The National Security Agency’s Office of the Inspector General released a report stating that the agency didn’t properly handle its contracting procedures and signals intelligence data repository. The report, which consolidates audits from October 2018 to March 2019, also found that there’s “room for improvement” in eight information technology security areas.

According to the IG, there were cases of significant problems or abuses in agency programs within the reporting period including deficiencies in SIGINT data verification procedures that “have the potential to impact civil liberties and individual privacy.” In addition, the IG found that NSA failed to properly implement award-fee contracting procedures and that the agency’s obligations for such contracts increased by 139 percent from fiscal 2010 to 2017.

The Department of Defense’s award fee obligations declined to $10B from fiscal 2010 to 2015 due to the implementation of incentive agreements. NSA also lacked transparency on its fiscal 2018 financial statements, the report stated.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is sending representatives to meetings and conferences to promote its information technology modernization effort to facilitate analysis and sharing of sensitive government data between agencies within the intelligence community, FCW reported Monday. IC has “world class computational capability” said John Sherman, chief information officer at ODNI. “Now we need to make sure that data is fully unlocked.”

Sherman said ODNI is advancing a concept that moves toward data capture, analysis and sharing across common platforms to achieve a mission. Intelligence agencies released a strategy in 2017 intended to implement the concept through the use of machine learning-backed analysis, automation and shared services.

He also noted that identifying and harmonizing government data in relation to IC’s cloud initiatives “sets the table” for the use of artificial intelligence and technologies.

Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Gary Peters, D-Mich., introduced a bill to better inform small businesses on cybersecurity. The Cybersecurity Assistance Act of 2019 will task the Small Business Administration to provide these firms with cybersecurity counseling and access to informative materials, Rubio’s office said Monday. 

The legislation would also direct the Department of Homeland Security to create cybersecurity education materials and train personnel who would offer counseling at small business development centers. These counselors would receive training on higher-level cybersecurity information.

“This bipartisan bill will ensure that small businesses have greater access to critical resources and training to better protect their networks before a cyber-attack occurs,” said Rubio who chairs the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

The U.S. Cyber Command has found that a known Microsoft Outlook bug is being used to launch malicious attacks, Nextgov reported Friday. CYBERCOM said in a tweet dated July 3 that it recommends immediate patching for systems that may be impacted by malware.

According to Milpita, Calif.-based cybersecurity firm FireEye,  Iranian and other adversary hackers have been exploiting the CVE-2017-11774 bug to “cause confusion for many security professionals.”

“If Outlook launches something malicious, a common assumption is that the impacted user has been phished — which is not what is occurring here. The organization may waste valuable time without focus on the root cause,” the company said in a statement.

Previously, FireEye published a blog post that identifies a group called APT33 that works “at the behest of the Iranian government” as the source for such threats.

The Department of Defense facilitated an exercise that tests the capacity of cyber planning units within the combatant commands to help commanders better integrate cyber operations in the battlefield, Fifth Domain reported Saturday.

The Cyber Lightning 2019 event, which falls under the U.S. Cyber Command’s segment of the European Command’s Austere Challenge, took place in March and was aimed at training the combatant commands’ new cyber operations-integrated planning elements slated to be fully operational in 2022.

The CO-IPE cyber planning cells serve as satellite entities of larger military cyber units and may assist in cyberspace deconflicting operations.

Cyber Lightning 2019 ran for two weeks and saw over 4,500 participants from U.S. strategic and transportation commands as well as various NATO countries.

The Office of Management and Budget and the National Archives and Records Administration issued in late June a memorandum that directs federal agencies to electronically manage all permanent electronic records before the end of 2019, Federal News Network reported Friday.

By the end of December 2022, agencies will be prohibited from operating their own record centers and NARA will no longer accept paper files, according to the memo. The guidance also set that deadline for agencies to convert into electronic format their temporary records.

The document also requires the Office of Personnel Management to assess by 2020 the job series for archivists and records management professionals and update them to integrate electronic records management functions and responsibilities.

“It is going to force change and to have agencies think differently about how they can make this transformation. It will accelerate digital transformation,” Michael Lewis, vice president and general manager of Iron Mountain’s public sector, said of the memo.

Colt Whittall, an advisor at Eletype, has joined the U.S. Air Force as chief experience officer, Fedscoop reported Wednesday.

Under his new role, Whittall will assist the service branch in augmenting its communications capabilities through transformative efforts in information technology service delivery.

Aside from his current capacities, Whittall served as vice president and client partner at Isobar and founded Endlesss Wave Capital in 2018. He also held various roles at Deloitte and Roundarch.

The accredited customer experience professional obtained his bachelor and master’s degrees at the University of Colorado Boulder.