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House Members Present Bill to Create New Cyber Adviser in White House
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House Members Present Bill to Create New Cyber Adviser in White House

Reps. Jim Langevin, D-R.I.; Will Hurd, R-Texas and two-time Wash100 Award recipient; Mike Gallagher, R-Wis.; Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.; John Katko, R-N.Y.; and Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md. have jointly introduced a bill that aims to establish a new cybersecurity executive role in the White House.

The National Cyber Director Act would direct the appointment of an executive who would inform the U.S. president on cyber-related matters, Langevin’s office said Thursday.

“After more than a decade studying this issue, I can say with great certainty: cybersecurity policy is complicated,” Langevin, commissioner of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, said.

The bill’s formulation builds on a report issued by the commission. The report recommends reform activities including the appointment of a new cybersecurity leader in the White House.

The cyber director would have more authority in cybersecurity budgeting and incident response than the previous cybersecurity coordinator position created during the Obama administration.

"The Coronavirus has elevated the importance of cyber infrastructure and demonstrated how incredibly disruptive a major cyber attack could be," said Gallagher.

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USSOCOM Seeks AI, IoT Concepts for Next-Gen Operational Environment
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USSOCOM Seeks AI, IoT Concepts for Next-Gen Operational Environment

The U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) is prioritizing its efforts to deploy a hyper-enabled operator (HEO) technology to help warfighters utilize increased cognitive functionalities in the battlefield, National Defense Magazine reported Friday.

Col. Ryan Barnes, director of USSOCOM’s Joint Acquisition Task Force, said at a National Defense Industrial Association virtual event that the HEO concept will enable operators to leverage next-generation internet of things capabilities.

“We are looking to put those types of sensors and communication devices on an operator collecting information in the operational environment,” he added.

Gen. Richard Clarke, commander of USSOCOM, noted that the command intends to continue its efforts to integrate emerging concepts such as artificial intelligence and machine learning into its weapons systems.

Other projects that USSOCOM intends to pursue include an engagement platform for collaborating with industry called Engage SOF or eSOF, which is meant to handle operations under the command’s technology and industry liaison office.

USSOCOM officials also cited biotechnology, data management, precision strike, next-generation mobility and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance as key areas of interest for future programs, according to the report.

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FireEye Launches Endpoint Security Under SLP Plus Program; Craig Mueller Quoted
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FireEye Launches Endpoint Security Under SLP Plus Program; Craig Mueller Quoted

FireEye, Inc. has announced that its endpoint security solution is available for purchase through the California Software Licensing Program (SLP) Plus vehicle, the company reported on Monday. The company’s solution is compliant with the state Endpoint Protection Standard SIMM 5355-A.

“The inclusion of FireEye Endpoint Security on the California Software Licensing Program Plus contract continues to demonstrate our leading position in helping public sector organizations combat increasingly sophisticated threats to state data and networks,” said Craig Mueller, vice president of Sales, U.S. Public Sector at FireEye. 

With FireEye’s SLP Plus-approved endpoint security, agencies are enabled to procure more advanced cyber security capabilities and avoid a formal proof-of-concept or a request for proposal to purchase. FireEye Endpoint Security will deliver comprehensive defense using fully customizable protection, detection and response modules. 

The company’s module creation and review will be supported by the Mandiant frontline responders to provide an efficient way to deploy advanced features that can be tailored down to an individual level should they choose.

SLP Plus contract has delivered the most comprehensive coverage across all detection categories in the latest MITRE ATT&CK evaluation and earned first place in the U.S. Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) Artificial Intelligence Applications to Autonomous Cybersecurity Challenge.

“We applaud California’s efforts to help improve security posture and are hopeful this important initiative paves the way for other states… We remain committed to helping protect this critical sector and this new vehicle makes doing so that much easier,” added Mueller.

About FireEye, Inc.

FireEye is the intelligence-led security company. Working as a seamless, scalable extension of customer security operations, FireEye offers a single platform that blends innovative security technologies, nation-state grade threat intelligence, and world-renowned Mandiant consulting. 

With this approach, FireEye eliminates the complexity and burden of cyber security for organizations struggling to prepare for, prevent, and respond to cyber attacks. FireEye has over 9,000 customers across 103 countries, including more than 50 percent of the Forbes Global 2000.

