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NASA Meets Sample Requirement for Asteroid Study Mission; Thomas Zurbuchen Quoted
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NASA Meets Sample Requirement for Asteroid Study Mission; Thomas Zurbuchen Quoted

NASA has gathered more than the required amount of rock samples for a mission to study the Bennu asteroid. The space agency said Saturday it collected over 60 grams of Bennu's surface material under the OSIRIS-REx mission.

“Bennu continues to surprise us with great science and also throwing a few curveballs,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s associate administrator for science.

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft's Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) collected samples for the mission. However, some of the samples appear to be escaping due to small gaps.

“The loss of mass is of concern to me, so I’m strongly encouraging the team to stow this precious sample as quickly as possible," said  Dante Lauretta, principal investigator for OSIRIS-REx at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Goddard Space Flight Center oversees the mission from NASA's end, and Lockheed Martin provided the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.

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NIST Issues Draft Guidance on Implementing Cybersecurity for PNT Operations
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NIST Issues Draft Guidance on Implementing Cybersecurity for PNT Operations

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has created draft cybersecurity guidelines for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT)-based technologies.

NIST said Friday the Cybersecurity Profile for the Responsible Use of PNT Services is meant to guide agencies in applying the NIST cybersecurity framework to “help mitigate cybersecurity risks that endanger systems important to national and economic security”.

The draft guidance also serves as a response to an Executive Order issued earlier this year on the responsible use of PNT services for national security.

NIST’s PNT profile is the agency’s latest addition to its cybersecurity framework profiles created to support critical applications such as power grid, manufacturing and maritime operations. Jim McCarthy, co-author of the draft guidance and 2016 Wash100 Award winner, said the profile is meant to help “a broad set of users” across economic sectors.

“The ultimate goals are to identify systems that use PNT data and to detect disturbances to it. Doing so can help mitigate the risk of misuse of PNT data affecting our critical infrastructure, public health and national security.”

The guidance comes as NIST and OPNT are building a PNT central distribution hub for the East Coast in McLean, Virginia.

Comments on the draft guide are due on Nov. 23rd.

NIST Issues Draft Guidance on Implementing Cybersecurity for PNT Operations

During Potomac Officers Club’s Ensuring PNT Superiority on the Future Battlefield Virtual Event, Nelson will discuss resiliency within the military’s existing GPS enterprise, sources of PNT that enable robustness and resilience and how to find ways to disrupt adversaries’ use of PNT information.

To register for Ensuring PNT Superiority on the Future Battlefield, as well as view upcoming opportunities, visit Potomac Officers Club’s Event Page.

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New NAVFAC Directorate to Lead Real Estate Efforts; Rear Adm. John Korka Quoted
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New NAVFAC Directorate to Lead Real Estate Efforts; Rear Adm. John Korka Quoted

Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) has established a directorate tasked to procure and manage real property for naval installations. 

NAVFAC's new Real Estate directorate will implement enhanced use leases, other transaction authorities and other diverse methods to procure property for both the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, the Navy said Friday.

“By making this move, we are enabling NAVFAC’s real estate subject matter experts to develop and deliver projects with greater speed, agility,and relevance,” said Rear Adm. John Korka, NAVFAC commander.

Joe Calcara, who will lead the new directorate, said his team will conduct feasibility studies on efforts to maximize investments, improve energy and water resilience and boost facility maintenance efficiencies. These studies will run over the next months, in a move to pursue and streamline sought efforts at least within the next year.

“Realigning the NAVFAC real estate organization into a new directorate is paramount to both recapitalizing Navy and Marine Corps infrastructure and reducing facility sustainment, restoration and modernization burden,” Calcara noted.

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Leidos Chairman, CEO Roger Krone Receives Seventh Consecutive Wash100 Award
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Leidos Chairman, CEO Roger Krone Receives Seventh Consecutive Wash100 Award

Roger Krone, chairman and CEO of Leidos, received his seventh consecutive Wash100 Award for driving company growth through the acquisitions of Dynetics as well as L3Harris security detection and automation businesses.

Krone is the only recipient, since the Wash100 Award’s inception in 2014, who has won the award seven consecutive times. His vision, commitment to growth and success in government contracting (GovCon) demonstrates the level of excellence that Krone upholds every year to earn the most prestigious and coveted award in the GovCon sector.

In Feb. 2020, Krone revealed that Leidos’ had generated $11.09 billion in revenue during its 2019 fiscal year, which was an 8.8 percent increase from 2018, which was attributed to new contract awards, an increase in the volume of programs and acquisitions.

Leidos Chairman, CEO Roger Krone Receives Seventh Consecutive Wash100 Award

Specifically, Leidos’ defense solutions segment recorded $5.8 billion in revenue of that profit, which was up 8.1 percent from the previous year. That increase was the result of Krone’s efforts to create innovative technology solutions in defense, intelligence, health and other federal markets, which also led to his sixth Wash100 Award win in 2019.

“Our growth and execution momentum accelerated throughout 2019 and has continued into 2020 with significant new program wins and the opportunity to create value from our two recently announced acquisitions,” said Krone.

The acquisitions that Krone was referring to was the company’s acquisition of Dynetics in Dec. 2019 for approximately $1.65 billion in cash as part of efforts to expand its portfolio of offerings and further build up its position in intelligence, civil and defense markets.

