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DHS S&T Develops Tool for Explosive Threat Modeling
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DHS S&T Develops Tool for Explosive Threat Modeling

The Department of Homeland (DHS) Security’s Science and Technology (DHS S&T) Directorate has launched a modeling effort to protect states and local communities from terrorists armed with explosives.

S&T’s Chemical Security Analysis Center is working to create a tool that would allow users to model explosive threats and simulate possible impacts on public areas, DHS said Thursday.

The Homeland Explosive Consequence and Threat or HExCAT modeling tool is designed to simulate how explosive threats can affect specific public events.

“HExCAT is a holistic risk assessment that informs decision-makers like governors and mayors how to invest in security, plan for operations and mitigation and make important decisions for securing public spaces,” said David Reed, a chemist with CSAC’s chemical threat characterization team.

DHS S&T plans to launch HExCAT in the middle of next year. HExCAT will also be part of the Countermeasure Assessment and Planning Tool, a set of models designed to help government entities analyze chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.

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U.S. Space Force, U.K. Launch Global Pitch Competition for Space Tech; Will Roper Quoted
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U.S. Space Force, U.K. Launch Global Pitch Competition for Space Tech; Will Roper Quoted

The U.S. Space Force and the U.K. military have agreed to jointly fund a competition that encourages startups to propose and develop space technologies.

Participants of the International Space Pitch Day will get the chance to win part of a $1M pool allotted for space technology investment, Los Angeles Air Force Base said Monday.

The competition seeks technologies that would allow the U.S. and the U.K. to visualize joint space operations, analyze space weather impacts, identify satellite systems relevant to a commander’s needs, verify space domain awareness and observe multi-national situational awareness in space.

“Now, with International Space Pitch Day, we are once again expanding our opportunities for partnership with international companies bringing pioneering capabilities to our Space Force professionals,” said Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient.

Companies from across the globe may enter the competition and pitch their own concepts. Starburst Aerospace Company will provide mentorship for the International Space Pitch Day as an industrial partner.

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Technology Modernization Fund Board Announces Award for CBP Modernization Project
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Technology Modernization Fund Board Announces Award for CBP Modernization Project

The Technology Modernization Fund Board has awarded $15 million in funds to update the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s collections system.

CBP aims to augment revenue collections, customs enforcement and trade protections through the modernization effort, the General Services Administration said Monday.

The planned collection system will run in the cloud and is envisioned to utilize an updated code base. CBP employs the Automated Commercial System, a collection platform hosted on a mainframe computer that uses 3.9 million lines of Common Business-Oriented Language code.

The TMF Board has earmarked more than $116 million to fund 10 government modernization efforts.

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Air Force Looks to Modify Approach to Cyber, Network Defense Training
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Air Force Looks to Modify Approach to Cyber, Network Defense Training

The U.S. Air Force is implementing an “initial qualification training” approach for defensive cyber operations to support its network modernization initiatives amid the ongoing pandemic, C4ISRnet reported Tuesday.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Williams, commander of the Air Force’s 39th Information Operations Squadron, told the publication that the service branch wants to move away from blanket training approaches for specific systems supporting the Air Force Network (AFNET).

According to Williams, trainees leveraged remote tools to support distance learning as well as limited in-person classes focused on combined cyber mission force and defensive cyber skills refinement.

He noted that he intends to “tailor the training” for cyber mission forces while accommodating adjustments due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When all this kicked off, we prioritized all of the mission essential courses that are supplying operators to the cyber mission force,” he said. “We wanted to make sure that those units continue to get the trained operations that they needed so that their readiness levels didn’t suffer.”

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HHS Taps Texas-Based Innovation Center for COVID-19 Vaccine Production
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HHS Taps Texas-Based Innovation Center for COVID-19 Vaccine Production

The Department of Health and Human Services has tasked an innovation center within Texas A&M University System to support the production of COVID-19 vaccines under a $265M order.

The university system’s Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing will provide added production space for potential vaccines in support of Operation Warp Speed, a program that aims to provide 300M COVID-19 vaccines by January 2021, HHS said Monday.

The department’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority jointly established the CIADM with Texas A&M University System under a public-private partnership.

The center at Texas A&M University System follows a Maryland-based CIADM that HHS also reserved for COVID-19 vaccine production.

“To ensure we have the needed capacity, we are engaging domestic centers for advanced manufacturing that HHS has helped build in recent years,” said Alex Azar, HHS secretary.

The task order reserves the Texas-based CIADM for vaccine production through December next year. Novavax and other government-partnered vaccine makers will receive the CIADM’s production support.

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CISA, U.K. Cybersecurity Agency Investigate QSnatch Malware
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CISA, U.K. Cybersecurity Agency Investigate QSnatch Malware

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and a U.K.-based cybersecurity center have investigated and released findings on the QSnatch malware that has been used against network-attached storage devices.

The joint investigation found that the malware may have been used in a campaign that ran from 2014 to 2017 and in a second one between 2018 and 2019, CISA said Monday.

