The Government Accountability Office has reviewed the Internal Revenue Service’s data security and discovered 14 new vulnerabilities. GAO said Thursday that it evaluated IRS’ information security controls in fiscal year 2018 and recommends the revenue agency to bolster protection of financial and taxpayer information. The new evaluation report follows previous studies on the matter within IRS.

The new audit covered the areas of access controls, configuration management, segregation of duties, contingency planning and information security programs. The fiscal 2018 study generated a total of 20 new recommendations, adding to 107 remaining recommendations from previous assessments. GAO also found that IRS had implemented recommendations from previous assessments as of Sept. 30, 2018, reducing the number of unaddressed previous recommendations from 154 to 107.

The U.S. Air Force is slated to hand over a library of space and satellite debris data to the Department of Commerce to delegate space notification responsibilities to the agency, Spacenews reported Friday.

President Trump signed Space Policy Directive 3 ordering the Department of Defense to provide public space situational awareness data to the Department of Commerce. The legislation will also push the U.S. military to focus on the sustainment of freedom and access in space.

Additionally, the Department of Commerce issued a request for information to seek for cloud computing and artificial intelligence methods that will augment space situational awareness capacities in April. Kevin O’Connell, director of the Department of Commerce’s Office of Space Commerce, said the agency received 42 responses to the RFI and has extended the submission period through July 31st.

“We are going to get to work with some of these companies when we get access to this iteration of the Unified Data Library,” added O’Connell.

Mark Warner, D-Va., said that the National Background Investigations Bureau has seen improvement in the handling of security clearances as the agency experiences a 40 percent decrease in backlog, Federal News Network reported Friday. 

Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and 2019 Wash100 Award winner, told the publication that the recent development may eventually lead to a “steady state” of 250,000 manageable case files. He added that NBIB launched pilot programs on new investigative techniques to quicken the vetting process ahead of the planned transfer of security clearance responsibilities to the Department of Defense.

“I meet with them on a regular basis to make sure that the transition is moving smoothly,” he said. “So far I give it pretty good marks.”

The DoD’s Consolidated Adjudications Facility took an average of 30 and 42 days to process the initial secret and top secret cases during the second quarter of fiscal 2019, while processing for periodic reinvestigations took 100 days. The Performance Accountability Council requires adjunctions to conclude within an average of 20 days.

Jeanette Manfra, a top official at the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said CISA is changing the way federal agencies address cyber threats by implementing an enterprise-based approach to cybersecurity, Nextgov reported Friday. 

“We try to be very focused on enterprise risks—how can we take action and how can they be tangible, doable actions, not just these things that are high in the sky, complicated and resource-intensive,” Manfra, assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA, said Thursday at a GovernmentCIO cyber forum in Arlington, Va. 

She also cited some of CISA’s accomplishments and initiatives, such as securing authority to issue binding operational directives, acquiring tools and services through the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program and improving the security of agencies’ websites, email and communication systems.

U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and 2019 Wash100 Award winner, said that DIA wants to invest in a system to employ artificial intelligence and analytics to replace a 1996-era intelligence database during the Aspen Security Forum. He told the event audience that AI technology could automate manual processes and help people perform tasks that machines cannot do, according to an article published Saturday on the Department of Defense website.

At the forum, he also talked about cybersecurity risks to national security. Ashley said that nation-state actors conduct cyber activities that could affect grid, transportation, banking and water systems. The DIA chief also projected that future warfare operations will involve quantum encryption, computing, sensing and communications systems.

John Edwards of the CIA, Joshua Skule of the FBI and 2019 Wash100 Award recipients Vice Adm. Robert Sharp of the NGA and Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley of DIA will serve as keynote speakers for Potomac Officers Club’s 6th Annual Intel Summit on July 31st. Register for POC’s Intel Summit right here.

Lt. Col. Carla Gleason, spokesperson for the Department of Defense, has confirmed that David Trachtenberg is stepping down as deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, Defense News reported Saturday. Trachtenberg’s retirement followed his comments to the media on Turkey’s removal from the F-35 program.

Prior to his confirmation in 2017, Trachtenberg served as CEO of Shortwaver Consulting and held leadership roles at CACI International. He also spent time with the House Armed Services Committee and was principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for international security policy for two years.

According to Gleason, the Pentagon will name a replacement for Trachtenberg at a “later time”.