Adam Hickey, deputy assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice, told Federal News Network in an interview published Friday that DOJ is ramping up its efforts to recruit lawyers with background in modern technologies amid the increasing cyber threats facing the federal government.

“So we are seeing many younger attorneys who are coming on board having had, if not a background in computer science, or at least some greater technical fluency because of their own experience, their personal life,” Hickey said on the network’s Agency in Focus: Justice Department segment.Â

He cited the potential benefit to lawyers of collaborating with agents with training in computer science.

“We aggressively recruit for folks who have that background, but not having had it myself, I’ll also tell you, there’s no substitute for working closely with some top agents at the bureau and learning the technology and learning how to investigate an intrusion case by working side by side with the agents that do have that computer science training,” Hickey noted.

Hickey mentioned that DOJ advances cross-training initiatives to better address cyber espionage.

Jon Darby, director of operations at the National Security Agency, said China’s potential use of 5G technology for cyber warfare could be a cause for concern for U.S. networks, the Washington Business Journal reported Friday. “It’s not about a smoking gun — it’s about a loaded gun,” Darby said of cyber vulnerabilities associated with China’s 5G networks.

“If you look at what 5G offers in terms of capabilities, there’s a lot of power in that particular technology,” Darby said Thursday during the University of Maryland Cybersecurity Executive Summit. “I think it’s more about that connection: a government entity that’s hostile or has [aims] that are different than the United States, and a record of acting that way. Why would we give them that capability or make it easy?”

Darby noted there are ongoing talks about the development of a “whole of government strategy” for 5G networks as some U.S. allies continue allowing Chinese telecommunications firms like Huawei Technologies to compete for 5G spectrum contracts.

Elbit Systems of America, the U.S. subsidiary of Elbit Systems Ltd., announced on Friday that it signed an agreement with the Harris Corporation to acquire Harris Night Vision business for $350 million. The transaction is conditioned upon completion of the proposed merger between Harris and L3 Technologies, Inc., customary closing conditions, which includes a receipt of all regulatory approvals.

“The market position and technological strength of Harris Night Vision make this acquisition significant to our long-term growth strategy with a particular focus on the U.S. Elbit Systems of America which has a proven track record of providing high performance solutions and support services to the U.S. defense and homeland security markets,” said Bezhalel Machlis, president and CEO of Elbit Systems.

Harris has led the industry for over 50 years. Warfighters in the U.S. and globally rely on Harris premier night vision and image intensifier technologies for enhanced threat detection and mission performance. The company produces more night vision devices than its competitors combined and continues working with customers to advance night vision and vision-enhancing capabilities, technologies and performance.

The Harris F5032 Lightweight Night Vision Binocular is the latest innovation in the field to answer the challenges of size, weight and power while also increasing warfighters’ low-light capabilities and introducing the industry’s leading close focus range giving soldiers superior near eye clarity.

About Harris Corporation

Harris Corporation is a leading technology innovator, solving customers’ toughest mission-critical challenges by providing solutions that connect, inform and protect. Harris supports government and commercial customers in more than 100 countries and has approximately $6 billion in annual revenue. The company is organized into three business segments: Communication Systems, Electronic Systems and Space and Intelligence Systems.

About Elbit Systems

Elbit Systems Ltd. is an international high technology company engaged in a wide range of defense, homeland security and commercial programs throughout the world.

The company, which includes Elbit Systems and its subsidiaries, operates in the areas of aerospace, land, and naval systems, command, control, communications, computers, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (“C4ISR”), unmanned aircraft systems, advanced electro-optics, electro-optic space systems, EW suites, signal intelligence systems, data links and communications systems, radios and cyber-based systems and munitions.

The company also focuses on the upgrading of existing platforms, developing new technologies for defense, homeland security and commercial applications and providing a range of support services, including training and simulation systems.

The Naval Research Laboratory aims to use artificial intelligence to predict when an employee is likely to leave the federal government. The plan comes as the Trump Administration wants to introduce the safe use of AI among the federal workforce, Federal News Network reported Thursday.

Ranjeev Mittu, head of information management and decision architectures at the laboratory’s information technology division, said the lab seeks AI tools that can analyze data from exit surveys and review common workplace issues.

“As employees are progressing in their career, we can look at the predictors. Do those predictors tell us we might have an employee that is going to leave? Should we fix a problem because a lot of employees are leaving for a given problem that no one’s addressed? I think there’s a rich opportunity not just to apply machine learning, but a variety of approaches under AI to solve this kind of problem,” he said. 

Mittu said one naval command is already utilizing AI-based technologies to reduce time spent on manual tasks, like copying data from one spreadsheet to another. Some tasks that once required three weeks are now being done in four days.

“It allowed this analyst to focus on other problems within the command,” he said.

USAGov, the U.S. federal government’s official web service, launched an artificial chatbot to address scam cases online. The Sam chatbot is built on data regarding individuals who encountered scams.   

The General Services Administration deployed a team to begin 32 discussions about scams in two workshops, wrote Marietta Jelks, consumer action handbook program manager for the department, in a blog posted Wednesday.

The team learned from the conversations that users are mostly concerned with information about where to report scams, identifying scams and recovering from associated financial damage. Sam’s development builds on idea maps, illustrations and flow charts based on gathered input.

GSA intends for future versions of Sam to feature bilingual capability, topics in Spanish, free text response, user satisfaction surveys and contact center integration.  

The U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command partnered with U.S. Fleet Marine Forces and other organizations to assess the performance of additive printed impellers on M1A1 Abrams tanks. The service branch said Thursday it plans to utilize the impellers to replace tank components in the event of delayed parts deliveries.

The command teamed up with Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory to validate and create a 100-page technical data package for the impellers.

“We plan to continue to collect operational hours on three 3D-printed impellers to better assess the long-term reliability of the part,” said Joseph Burns, technical lead for the command’s advanced manufacturing operations cell.

The Marine Corps will test, evaluate and certify the impellers after completing the technical data package. The impellers work to maintain the clean state of tank filters through the removal of dust from the engines.

The Nuclear Weapons Council authorized development for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) effort to extend the W80-4 warhead’s service life.

NNSA, a unit of the Department of Energy, will work with the Department of Defense to develop and determine the final sustained design for the warhead via testing and analyses, the department said Thursday. The U.S. Air Force intends to use the warhead as a long range standoff cruise missile equipped on B-52 and B-21 aircraft.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory heads the design activities under the program, and Sandia National Laboratories manages the non-nuclear aspects of development. Los Alamos National Laboratory and Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center are among other contributors.