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Maximus Partners with VA Ready Initiative to Provide Job Support During COVID-19 Pandemic; Bruce Caswell Quoted
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Maximus Partners with VA Ready Initiative to Provide Job Support During COVID-19 Pandemic; Bruce Caswell Quoted

Maximus has announced it is a Business Partner of the Virginia Ready Initiative, a new initiative to help unemployed Virginians across the Commonwealth return to work, the company reported on Monday. Maximus will work to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in partnership with businesses and Virginia’s community colleges, to provide skills for jobs in high-growth sectors.

“Given the diverse nature of our BPO services, we offer a wide variety of employment opportunities from supporting individuals through case work and engagement center operations to driving business development opportunities, to enhancing our digital transformation through IT,” shared Bruce Caswell, Maximus president and CEO and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient.

Maximus will provide a variety of support to the VA Ready initiative, financial support for credential achievement awards and awareness efforts, input on offerings and curricula to VA Ready’s Talent Task Force with VCCS to ensure training program success, and participate in the VA Ready Job Exchange and provide  job interview opportunities to VA Ready Scholars. 

VA Ready Scholars are able to earn a credential in one of many selected training programs through FastForward, a state-led short-term workforce credential program to train Virginians for top, in-demand jobs across the Commonwealth. 

FastForward is offered through the Virginia Community College System’s (VCCS) 23 community colleges. Upon achieving their credential, VA Ready Scholars receive a $1,000 Credential Achievement Award and are offered opportunities to interview with VA Ready’s business partners.

“As the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we are seeing an urgent need to get Virginians back to work,” said Glenn A. Youngkin, co-founder and chairman of VA Ready. “Employer engagement is critical to retraining thousands of Virginians for in-demand jobs. I’m grateful to Maximus and the unique coalition that is partnering in this much-needed effort.”

About Maximus

Since 1975, Maximus has operated under its founding mission of Helping Government Serve the People®, enabling citizens around the globe to successfully engage with their governments at all levels and across a variety of health and human services programs. 

Maximus delivers innovative business process management and technology solutions that contribute to improved outcomes for citizens and higher levels of productivity, accuracy, accountability and efficiency of government-sponsored programs. With more than 35,000 employees worldwide, Maximus is a proud partner to government agencies in the United States, Australia, Canada, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

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NOAA Selects Ball Aerospace to Conduct Operational Weather Studies; Dr. Makenzie Lystrup Quoted
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NOAA Selects Ball Aerospace to Conduct Operational Weather Studies; Dr. Makenzie Lystrup Quoted

Ball Aerospace was selected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to conduct four, six-month study contracts that will inform mission, spacecraft and instrument concepts for future operational weather architectures and Earth observation capabilities, the company announced on Monday. 

"Through close coordination with the broader weather community, Ball developed a series of innovative technology and mission solutions to meet NOAA's most critical space-based observational needs in an affordable and sustainable way, and these studies are a continuation of this effort," said Dr. Makenzie Lystrup, vice president and general manager, Civil Space, Ball Aerospace.

Of the investigations, Ball has worked in coordination with Computational Physics to perform a trade study of cost and performance between two technology strategies for a dedicated auroral imager under the Auroral Imager in Tundra study. Ball’s research will advance space weather situational awareness for users of technologies affected by auroral phenomena. 

Ball’s Operational Weather Instrument Evolution (BOWIE) Microwave concept study will evaluate the baseline design of Ball's BOWIE-M instrument and explore optimization of performance and cost. Ball is collaborating with Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER), a Verisk business, that will lead a trade analysis of the instrument design and performance.

The BOWIE Compact Hyperspectral Infrared Observations (CHIRO) concept study will focus on technology and performance trades for a smallsat solution for hyperspectral infrared sounding from geostationary orbit and the BOWIE Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) IR Sounder will explore compact instrument designs to meet NOAA's atmospheric vertical temperature and moisture profiling requirements. 

Ball Aerospace will also assist on a fifth study contract awarded to L3Harris Technologies. The Joint LEO Sounding Mission Study will also work in conjunction with PlanetiQ for this mission concept study. 

