Microsoft and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have partnered to integrate Azure and AI capabilities to protect and research ice seals in Alaska, Microsoft announced on Wednesday.

“We had daily handovers of hard drives between Seattle and Redmond to get this done. But the cloud makes it possible to work with all that data and train AI models, so that’s how we’re able to do this work, with Azure,” said Dan Morris, principal scientist and program director for Microsoft’s AI for Earth Program. 

Erin Moreland, lead researcher of the exhibition, supervised research teams and helped train AI tools to distinguish seals from rocks to improve research to understand marine mammals’ behavior and help them survive amid melting ice and increasing human activity.

Moreland’s project combines AI technology with improved cameras on a NOAA turboprop airplane that will fly over the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska in April and May of 2020. The cameras will scan and classify imagery to produce a population count of ice seals and polar bears that will be ready in hours instead of months with the integrated technology. 

While there are existing models to recognize people in images, the research and development of the joint aerial detection technology marks the first model to recognize seals in real-time aerial photography. NOAA scientists had classified in previous surveys, which enabled technologists to efficiently train the AI models to recognize which photographs and recordings contained mammals and which didn’t.

“There’s basic information that we just don’t have now, so getting it will give us a much clearer picture of the types of responses that may be needed to protect these populations,” said Jon Kurland, NOAA’s assistant regional administrator for protected resources in Alaska. “In both cases, for the whales and seals, this kind of data analysis is cutting-edge science, filling in gaps we don’t have another way to fill.”

About Microsoft 

Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology company with headquarters in Redmond, Washington. Microsoft enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. It develops, manufactures, licenses, supports, and sells computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services.

BlackBerry Limited has released its annual 2020 Threat Report, the company announced on Wednesday.  The report has examined the most prevalent techniques and tactics and has provided guidance organizations can leverage to mitigate risk.

“New techniques to obscure malicious payloads and distribute attacks across multiple organizations paid off for threat actors in 2019,” said Eric Cornelius, chief technology officer at BlackBerry Cylance. “With the increasing ease of access to attack toolkits combined with the explosion of endpoints connected to organizations’ networks, the global threat landscape for emerging threats will only continue to escalate in 2020.”

Key findings include the continued evolution of nation-state backed threat actor groups, the increased availability of sophisticated attack toolset and targeted analysis of attackers. The report also details more select threats focused on embedded technologies in connected vehicles, manufacturing and mobile devices and misconfigurations in cloud computing.

BlackBerry focused on threats facing automotive and retail industries. The researchers noted that as more vehicles become connected, the attention given to potential outcomes of cyberattacks on vehicles increases, and attacks against this sector are anticipated to grow.

The report concluded that the industry must continue investing in cybersecurity processes and secure connected software to ensure public trust in the transportation technologies of the future. The researchers also found that retail and wholesale remained the most targeted sectors, where almost a quarter (23%) of all retailers suffered a compromise of sensitive financial information.

In addition, BlackBerry noted that technology is where attacks typically have a focus on stealing intellectual property and 26 percent were victims of ransomware specifically. Healthcare organizations were also more likely to pay ransoms than other industries due to the critical nature of the targeted data.

“Threat intelligence on APT groups can help organizations understand who is attacking their enterprise, and the actor’s mode of operations and motives, in order to be more proactive in protecting vulnerable systems against advanced threats,” said Brian Robison, Chief Evangelist at BlackBerry Cylance.

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) is a trusted security software and services company that provides enterprises and governments with the technology they need to secure the Internet of Things. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company is unwavering in its commitment to safety, cybersecurity and data privacy, and leads in key areas such as artificial intelligence, endpoint security and management, encryption and embedded systems.

QTS Realty Trust has begun the construction of a 158,000 square foot data center encompassing 85,000 square feet of leasable capacity and 27 megawatts of gross power capacity to provide renewable energy in Hillsboro, Oregon, the company announced on Wednesday. 

"QTS is committed to be an early mover at scale providing both hyperscale and hybrid colocation solutions in the fastest growing west coast data center market in the country," said Chad Williams, Chief Executive Officer, QTS. 

The company projects that the 92-acre site will enable the construction of five mega data centers, totaling approximately 1.5 million gross square feet, encompassing more than 1 million square feet of leasable capacity and over 250 megawatts of gross power capacity.

QTS has begun preparation for the first phase of development and expects to officially open and commission the first phase in mid-2020 with additional power capacity available for customers in the second half of 2020. 

The company’s new mega data center will include several ultra-high count fiber optic rings that interconnect 14 data centers and provide the lowest-cost dark fiber access to cable landing stations of trans-Pacific subsea cable systems. 

The new development has been aligned with QTS’ corporate commitment to provide 100% renewable power across all of its data centers by 2025. The company anticipates having 100% renewable energy available for customers upon opening its Hillsboro facility in mid-2020.

"We believe the strategic importance of the Hillsboro market will continue to grow as customers focus their data center infrastructure strategies around low-cost markets with strong access to power and a multitude of connectivity options. We are pleased to add sellable capacity in a new strategic market to further support and expand our ecosystem," Williams concluded. 

About QTS

QTS Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: QTS) is a leading provider of data center solutions across a diverse footprint spanning more than 6 million square feet of owned mega scale data center space throughout North America.  Through its software-defined technology platform, QTS is able to deliver secure, compliant infrastructure solutions, robust connectivity and premium customer service to leading hyperscale technology companies, enterprises, and government entities.  

The White House has requested $70M in “no-year” appropriated funds to support the proposed transfer of Office of Personnel Management functions to the General Services Administration, Federal News Network reported Tuesday.

The funds will be used to procure new information technology equipment, move OPM staff and incorporate OPM’s business processes and systems into GSA’s networks, according to the administration’s budget request for fiscal year 2021.

With no-year appropriations, GSA would not be required to spend the entire budget in FY 2021.

The National Academy of Public Administration is set to conduct a study in FY 2020 to analyze the potential merger of OPM with GSA and recommend options for the former. The NAPA study could take at least a year to complete.

The Department of Homeland Security has decided to waive some federal contracting laws to speed up the construction of a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.

A notice released Tuesday says a section in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 provides DHS the waiver authority to expedite the construction of additional barriers and roads at the U.S. border to prevent illegal entries into the U.S. and address drug-related events between border crossings.

Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf identified several areas of high illegal entry and those are the San Diego and El Centro sectors in California; the Yuma and Tuczon sectors in Arizona; the Del Rio sector in Texas; and the El Paso sector covering west Texas and New Mexico.

The DHS document is set to be published Thursday on Federal Register. FCW reported the move seeks to expedite construction projects in those areas through a waiver of the use of pricing data, wage determination, open competition and other parts of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

"Today we are going to start waiving those for procurement regulations and laws as well," Wolf said Tuesday on Fox and Friends. "It allows to us speed up a lot of our contracts that the Army Corps [of Engineers has. Anywhere from 30 to 45 to 60 days."