The Department of Agriculture has provided $200M in packages to 57 organizations to support farmers and ranchers securing export opportunities under an agricultural initiative. The Agricultural Trade Promotion program seeks to mitigate potential trading concerns for U.S. exporters and farmers, USDA said Thursday.

“This infusion will help us develop other markets and move us away from being dependent on one large customer for our agricultural products,” said Sonny Perdue, secretary of USDA.

The packages also include a food distribution service and a Market Facilitation Program that allows farmers to receive payments addressing tariff regulations. Members and organizations from different agricultural sectors are also eligible to participate in the program. President Trump approved U.S. agriculture programs worth $12B in value under a trade mitigation package in 2018.

The Department of Homeland Security’s science and technology directorate has incorporated over 9,700 software test cases into its marketplace platform to help developers assess their software based on real-world scenarios, DHS said Thursday.

The directorate finished integrating the test cases, known as BugInjector cases, from its Static Tools Analysis Modernization Project into the Software Assurance Marketplace as part of the objectives outlined in the DHS Cybersecurity Strategy and 2016 Federal Cybersecurity Research and Development Strategic Plan.

STAMP aims to rapidly provide static analysis tools for use in software development, while SWAP seeks to help software assurance experts and developers address vulnerabilities through capabilities such as realistic test cases. Both SWAMP and STAMP are research initiatives under S&T’s Software Assurance Program.

Users can avail of the BugInjector cases through the SWAMP website or GrammaTech, a software development tool provider based in New York and funded by S&T.

Dana Deasy, chief information officer of the Department of Defense, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Pentagon plans to conduct assessments of cybersecurity self-evaluation among defense suppliers, Federal News Network reported Wednesday. According to Deasy, the proposed new procedure will have the DoD evaluate vendors’ cybersecurity self-checks and give “confidence scores” on these assessments.

The CIO added that the Pentagon is also looking into using emerging technologies and enlisting the help of third-party companies to handle secondary assessments. 

In 2017, DoD mandated contractors to conduct self-assessments on compliance with the National Institute of Standards and Technology cybersecurity standards. The department doesn’t conduct evaluations on whether the firms accurately interpreted the security of their own systems. Deasy noted the effort to develop new cybersecurity procedures will be managed by the DoD’s office of the undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment.

The National Defense Authorization Act of 2019 has directed supply chain companies and academic entities to ramp up their efforts to thwart cyberattacks in their systems.

The Defense Information Systems Agency has distributed new biometric devices across military partners under a pilot program in partnership with Qualcomm, FCW reported Wednesday. The program disseminated 50 units of the device with Joint Interoperability Test Command among the recipients, Stephen Wallace, systems innovation scientist at DISA, told FCW.

The command is working to evaluate the device that uses multiple biometrics to authenticate users. It’s designed to analyze multiple user characteristics such as walking gait, facial structure and voice patterns, the report noted. Initial testing for the program with the 50 devices will conclude in the spring.

A new watchdog report shows the Department of Veterans Affairs failed to meet the required savings and cost avoidance during its data center consolidation efforts in fiscal year 2018. The agency did not meet the $85.3M target set by the Office of Management and Budget, the VA Office of Inspector General said its audit report issued Wednesday.

The OIG found the lack of updated data center inventories and plans to meet consolidation requirements, cost savings and optimization targets contributed to VA’s failure to cut its spending. The report also shows that the Office of Information & Technology within VA did not coordinate standards and reporting requirements with the staff responsible for the agency’s information technology systems.

To help VA cut its consolidation spending, the OIG recommended sharing the data center requirements agencywide, they establish a data center inventory process and ensure the strategic plan is complete and aligned with the agency’s targets. VA should also determine the servers that are subject to the June 2017 Data Center Optimization Initiative guidance, the audit states.

The U.S. Navy is set to commission the newest Virginia-class submarine during a ceremony this Saturday in Groton, Conn. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., will be administering the principal address of the future USS South Dakota‘s commissioning ceremony at Naval Submarine Base New London, the service branch said Wednesday.

Deanie Dempsey, wife of Gen. Martin Dempsey who served as the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s 18th chairman, will order the submarine’s activation as ship sponsor. The submarine, also known as the SSN 790, will be the third ship to hold South Dakota’s name, following an armored cruiser and a battleship. As a Block III Virginia-class unit, the new South Dakota features technologies geared to support a variety of operation types including littoral, deep sea, anti-surface ship, anti-submarine and anti-mine warfare.

General Dynamics‘ Electric Boat subsidiary delivered SSN 790 to the Navy in September 2018.