The team will also explore how the mission can be optimized for cost and performance while meeting the LEO sounding requirements of NOAA's future operational weather architecture. Ball will perform an accommodation assessment of the baseline instrument designs, using a Ball small satellite for insertion in various orbits. 

"Operational weather satellites are a critical part of the nation's infrastructure, playing a key role in keeping the public safe and the economy strong by enabling forecasters to predict and reduce the impacts of extreme weather events," added Lystrup. 

About Ball Corporation

Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL) supplies innovative, sustainable aluminum packaging solutions for beverage, personal care and household products customers, as well as aerospace and other technologies and services primarily for the U.S. government. Ball Corporation and its subsidiaries employ more than 18,300 people worldwide and reported 2019 net sales of $11.5 billion. 

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DoD Allocates $100M Under Partnership with DFC to Provide COVID-19 Relief Efforts; Hon. Ellen Lord Quoted
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DoD Allocates $100M Under Partnership with DFC to Provide COVID-19 Relief Efforts; Hon. Ellen Lord Quoted

The Department of Defense (DoD) and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) have signed a joint memorandum of agreement to spend $100 million of the department's CARES Act money to provide additional support for pandemic relief, the DoD reported last week. 

Hon. Ellen Lord, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment and four-time Wash100 Award recipient, and Adam Boehler, the DFC's CEO, signed the memorandum to help subsidize federal loans to create, maintain, protect, expand and restore domestic industrial-based capabilities to support the national COVID-19 response.

“Since January, the department’s top priorities has been to protect our three million service members and their family members and all of our civilian and defense personnel, while continuing our national security initiatives and helping the American people confront this crisis,” Lord stated.

She added that President Trump signed an executive order that has authorized the DFC to execute loans using the Defense Production Act Title III authorities in support of the COVID-19 response. The two-year authorization is in conjunction with the Defense Production Act. 

“DFC will bring decades of federal credit experience to the partnership, which will advance national objectives and address domestic challenges, such as in response to the current outbreak,” Lord said. 

The company will address the pandemic with a global perspective, coordinating their international efforts with the domestic effort. Boehler said DFC will continue to support DoD and its initiatives. DFC has modernized and reformed the government's development finance capabilities. 

"After fighting two world wars that required unprecedented economic mobilization, the country recognized that America's strength against any enemy is derived from our people, a workforce that built the greatest economy in the world. They understand that our country's freedom cannot be separated from the strength of our economy," Boehler stated.

Potomac Officers Club will host its 5G Summit on Oct. 27, 2020. Click here to register for the event.

Lord will be featured as a keynote speaker at the 5G Summit. She will discuss emerging programs, priorities and challenges within the integration process of the new 5G framework. As emerging technologies continue to become an integral part of business and innovation, leaders across all divisions must stay ahead of the curve to tackle national and global issues. 

5G wireless technology is anticipated to unleash unprecedented levels of connectivity between millions of new internet of things devices and there are already a range of deployments making their way across the U.S. and in a few federal agencies. 

Join Potomac Officers Club for its 5G Summit on Oct. 27, 2020 to learn about the impact that innovative technologies and 5G integration have 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, plans and priorities as the nation aligns with emerging technology.

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Kevin Cox: CDM Program Helps COVID-19 Response Agencies Counter Cyber Attacks
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Kevin Cox: CDM Program Helps COVID-19 Response Agencies Counter Cyber Attacks

Kevin Cox, program manager for the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program, said that having the necessary systems in place has enabled CDM to assist agencies that play a key role in the federal government’s COVID-19 response efforts to fight against cyber attacks during the pandemic, FedScoop reported Friday.

He said Thursday during a webinar that cloud security initiatives and other network management and security efforts have been expedited at a number of federal agencies. Cox also offered updates on the federal CDM dashboard and the Agency-wide Adaptive Risk Enumeration algorithm.

“At the start of the pandemic, there were a handful of agencies, some of which were tied in with the key response activities, that were starting to see increases in malicious traffic — increases in terms of malicious attacks,” Cox said. “We know that our nation-state and criminal adversaries are looking at where they can exploit events like this to get more access to try to get data, try to do malicious things on the network.”

