President Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday declaring a national emergency to address threats posed by foreign adversaries to the country’s information and communications technology and services. The EO prohibits transactions involving ICT and related services that pose national security risks and threats to the security and resiliency of the U.S. critical infrastructure and digital economy, the White House said Wednesday. 

The new policy authorizes the secretary of the Department of Commerce to terminate prohibited transactions and employ all other authorities under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The secretary should also collaborate with the secretary of the State Department to submit reports to Congress. The Director of National Intelligence should also create an initial assessment of threats to the U.S. ICT supply chain within 40 days.

“The Secretary of Homeland Security shall continue to assess and identify entities, hardware, software, and services that present vulnerabilities in the United States and that pose the greatest potential consequences to the national security of the United States,” according to the EO.

The U.S. Postal Service took the top spot in a new poll by analytics and advisory firm Gallup that ranked the federal agencies based on the satisfaction of Americans. USPS received the highest rating, with 74 percent of respondents saying the agency is doing an “excellent” or “good” job, Gallup said Monday. The agency also ranked first place in 2014, 2017 and 2018. 

The Secret Service ranked second on the list, followed by the Centers for Disease Control, CIA, NASA, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. However, citizens gave only fair to poor ratings to the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Gallup used data gathered during the presidency of George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. 

The Department of Homeland Security and the city of Norfolk in Virginia launched a new tool to guide local governments in creating plans to secure people and resources before natural disasters or any damaging incident. City officials helped develop the new Plan Integration for Resilience Scorecard in partnership with the DHS Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence, the agency said Tuesday. 

PIRS enables communities to improve the integration of disaster mitigation across a community’s network of plans and to reduce vulnerabilities to hazards. The tool also guides in decision-making for construction and development in hazardous areas. 

“The resilience scorecard was a great tool to allow us to evaluate our existing plans and policies against the backdrop of resilience,” said George Homewood, interim director of development for Norfolk. “Perhaps most revealing were not inconsistencies in our plans, but that we had not fully incorporated all our policies and actions aimed at resilience into our most important policy document, our comprehensive plan.” 

Researchers worked with city staff to create PIRS using spatial data from geographic information systems mapping technology and analysis of local plans to identify areas most vulnerable to hazards. Norfolk is using PIRS to address the city’s vulnerability to flood risks. 

Senators expressed concerns that Huawei’s plan to offer 5G network equipment to U.S. allies could put international government and military communications at risk of disruptions, Fifth Domain reported Tuesday. Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee said during a recent hearing that allowing the China-backed company to provide and manage the technology internationally may affect global communications, intelligence sharing and military operations.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., cited China can easily influence Huawei once it secured a lead role to manage 5G networks in other countries. Christopher Krebs, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and 2019 Wash100 Award recipient, backed the claim saying if Huawei controls the network, “They control whether or not we communicate.” He added the company could use a “bug door” to shut down any military mission overseas that rely on the company’s network.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said aircraft carriers may become “sitting ducks” if communication systems are vulnerable. There is “strong bipartisan alarm about the threat by posed by Huawei, which is really a threat posed by China,” he said. “We are literally putting our national security at risk and ultimately it’s theirs [our allies] as well.”

Vice Adm. Nancy Norton, commander of the Defense Information Systems Agency, told attendees at an AFCEA conference in Maryland that the Department of Defense must prepare for cyberwarfare and a multidomain battle, DISA said Tuesday.

Norton, also the head of the Joint Force Headquarters – DoD Information Network, said the Pentagon needs to implement a “competitive mindset” in optimizing cyberspace to support national security efforts. DISA seeks “trusted partnerships” with firms with the capacity to implement cybersecurity throughout the development lifecycle and mitigate supply chain risks, she noted. 

“Through persistent engagement, government and industry can partner our research and expertise to develop innovative technology, services, and capabilities to pace the threat of our cyberspace adversaries,” said Norton.

DISA is working to launch recruitment initiatives and other efforts to expand its cyber workforce in the coming months.

The Department of Defense plans to award contracts for its Defense Enterprise Office Solutions program in a bid to utilize commercial cloud to improve operations and secure military networks this summer. The multi-award DEOS contract will help DoD standardize, centralize and cut costs in operating and maintaining servers, AFCEA International said Tuesday. 

“With each command having its own boxes to maintain, you greatly increase the attack surface that the opposition has,” said Karl Kurz, chief engineer for the unified capabilities portfolio at Defense Information Systems Agency. “Industry is moving away from installed applications and application keys in favor of a subscription service where you pay on a set rate or pay a premium for extra services.” 

DEOS will provide DoD a cloud-based platform for a productivity suite, messaging, content management and collaboration. The Pentagon also aims to use the enterprise to offer software-as-a-service on the Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network and Secret Internet Protocol Router Network inside and outside the continental U.S. 

DEOS is the first of three capabilities under DoD’s Enterprise Collaboration and Productivity Service strategy. The agency plans to start transition to DEOS in 2020.