Rear Adm. Casey Moton, program executive officer for Unmanned and Small Combatants, said the U.S. Navy is testing anti-tamper technologies in its prototypes of unmanned vessels to protect such assets from cyber hackers and other vulnerabilities, National Defense reported Wednesday.

He said the service has considered the need to counter tampering of its vessels during wargaming activities and other studies.

“From our standpoint, we are doing some robust things for the fact that these vessels will operate [network] capable. Certainly the cyber efforts are robust,” Moton said during a recent Center for Strategic and International Studies-hosted webinar.

The U.S. Army will conduct an assessment of environmental impacts that may result from training modernization activities at Fort Irwin in California. 

The service branch plans to issue an environmental impact statement that will highlight the effects of the potential modernization effort on the surrounding environment, the Department of the Army said Wednesday in a Federal Register notice.

Fort Irwin, located in the Mojave Desert, houses the Army's National Training Center where brigade combat teams undergo training.

The Army sees a need to update the center's training infrastructure in alignment with a new doctrine that emphasizes the use of large formations against near-peer threats.

Modernization activities would update the center's communications infrastructure, urban operations training facilities and weapon ranges.

Fort Irwin will accept requests for scoping-related materials via email and will open the EIS draft for public feedback when ready.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a publication to help agencies establish and implement a zero-trust architecture (ZTA) for their networks and systems.

The ZTA guidance highlights the core components of the architecture that work to transition cyber defenses from wide network perimeters to assets, resources and users.

NIST noted that the guidance also includes an abstract definition for ZTA as well as use cases and deployment models designed to help fortify the security posture of information technology systems.

“Zero trust focuses on protecting resources (assets, services, workflows, network accounts, etc.), not network segments, as the network location is no longer seen as the prime component to the security posture of the resource,” according to the agency.

“ZTA strategies are already present in current federal cybersecurity policies and programs, though the document includes a gap analysis of areas where more research and standardization are needed to aid agencies in developing and implementing ZTA strategies.”

The U.S. Army will explore ways to bolster the security of command posts through a program that seeks signal concealment technologies, C4ISRnet reported Tuesday. The service branch plans to virtually meet with members of industry to discuss preparations for Capability Set ’23, a future suite of tools envisioned to boost tactical network resiliency.

“Certainly, any time that you adopt a lot of commercial technologies you start to look at how your signature is on the battle space," Brig. Gen. Rob Collins, who leads Army Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T).

The effort will seek technologies that conceal visual profile, electromagnetic spectrum presence and infrared emission. The preliminary design review for Capability Set ’23 is scheduled to commence in April. 

"I really look to industry and how they can bring some of their best ideas and technologies for how we can potentially do spectrum obscuration, as well as decoys so we can minimize our footprint on the battlefield," BG Collins said on Tuesday during Potomac Officers Club's (POC) 'Weaponizing Data Across the Digital Battlefield' Virtual Event as part of POC's Future Battlefield Series. 

In case you missed the virtual event, click here to watch or rewatch all of POC's recent events on-demand. Don't miss Potomac Officers' Club's 'Secure IT Modernization in Today’s Environment' Virtual Event on August 26th. Register here for the event to learn how to COVID-19 has impacted the nation's IT modernization plans and capabilities.