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DOE Launches Effort to Build, Deploy Cybersecurity Tech for Utility Companies
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DOE Launches Effort to Build, Deploy Cybersecurity Tech for Utility Companies

The Department of Energy's Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) has earmarked $12 million in cooperative agreements to support the development and deployment of cybersecurity technologies for distribution and municipal utility companies.

CESER will team up with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and the American Public Power Association to build technologies that will track adversarial activities through community-led information sharing efforts, DOE said Friday.

The partnership also aims to employ artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to mitigate false positives in threat detection and determine how and when a system was compromised.

CESER seeks to field one technology from the program to utility companies by 2023. NRECA represents over 900 public power districts, electric cooperatives and public utility districts while APPA supports community-owned utilities that serve nearly 50M customers. 

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AFRL Plans to Launch Patrol Satellite Between Lunar, Earth Orbits; Capt. David Buehler Quoted
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AFRL Plans to Launch Patrol Satellite Between Lunar, Earth Orbits; Capt. David Buehler Quoted

The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is launching an effort to establish a satellite-based monitoring system for spacecraft traveling in the area between the lunar and Earth orbits.

AFRL intends to develop a prototype Cislunar Highway Patrol Satellite (CHPS) that will handle space domain awareness operations in the cislunar region, Breaking Defense reported Monday.

The lab is also assessing the feasibility of deploying CHPS in the Lagrange points, which are orbital domains that allow spacecraft to reduce fuel consumption through gravitational forces.

Capt. David Buehler, program manager at AFRL, told the publication in an email that the CHPS effort is in its early stages and the lab is “working to establish the science and technology required for domain awareness” to support missions beyond geosynchronous orbit.

Buehler noted that AFRL is also studying various launch options for CHPS as well as potential partnerships with NASA and industry.

"We are interested in technologies to support wide area search, narrow field tracking, and autonomous space domain awareness," he added. Other technologies of interest include positioning, navigation, and timing systems for flight experiments beyond GEO, said Buehler.

AFRL is looking to host an industry day on the CHPS effort in the coming summer.

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Ellen Lord: DoD Must Consolidate Military Construction Funds to Meet ICBM Modernization Deadlines
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Ellen Lord: DoD Must Consolidate Military Construction Funds to Meet ICBM Modernization Deadlines

Hon. Ellen Lord, the Department of Defense’s (DoD) acquisition head and a 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, said the Pentagon seeks to streamline military construction allocations to support the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) missile modernization program.

Lord, who serves as undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, told the Senate Armed Services Committee at a recent hearing that Congress should consider allowing flexibility in military construction funding to meet schedules for the GBSD program, Defense News reported Saturday.

The DoD intends to update 450 launch facilities and 45 launch centers comprising the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) infrastructure to make way for the updated GBSD weapon.

Lord’s office is currently negotiating with Congress on legislation that would allow projects at launch facilities in one location to be consolidated into a single contract.

Jessica Maxwell, a spokesperson for the DoD, told Defense News in a statement that consolidating funding for ICBM infrastructure updates will help speed up the system's transition into GBSD and achieve the 2036 deadline for full operational capability.

“Our job in acquisition and sustainment [is] to not transition programmatic risks over to operational risk, and I’m afraid if we don’t move some of that money out of MILCON, that’s exactly what we would be doing,” Lord noted.

Ellen Lord: DoD Must Consolidate Military Construction Funds to Meet ICBM Modernization Deadlines

Hon. Ellen Lord will be featured as the keynote speaker during Potomac Officers Club's upcoming 5G Summit on October 27th. Don’t miss out on this must see event! Register here for the 5G Summit. 

Join POC to learn about the impact that innovative technologies and 5G integration are having on the private and public sectors, the steps the federal agencies have taken to remain up to speed with the rapid advancement of technology, and the future programs in development. 

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Donald Trump to Nominate Former Airman Brian Davis for Assistant Defense Secretary Role
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Donald Trump to Nominate Former Airman Brian Davis for Assistant Defense Secretary Role

President Trump intends to nominate Brian Davis, director of the Defense Personnel and Family Support Center, for the role of assistant defense secretary for manpower and reserve affairs.

In his current role, Davis oversees efforts to support the Department of Defense's reserve and civilian personnel and their families. His leadership also supports servicemen transitioning into civilian veterans.

Davis brings years of U.S. Air Force experience, having served as an officer with the 77th Air Refueling Squadron, the 459th Operations Group and the 507th Air Refueling Wing, the White House said Monday.

The military veteran held assignments under Operation Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom and many other defense campaigns.

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US, UK Sign Declaration on Joint AI R&D Initiatives
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US, UK Sign Declaration on Joint AI R&D Initiatives

The U.S. has entered into an agreement with the U.K. to launch a joint effort aimed at driving artificial intelligence-focused research and development, technology adoption and public-private partnerships. 

The declaration was signed by Michael Kratsios, U.S. chief technology officer and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, and U.K. secretaries of state Alok Sharma and Oliver Dowden during last week’s Special Relationship Economic Working Group inaugural meeting, the State Department said Friday.

