and InfoSec World, our research unit CRA Business Intelligence, peer-to-peer CISO networks Cybersecurity Collaborative and Cybersecurity Collaboration Forum, and now Security Weekly. CRA’s integrated services offer industry technology and service providers uniquely high value marketing solutions.

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