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Walter Lauderdale: Space Force Allows SpaceX to Perform Booster Recovery in Second GPS Launch
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Walter Lauderdale: Space Force Allows SpaceX to Perform Booster Recovery in Second GPS Launch

Walter Lauderdale of the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) said the center has decided to allow SpaceX to recover a Falcon 9 booster after months of examinations and reviews of the rocket’s mission data, SpaceNews reported Sunday.

SpaceX is set to launch a GPS satellite aboard its Falcon 9 rocket on Tuesday, June 30, from Cape Canaveral in Florida and perform its first attempt to carry out booster recovery during this second GPS launch mission.

Lauderdale, chief of the Falcon’s systems operations operation division at SMC’s launch enterprise, told reporters Friday during a call that vehicle modifications and extensive assessments “reduced uncertainty in many areas.”

“SpaceX used the experience of our first launch campaign together to improve their processes,” he said. “This led to a 40 percent reduction in the number of questions we presented to them.”

SpaceX will use a new booster for Tuesday’s launch and is under contract to perform three more GPS launch missions in the next few years.

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Bryan Ware on DHS Cyber Vulnerability Notifications to Medical Sector
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Bryan Ware on DHS Cyber Vulnerability Notifications to Medical Sector

Bryan Ware, assistant director at the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), said DHS has transmitted to the medical industry hundreds of tailored cyber vulnerability notifications since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, NBC News reported Friday.

Ware said the U.S. government has a list of research institutions or “Tier 1” organizations that could get prioritized cyber protections as they work on coronavirus vaccines and treatments.

"We have placed special focus on Tier 1 entities, asking our partners to be on the lookout for them in particular," he said Wednesday at a CrowdStrike-hosted webinar.

The Tier 1 list is composed of under 100 pharmaceutical firms and universities that have become targets for hackers. CISA organized the list with the Department of Health and Human Services and the FBI.

To learn more about cyber vulnerabilities during the shifting global environment, Join GovConWire’s “How to Increase Cybersecurity and Return on Investment of Existing PIV Infrastructure for Cross-Agency Encryption” Webinar on Tuesday, June 30th, free of cost.

Click here to register for GovConWire’s FREE Webinar.

During the webinar, industry leaders will explore the barriers and shortfalls of wide scale adoption of Personal Identity Verification (PIV) encryption between federal agencies and the challenges they face when adhering to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directive M-19-17.

The webinar will feature Sam Andoni, founder and president of Zeva Inc.; Dr. Chris Edwards, chief technical officer of Intercede; Jeff Nigriny, president and founder of Certipath; Kyle Neuman, managing director of SAFE Identity and Mike Horkey, founder and CEO of Tru-Concepts LLC as the event’s moderator.

The speakers will dive into the importance of encryption, barriers to adoption and how new technologies are solving these challenges. Attendees will learn how federal agencies can increase the return on investment and cybersecurity by using their existing PIV and PKI encryption infrastructure by using it the way it was intended.

Join GovConWire’s “How to Increase Cybersecurity and Return on Investment of Existing PIV Infrastructure for Cross-Agency Encryption” FREE Webinar on Tuesday, June 30th.

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NASA, Int’l Counterparts Deploy GEOINT Sources for COVID-19 Research; Thomas Zurbuchen Quoted
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NASA, Int’l Counterparts Deploy GEOINT Sources for COVID-19 Research; Thomas Zurbuchen Quoted

NASA has partnered with its European and Japanese counterparts to leverage their respective geospatial intelligence resources to collect data on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

NASA said Thursday that the agency has teamed up with the European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to deploy Earth-observing satellites to document the pandemic’s potential long-term impacts as part of the initiative.

The three agencies also jointly developed the COVID-19 Earth Observation Dashboard to integrate data from multiple sources in an effort to provide a comprehensive picture of changes in air quality, shipping activity and agricultural production amid the health crisis.

According to NASA, the team used measurements of carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide to visualize short-term changes in pollutant concentration.

“When we began to see from space how changing patterns of human activity caused by the pandemic were having a visible impact on the planet, we knew that if we combined resources, we could bring a powerful new analytical tool to bear on this fast-moving crisis,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for Science at NASA.

Zurbuchen’s comments come after NASA, JAXA and ESA formed a task force to support the effort in April 2020.

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