The U.S. government and private sector must take action on cyber-enabled economic warfare to avoid being “flat-footed” during a major cyber incident, according to a Foundation for Defense of Democracies report released Tuesday.

The FDD report comes after a 2018 CEEW tabletop exercise with private sector and government representatives that involved a simulated cyberattack on critical U.S. infrastructure. The exercise was conducted to assess the efficiency of resilience capabilities, information-sharing procedures and leadership decisions.

According to the report, the federal government must take steps such as launching public awareness campaigns on the private sector’s role in safeguarding the nation from cyber attacks. The FDD also recommended the White House and Congress allocate funding for the Department of Homeland Security’s National Risk Management Center to properly address the need for major cyber protection. Other suggestions outlined in the report include ensuring that “conflicting loyalties” in the private sector don’t undermine crisis response and counseling the public on CEEW preparedness.

The report noted that obvious targets such as logistics firms, banks and goods manufacturers could be left vulnerable in the event of a major cyberattack.

The U.S. National Guard looks to further implement the use of robots in missions, adding to the number of robotic applications observed in the force. The National Guard already employs robots for engineering, explosive disposal, chemical threat detection and reconnaissance, the U.S. Army said Tuesday.

Bryan McVeigh, force protection project manager of the Army’s Program Executive Office for Combat Support and Combat Service Support, said the National Guard plans to implement robots with more generalized functions. The force’s robots are divided into four types, with sizes that vary based on mission requirements.

The 25-pound Common Robotic System is a smaller platform designed to perform building clearance, detect explosives and identify targets. The golf car-sized Squad Multi-purpose Equipment Transport or SMET can carry up to 1,000 pounds of a squad’s necessities including water and ammunition. The force uses the Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station to fire machine guns while inside a vehicle, eliminating the need for turrets.

McVeigh’s team is working to develop a similar weaponized version of SMET. The National Guard also wants to apply a common control system for future robots.

“If I can have a common controller that is basically app-based, the same button you use on one [robot] for forward is the same button you’re going to use on all of them for forward,” said McVeigh. “It significantly reduces the cognitive burden on Soldiers who are entering 16, 24 and beyond hours on a mission because it’s rote memory,” he added.

Echodyne, Tamr and DataRobot have each transitioned the technologies they’re developing for the Department of Homeland Security’s science and technology directorate into the Homeland Security Enterprise, DHS said Tuesday. The three startups’ platforms, created as part of S&T’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program, were deployed in 2018 to support Customs and Border Protection operations.

“By engaging with small businesses and startups, S&T has gained access to the previously inaccessible, cutting-edge innovations available in the commercial market,” said William Bryan, a senior official working for the undersecretary of science and technology. 

Tamr developed the Global Traveler Assessment System, a database analysis platform for screening foreign travelers, while Echodyne produced the Metamaterial Electronically Scanning Array for border security operations. DataRobot is the latest of the three firms to transition, with its GTAS automated machine learning technology being used by the CBP for counter-narcotics activities.

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CBP was the first unit to partner with the SVIP for the development of new technologies since the program’s inception in 2015.

Senior defense officials announced the Pentagon is set to release its first artificial intelligence strategy to guide service branches and commands in regard to how they design and develop AI-based tools based on their needs, Defense One reported Tuesday.

An unnamed official familiar with the strategy said the document will focus on the immediate operational applications of AI in military operations. The strategy will also help the Department of Defense coordinate efforts with the private sector to build an AI-ready workforce. The official cited Google’s Machine Learning Ninja camp and other companies’ open online courses as some of the programs DoD reviews to train people to use the technology. 

“Here again we’re looking to those companies that either succeeded in systematically transforming their workforce industry,” the official said.

However, the AI strategy will not change how the military uses autonomous systems in combat. The official noted the document will follow a 2012 directive requiring DoD to always assign human operators to oversee an autonomous weapon’s actions.

“When you translate the tech into impact in operations, you have to think more seriously about ethics and safety,” the official said.

The Defense Information Systems Agency plans to deploy blockchain technologies being developed by IBM, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services into the Department of Defense’s systems, GCN reported Tuesday.

The agency’s emerging technologies directorate is studying recent developments in other blockchain programs including the Department of Health and Human Services’ HHS Accelerate program and the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s research into blockchain applications. DISA is also looking into the implementation of blockchain confidentiality aspects, which is being undertaken by the Department of Homeland Security’s science and technology directorate.

Sherri Sokol, innovation leader at DISA, said the agency wants to establish a secure, scalable and agile way of handling operations within accredited DoD infrastructure.

“It would really just be the platform, infrastructure resource management and monitoring, which are services that DISA already offers,” she added.