Under the agreement, the two countries will work to drive bilateral AI R&D partnerships and build on existing collaborations between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and its U.K. counterpart.

Both countries will also work to establish priorities for future research efforts, coordinate regulatory and cultural considerations and protect against the use of AI “in the service of authoritarianism and repression.”

The U.S. and U.K. will additionally work to promote dialogue between industry, the academe and the scientific community through researcher and student collaborations as well as private-sector partnerships.

“We intend to establish a bilateral government-to-government dialogue on the areas identified in this vision and explore an AI R&D ecosystem that promotes the mutual wellbeing, prosperity, and security of present and future generations,” according to the statement.

The new declaration builds on the US-UK Science and Technology Agreement signed in 2017.

US, UK Sign Declaration on Joint AI R&D Initiatives

On October 22nd, ArchIntel Events will host the ArchIntel – AI in Competitive Intelligence Forum as its first virtual event featuring August Jackson, senior director of Marketing and Competitive Intelligence for Deltek, as the keynote speaker.

Register here to attend ArchIntel’s first virtual event: AI in Competitive Intelligence Forum.

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Q&A with Mike Corkery, President and CEO of Deltek, Addresses Virtual Deltek Insight 2020, COVID-19 Impact on Deltek
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Q&A with Mike Corkery, President and CEO of Deltek, Addresses Virtual Deltek Insight 2020, COVID-19 Impact on Deltek

Mike Corkery, president and CEO of Deltek, and two-time Wash100 Award recipient, recently spoke with ExecutiveBiz regarding Deltek’s Insight 2020 Virtual Event, including event platforms and topics, as well as the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on Deltek’s workforce throughout the year, such as telework, social distancing and enacting a flexible workforce. 

"Every year, Deltek Insight brings together thousands of project focused professionals to exchange ideas, network and have some fun. This year was no different. And, by pivoting our customer conference to a virtual format, we reached over 15,000 members of Deltek Project Nation around the globe.”

Visit ExecutiveBiz.com to read the full Q&A with Wash100 Winner Mike Corkery of Deltek. To gain further insight into the mindset of the most significant executives of consequence GovCon sector, read the latest interviews from our 'Executive Spotlight' series. 

To read Benjamin Gilad’s full interview, and gain insight into other competitive intelligence and analysis experts’ perspectives, view ArchIntel’s ‘Competitive Intelligence Spotlight Series.’

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Forcepoint Launches Dynamic User Protection to Advance Threat Detection; Nico Popp, Doug Cahill Quoted
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Forcepoint Launches Dynamic User Protection to Advance Threat Detection; Nico Popp, Doug Cahill Quoted

Forcepoint has launched Dynamic User Protection to advance modern user activity monitoring (UAM) and insider threat protection, leveraging a cloud-native solution to deliver out-of-the-box functionality with no policy configuration, providing real-time visibility into true risk behaviors of compromised  users within hybrid cloud environments.

"In this next phase of cybersecurity, managing risk across the cloud, network and endpoint will drive everything. With Dynamic User Protection, Forcepoint is changing the rules of the cybersecurity game by delivering global enterprises the ability to automatically enforce security policy across all control points tailored to a specific end-user based on the risk they represent," said Nico Popp, chief product officer at Forcepoint. 

With the shift to remote work due to COVID-19, user security threats increased with critical data and intellectual property in unmanaged home environments. There has been a 400 percent increase in cyberattacks in 2020, according to an FBI report. 

Forcepoint’s Dynamic User Protection, organizations will be able to monitor user activity monitoring with mainstream enterprise access to continuous risk assessment across security control points. 

Dynamic User Protection's risk scores transform the traditional audit-only mode Data Loss Prevention (DLP) deployment to become intelligent DLP by automating policy response based on level of risk while significantly reducing false positives.

Dynamic User Protection utilizes Indicators of Behavior (IoB) as the real-time analytics engine to determine the overall risk of an entity. These IoBs deliver security teams context around behaviors and by combining multiple behaviors determines true risk scores that assess overall risk of an entity as good or bad.

"Digital transformation initiatives have been accelerated by a surge in remote work…  Leveraging User Activity Monitoring-as-a-Service allows enterprises to take advantage of what could best be called a 'data scientist in the cloud' to proactively manage user risk and protect critical data from being breached," said Doug Cahill, vice president and group director at Enterprise Strategy Group.

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VMware Partners with Lumen to Deliver Edge Services; Rajiv Ramaswami Quoted
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VMware Partners with Lumen to Deliver Edge Services; Rajiv Ramaswami Quoted

Lumen Technologies and VMware have partnered to advance edge compute, networking and security, VMware reported on Tuesday. Under the partnership, Lumen will deliver edge services, using integrated VMware technologies.

“The combined capabilities of Lumen and VMware will empower organizations to take on the next phase of digital business,” said Rajiv Ramaswami, chief operating officer, products and cloud services, VMware. “We are helping customers take advantage of holistic solutions that support the people, processes, apps, and data that power business.”