“The addition of Dynetics will significantly increase our capabilities for rapid prototyping and agile system integration and production, enhancing our overall offerings and services to customers,” Krone explained.

Leidos Chairman, CEO Roger Krone Receives Seventh Consecutive Wash100 Award

In addition, he revealed that Leidos reached a definitive agreement to acquire L3Harris Technologies’ security detection and automation businesses for $1 billion in cash in Feb. 2020 to add complementary technology and products as well as create a comprehensive security and detection portfolio for the company.

“The acquisition of these businesses will help accelerate our growth and innovation and enable us to offer the market a comprehensive security platform,” Krone added.

Roger Krone’s continued commitment to excellence in the GovCon industry has made him the winningest Wash100 recipient in the award’s history. His unparalleled skills in leadership, innovation, achievement, and vision have cemented Krone as one of the most significant executives of consequence to the GovCon sector and federal market.

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MCA Acquires Major Contact Center With 24/7 Incident Reporting Hotline; Lisa Firestone Quoted
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MCA Acquires Major Contact Center With 24/7 Incident Reporting Hotline; Lisa Firestone Quoted

Managed Care Advisors (MCA) announced on Monday that the company has acquired a major call center in Danbury, CT to boost MCA”s momentum of growth as it continues to expand its offerings. 

“This strategic acquisition strengthens MCA’s “Power to Pivot” and enhances our readiness in response to emerging national, industry, and customer needs as exhibited in our most recent product enhancements specific to the COVID-19 Pandemic,” Lisa Firestone, MCA President and CEO stated. “These enhancements include a 24/7 Covid-19 Hotline, Exposure, Symptom, Diagnosis and Quarantine Tracking & Reporting, and Medical Case Management”.

The 24/7/365 Call Center served as Managed Care Advisors’ contractor for their Incident Reporting Hotline and the first line of defense across a spectrum of programs and Government customers since 2005. 

The strategic acquisition comes on the heels of MCA’s large award of 5-year BPA, valued at approximately $68 Million, to provide a full range of Workers’ Compensation Medical Case Management Services (WC-MCMS) to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its components.

Recently, ExecutiveBiz spoke with Lisa Firestone regarding the company’s new acquisitions, hires, and technologies that have expanded MCA’s presence in the federal sector. She also discussed the organization’s values and challenges and where MCA will move in the future.

You can read the full Executive Spotlight with Firestone on ExecutiveBiz.com. 

About Managed Care Advisors (MCA)

Established in 1997, Managed Care Advisors (MCA) is a woman-owned small business (WOSB) specializing in workers’ compensation, case and claims management, disability and absence management, analytics, technology solutions, specialty health plan management, and employee benefits. 

Since 2005, MCA has been providing a comprehensive suite of products and services to the federal market to support federal agencies in improving outcomes, reducing costs, and avoiding unnecessary medical and vocational disability resulting from work-related injuries and illnesses.

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Treasury Orders Sanctions on Russian Research Institute Over Malware
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Treasury Orders Sanctions on Russian Research Institute Over Malware

The US Department of the Treasury (USDT) has imposed sanctions on a Russian government-controlled research institute found to be linked to the Triton malware.

Treasury said Friday the State Research Center of the Russian Federation FGUP Central Scientific Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics, also known as TsNIIKhM, was behind a 2017 cyber attack against a petrochemical facility in the Middle East, using the malware.

TsNIIKhM was also found to be surveying at least 20 U.S. electric facilities for cyber vulnerabilities in 2019. The Triton malware, also called HatMan and TRISIS, targets industrial safety systems at critical infrastructure facilities.

“As a result of today’s designation, all property and interests in property of TsNIIKhM that are in or come within the possession of U.S. persons are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them,” the department’s statement reads. “Additionally, any entities 50 percent or more owned by one or more designated persons are also blocked.”

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VA Tests New AI Tool for COVID-19 Mortality Risk Prediction; Gil Alterovitz Quoted
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VA Tests New AI Tool for COVID-19 Mortality Risk Prediction; Gil Alterovitz Quoted

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is conducting a pilot of an artificial intelligence platform that could help predict a COVID-19 patient’s prognosis and address the individual’s treatment needs, Nextgov reported Friday.

“The problem is, given a positive detection of COVID viral test—if someone has a positive test—what is the prognosis? Will the patient need hospitalization? Are they at risk of death, etc.? What will be their needs?” Gil Alterovitz, director of AI at the VA said Thursday at the Genius Machines 2020 Virtual Summit. “The approach was to develop an applied AI model for that using both clinical and nonclinical information.”

A team at VA began working on the AI tool in early spring using collected data from over 11,000 patients. The team then examined how patients’ blood pressure, heart rate, pre-existing conditions and other health factors affect their mortality and recovery rates.

“It’s being used already operationally,” Alterovitz, head of the National Artificial Intelligence Institute (NAII) at VA, said of the new AI tool. “And we’re going to be now working with other medical sites to see how this can be used across the country in different settings, as well.”

VA Tests New AI Tool for COVID-19 Mortality Risk Prediction; Gil Alterovitz Quoted

ArchIntel recently held its Artificial Intelligence in Competitive Intelligence Forum on Thursday, Oct. 22nd featuring August Jackson, senior director of Market and Competitive Intelligence with Deltek, as the event moderator.

Visit ArchIntel Events to watch the full event for yourself to learn how notable leaders are working to maintain a competitive advantage through integrating emerging technologies into their organizations and offerings.

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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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