QSnatch is known as a tool of cyber actors who have targeted devices made by company QNAP. The malware may still pose a threat to unpatched devices. CISA also noted that the cyber actors have exhibited an understanding of operational security.

QSnatch has features that allow users to steal passwords and system configuration files, scrape credentials, apply arbitrary codes via a backdoor and remotely access assets. The investigators recommend organizations only purchase QNAP products from verified sources and block external links if the device is used solely as internal storage.

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NIST, DHS Conduct Study on Facial Recognition Tech’s Accuracy in Identifying Masked Subjects
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NIST, DHS Conduct Study on Facial Recognition Tech’s Accuracy in Identifying Masked Subjects

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a report on the accuracy of facial recognition algorithms in identifying individuals with face masks.

NIST said Monday the report, titled “Ongoing Face Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT) Part 6A: Face recognition accuracy with face masks using pre-COVID-19 algorithms”, found that the top 89 algorithms were able to perform with error rates of 5 to 50 percent.

As part of the FRVT, researchers tested 6M algorithms’ ability to match photos of individuals with face masks with photos of the same people without masks. The team used a variety of mask types and colors through a “one-to-one” matching procedure during the study.

According to the report, the “most accurate algorithms” produced results with 0.3 percent error rates for unmasked images and 5 percent for masked samples. The “otherwise competent” algorithms reported error rates of 20 to 50 percent.

“With respect to accuracy with face masks, we expect the technology to continue to improve,” said Mei Ngan, a computer scientist at NIST. “But the data we’ve taken so far underscores one of the ideas common to previous FRVT tests: Individual algorithms perform differently. Users should get to know the algorithm they are using thoroughly and test its performance in their own work environment.” 

Ngan said that subsequent tests are scheduled for later this summer. DHS components that took part in the study include the Science and Technology Directorate, Office of Biometric Identity Management and Customs and Border Protection.

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President Trump Eyes Nomination of Retired Col. Craig Duehring as DoD Deputy Secretary
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President Trump Eyes Nomination of Retired Col. Craig Duehring as DoD Deputy Secretary

President Trump intends to nominate Retired Col. Craig Duehring, a 28-year U.S. Air Force veteran, to serve as deputy secretary for personnel and readiness at the Department of Defense (DoD), the White House said Monday.

Most recently, Duehring served as assistant secretary for manpower and reserve affairs at USAF. Prior to his previous role, Duehring assumed the position of principal assistant secretary for reserve affairs at DoD.

He also flew more than 1,200 hours aboard the A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft and logged over 800 missions during the Vietnam war as a forward air controller.

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GAO: DoD Must Consider Climate Resiliency in Supply, Acquisition Procedures
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GAO: DoD Must Consider Climate Resiliency in Supply, Acquisition Procedures

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is recommending the Department of Defense (DoD) to establish a “climate resiliency” framework to ensure that its facility operations and logistics activities are not impacted by dangers resulting from climate change.

GAO said in a report released Monday that DoD failed to routinely assess climate risks faced by contractors during the procurement and supply of goods and services. In addition, the watchdog found that the department’s supply chain guidance does not “systematically identify and consider" climate-related risks to the acquisition of weapons systems.

According to the report, the military departments also failed to implement DoD’s climate change directive seeking to include extreme weather or other climate disruptions like flooding.

DoD also has a mission assurance guidance that includes minimum requirements for conducting all-hazards threat assessments at non-DoD or contractor facilities.

Military officials have noted that DoD is “limited in its ability to conduct such assessments” due to access restrictions in commercial facilities.

GAO suggests that DoD incorporate climate risks in its acquisition and supply guidance for government- and commercially-owned and operated locations to “fulfill key missions dependent on such facilities.”

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Cyware Integrates VMware Carbon Black to Automate Responses; Tom Barsi, Amit Patel Quoted
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Cyware Integrates VMware Carbon Black to Automate Responses; Tom Barsi, Amit Patel Quoted

Cyware has partnered with VMware Carbon Black to integrate automated threat detection and remediation to mutual customers, Cyware reported on Tuesday.

"This integration brings complex endpoint queries and response tasks from the Carbon Black Cloud to Cyware's automated playbooks," said Tom Barsi, VP of Alliances for VMware Carbon Black. "Through this integration, we believe our mutual customers can significantly improve the efficiency and accuracy of their existing SOC workflows."

The partnership will enable customers to customize security playbooks in the Cyware Security Orchestration Layer (CSOL) platform. Cyware’s offering will leverage components of the Carbon Black Cloud to detect and remediate threats at the endpoint.

CSOL is a universal Security Orchestration Automation and Response (SOAR) Platform that will execute and automate on-demand or event-triggered tasks across deployed security tools and environments. The offering will provide security teams with customized automation playbooks to complete manual tasks.

The platform will also enable machine-to-machine, human-to-machine and machine-to-human security orchestration through integrations with a wide range of deployed security tools and technologies.

"Cyware's automated playbooks are a major value-add to the market and this recent integration with VMware Carbon Black is the latest example of our company's continuous pursuit of security-focused innovation for our customers," said Amit Patel, VP of Sales Americas, at Cyware. 

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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