The collaboration will help enterprises expand across data centers, cloud and edge, as well as move business applications that require low latency and efficient localization closer to digital interactions.

Since CenturyLink rebranded to Lumen in mid-September, Lumen has advanced its previous capabilities. Lumen can migrate and manage workloads across a range of VMware technologies, and the company has leveraged edge computing solutions to provide consistent experience across a range of hybrid cloud venues, including the VMware Cloud.

Lumen’s portfolio of solutions built on and integrated with the VMware Cloud Foundation, which will enable companies to deploy business innovations with single-digit millisecond latency to over 2,200 public data centers and more than 170,000 on-fiber enterprise locations across the globe.

“In talking with our customers about their digital business initiatives, it comes up time and time again how important it is to support their applications at the edge, where latency matters and enabling performance, and geographical and security compliance is critical,” said Shaun Andrews, Lumen chief marketing officer.

Lumen will also provide edge computing services for enterprises to develop new digital services, using VMware Tanzu, which will enable applications to run consistently from the data center to the cloud to the edge, leveraging the Lumen network. Lumen’s distributed edge computing sites will also improve application performance with faster access to multi-cloud environments.

In addition, utilizing the VMware SD-WAN by VeloCloud solution and the recently announced VMware SASE Platform, Lumen would have the ability to integrate VMware SD-WAN, VMware Workspace ONE and VMware Carbon Black to deliver a “Work from Anywhere” solution on their global edge infrastructure.

“We believe customers can benefit tremendously from the combination of Lumen’s edge compute, network and IT services and VMware’s software to bring technology solutions closer, within milliseconds, of the digital interaction. Together we’re helping businesses acquire, analyze and act upon their enterprise data to enable amazing outcomes across a range of industries and transformed business models,” added Andrews.

About VMware

VMware software powers the world’s complex digital infrastructure. The company’s cloud, app modernization, networking, security, and digital workspace offerings help customers deliver any application on any cloud across any device. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, VMware is committed to being a force for good, from its breakthrough technology innovations to its global impact.

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Orolia Receives Security Approval for BroadSim MNSA; Tyler Hohman Quoted
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Orolia Receives Security Approval for BroadSim MNSA; Tyler Hohman Quoted

Orolia Defense and Security has received security approval by SMC Production Corps. for BroadSim Modernized Navstar Security Algorithm (MNSA), the company reported on Tuesday.  BroadSim’s approval has marked the offering as the only software-defined GNSS simulator on the market to receive the clearance.

"Thought, skill, and patience went into developing this solution. Not only have we taken an innovative approach to ensuring the security of this technology, our implementation was designed with ease of use being top-of-mind – from procurement, to delivery, to installation, to testing – so our customers can spend more time supporting their mission and less time making their simulator work," said Tyler Hohman, director of Products with Orolia. 

BroadSim is a proven  solution within the federal government, Department of Defense (DoD) and military customers. Orolia’s solution was recently selected by the US military to support diverse testing of military GPS receivers.

BroadSim, powered by the advanced Skydel Simulation Engine, is more flexible, scalable and cost-effective than traditional systems. Orolia’s BroadSim has offered MNSA users a step-by-step guide to enable rapid and simple set-up, as well as the ability to generate MNSA in minutes and quickly downgrade the system if needed.

Additionally, Orolia delivered its first round of MNSA M-Code to multiple customers in late August. BroadSim MNSA has consolidated P(Y)-Code and AES M-Code as another GPS encrypted signal that Orolia Defense and Security supports. 

MNSA M-Code is being rolled out as a required standard across many defense platforms. Engineers and system integrators must consider this in their testing cycles. Orolia has streamlined previously tedious processes and are available with expert support to guide them every step of the way.

About Orolia Defense & Security

Orolia Defense & Security provides Resilient PNT solutions to U.S. Government agencies, defense organizations, and their contractors. Orolia Defense & Security is authorized to work on U.S. Government classified and unclassified projects, in addition to supporting strategic partnerships for key defense PNT technologies.

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Lawmakers Call for Preservation of CMO Position in FY 2021 NDAA
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Lawmakers Call for Preservation of CMO Position in FY 2021 NDAA

Several lawmakers have called on House and Senate leaders through a letter to retain the chief management officer position within the Department of Defense (DoD) as conference negotiations on the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021 kick off.

The CMO position plays a vital role in reforming DoD to improve accountability and performance, which serve as the National Defense Strategy’s key tenets, according to the Sept. 24 letter obtained by Federal News Network.

“The fundamental problem plaguing the CMO position is a lack of authority and resources. Rather than further eroding the limited authority that currently exists, we should come together to demonstrate the broad, bipartisan support that exists for this important position,” they wrote.

The call was in response to proposed FY 2021 NDAA measures that would eliminate the CMO position and transition the responsibilities back to the deputy DoD secretary. The letter was signed by 13 lawmakers, including Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Todd Young, R-Ind.

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