A preliminary investigation has shown that the mysterious substance found on envelopes addressed to Defense Secretary James Mattis and Chief of Naval Operations John Richardson is castor seeds, The Hill reported Wednesday.

Defense Department spokesperson Dana White revealed the results of the initial analysis to The Hill via a statement, noting, however, that the FBI is still conducting further tests.

The Pentagon Force Protection Agency detected the suspicious substance while screening mail at a remote facility on Monday. The Wall Street Journal reports that the envelopes tested positive for the poison ricin following an on-site test.

Ricin can be produced using castor seeds, but the seeds on their own would only be dangerous if swallowed.

Undersecretary Chris Krebs of the Department of Homeland Security has said that his agency is prepared to fend off any attempts by foreign adversaries to meddle in U.S. elections, Nextgov reported Wednesday.

Krebs made the remarks at a recent panel on election cybersecurity, where National Counterintelligence and Security Center Director William Evanina also talked about cyber operations being carried out by China on social media with the goal of affecting American popular opinion.

Evanina noted, however, that officials have yet to find proof of any attempt by the Chinese to infiltrate U.S. election infrastructure, despite President Trump’s earlier claims to the contrary.

Speaking at the United Nations on Sept. 26, President Trump accused China of attempting to interfere in the 2018 U.S. midterms elections, saying that the Chinese “do not want me or us to win because I am the first ever to challenge China on trade.”

Trump afterward said he had “plenty” of evidence to back up his statements.

Katie Wheelbarger, principal deputy assistant secretary for international security affairs at the Defense Department, has said the U.S. will announce in the next few days that it is ready to use defensive and offensive cyber capabilities in support of NATO if asked, Reuters reported Wednesday.

“It sends a message primarily aimed at Russia,” Wheelbarger told reporters.

U.K. and Baltic security officials say intelligence shows that Russian cyber attacks are targeting telecommunications and energy infrastructure in Europe.

Wheelbarger noted that the move is part of a U.K. government-led campaign to boost the alliance’s cyber capabilities.
 

The departments of Homeland Security and Energy have announced in a meeting with the Oil and Natural Gas Sector Coordinating Council the launch of a program that aims to protect pipelines and other critical infrastructure from cyber threats.

Chrisopher Krebs, undersecretary of the National Protection and Programs Directorate, said Wednesday that the collaborative effort between NPPD, the Transportation Security Administration and DOE will provide a better understanding of the threat landscape and plan more targeted and prioritized risk management activities.

He explained that the program incorporates NPPD’s cybersecurity resources with DOE’s energy sector expertise and TSA’s assessments of pipeline security to address the risks in the oil and natural gas industry.

Krebs also noted that DHS’ National Risk Management Center will help secure future infrastructure, as well as provide an opportunity to work with industry to manage long-term strategy risk across critical infrastructure sectors.

TSA Administrator David Pekoske also noted that the meeting and future discussions will build upon the measures in the updated Pipeline Security Guidelines and the agency’s collaboration with the NRMC to minimize the consequences of an attack to America’s pipelines.

A Defense Department-led study has found that the U.S. military has become too reliant on China and other foreign countries for microelectronics and other items, Reuters reported Wednesday.

Some U.S. officials told the news agency those microelectronics include transistors and integrated circuits that can be found in mobile devices, drones, cruise missiles and satellites.

Lt. Col. Mike Andrews, a spokesman for DoD, said the report would offer recommendations “to ensure a robust, resilient, secure and ready manufacturing and defense industrial base.”

President Donald Trump ordered the review that is expected to be issued in the next few weeks, according to the report.

Some Pentagon officials have raised concerns that dependence on foreign imports could increase the risk of technology sabotage and espionage and result in the potential disruption to the U.S. military’s supply chain.
 

A newly signed partnership between NASA and Israel’s space agency will support a 2019 lunar mission for SpaceIL, an Israeli nonprofit.

NASA said Wednesday it will provide a laser retroreflector array to facilitate the mission’s ground tracking activities.

The U.S. space agency will also support the mission’s communication needs via the Deep Space Network.

The mission plans to leverage SpaceIL’s lunar magnetometer, geared to measure the landing site’s magnetic field.

NASA will gain access to the mission’s gathered data, which would then be available at the U.S.-based space agency’s Planetary Data System.

Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, has said the Technology Modernization Fund Board will possibly receive the appropriations set aside by House lawmakers for fiscal year 2019 modernization projects, FedScoop reported Tuesday.

\n\n

House and Senate lawmakers initially presented opposing decisions on funds under the Interior, Environment, Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, with the lower chamber voting to obligate $150M to the TMF board and the upper chamber warning to cancel the fund.

In August, several senators disapproved funding the TMF board due to the lack of information from agencies about their projects, but Hurd disclosed that the issue has been resolved.

He added that he is now focusing on how Chief Financial Officers Act agencies will allot information technology modernization working capital funds and set those aside in fiscal 2019 as they will allow for long-term modernization efforts.

The Modernizing Government Technology Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law in 2017, directs organizations to transfer unused IT program funds to future modernization projects.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has released an updated draft of its Risk Management Framework designed to guide federal agencies in protecting their information systems.

The agency said Tuesday the update aims to create a better correlation between the risk management processes and activities at the executive level and those at the operational level, as well as standardize critical risk management preparatory activities at all risk management efforts.

The modification also intends to align the NIST Cybersecurity Framework with the RMF; help privacy programs support privacy protection needs; promote the development of credible systems; identify malicious actors or fraudulent processes using supply chain risk management concepts and match organization-generated and traditional baseline control selection approaches.

NIST seeks feedback on the updated RMF draft, as well as its process of developing, passing, storing and deleting information and its impact on security and privacy.

The agency will hold a public comment period regarding the RMF update from Oct. 2 to Oct. 31.

The F-35 Joint Program Office has submitted its updated acquisition plan for the strike fighter aircraft to the office of Ellen Lord, undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment at the Defense Department, for approval, Defense News reported Wednesday.

Vice Adm. Mat Winter, director of the F-35 JPO, said during a roundtable on Monday that Lord is expected to provide her decision on the F-35 modernization strategy in the coming weeks.

He added that the revised plan outlines new cost estimates for the development of F-35 Block 4 modifications, which will involve the use of the Continuous Capability Development and Delivery method.

The F-35 JPO drafted the modernization document to describe the need to modernize the stealth aircraft to keep up with evolving threats.

The program office proposed integrating 53 new capabilities in Block 4, some of which will be delivered in April 2019.

Winter added that the F-35 will also go through a Tech Refresh 3 cycle to incorporate 22 modifications such as a new integrated core processor, memory system and panoramic cockpit display.