Maj. Audricia Harris, a spokesperson for the Defense Department, has said that DoD takes national security threats seriously and works to update its cyber defense approaches, CNN reported Tuesday.

“We are continuously strengthening our defensive posture through network hardening, improved cybersecurity and working with our international allies and our defense industrial base and defense critical infrastructure partners to secure critical information,” Harris was quoted as saying by CNN.

She made the remarks after the Government Accountability Office released a report describing DoD’s challenges to secure weapon systems against sophisticated threats and the factors that could affect the department’s efforts to protect those systems.

GAO did not issue any recommendations and noted it will continue to examine the state of military weapons security.

The Treasury Department has released interim regulations for a pilot program to assess foreign acquisitions of critical U.S. technologies and intellectual property in compliance with the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018.

“These temporary regulations address specific risks to U.S. critical technology while informing the development of final regulations that will fully implement FIRRMA,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement published Wednesday.

The pilot program will begin on Nov. 10 and enforce authorities that broaden the scope of deals subject to the review of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. 

Those reviews will “include certain non-controlling investments in U.S. businesses involved in critical technologies related to specific industries.”

The department also issued temporary rules that introduce limited changes to CFIUS’ current regulations in an effort to implement the law’s provisions that took effect upon FIRRMA’s enactment. The regulations are set to take effect Thursday, Oct. 11.

The Treasury said it expects the law to be fully implemented by February 2020.
 

Defense Secretary James Mattis has issued a memo that calls for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy to achieve a minimum mission capability rate of 80 percent for four types of fighter aircraft by the end of fiscal 2019, Defense News reported Tuesday.

Mattis asked the service branches to reduce the operating and maintenance costs of F-35, F-22, F-16 and F-18 fighter jets starting in fiscal 2019, according to the memo obtained by the publication.

He wrote that military services should “also set and pursue aggressive targets for other enduring fixed- and rotary-wing aviation assets.”

The defense undersecretary for personnel and readiness should come up with reporting procedures and definitions to evaluate mission capability and cost beginning this month.

Mattis asked the P&R undersecretary to work with service branches and the undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment to develop implementation frameworks for the four aircraft by Oct. 15.

Those frameworks should state how to incorporate best practices in supply chains, depots and units, according to the document.
 

Chris Inglis, former deputy National Security Agency director, has turned up to be the top candidate to lead NSA should Defense Secretary James Mattis decide to split the agency from U.S. Cyber Command, The Washington Post reported Friday.

Some sources told the publication the Pentagon chief was close to deciding on a plan to separate the dual-hat arrangement but decided to reconsider after Gen. Paul Nakasone, head of NSA and Cybercom, expressed concerns to Mattis about Cybercom’s capacity to operate on its own should the split push through.

“No decision has been made,” said Audricia Harris, a spokeswoman for DoD.

“When a decision is made, it will be reflective of the department’s commitment to preempt, defeat and deter malicious cyber activity.”

Inglis spent nearly three decades at NSA, where he served as deputy director between 2006 and 2014 and signals intelligence deputy chief for analysis and production.

He is a retired Air National Guard brigadier general and a visiting professor at the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland.

He also served in the U.S. Air Force for nine years, according to the report.
 

John Zangardi, chief information officer of the Department of Homeland Security, has said there is a need for the department to implement a more flexible hiring process as it administers various modernization initiatives, FedScoop reported Friday.

He explained during the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council’s latest Federal Insights Exchange Session that he is competing with private firms in terms of salary, quality of life and job satisfaction when recruiting cyber and information technology experts.

Zangardi added that he plans to increase cyber pay compensations in 2019 to boost the skills of IT employees across the DHS and to sustain its workforce.

“That will help me compete a little bit better within the broader cyber community to hold onto people,” he said.

However, the DHS official noted a backlog of 800,000 security clearance applications and other factors hindering the department from hiring new talent despite the increased compensation.

DHS Chief Human Capital Officer Angela Bailey has started coordinating with Zangardi’s office to develop ways to streamline its hiring process, which will include employing interns and launching a system for cyber professionals.

Hill Air Force Base is employing new handheld tablets for use with maintenance activities on F-35A aircraft.

The tablets integrate with Portable Maintenance Aid laptops that connect with the aircraft’s Autonomic Logistics Information System, a platform that monitors and records the F-35’s status information, the U.S. Air Force said Friday.

The new handheld devices address mobility and connectivity gaps found in the laptops that are heavy and not equipped to access wireless internet.

Maintainers now use the tablets to manage work orders and information on a faster pace.

“If we have an issue with a jet and need to ground abort, a pilot will be able to sign out a spare right on the line and step to that jet,” said 1st Lt. Eric Dolan, aerospace ground equipment flight commander of the 388th Maintenance Squadron.

“We can do that right on the flight line without having to call the flight ops desk for a backup,” he added.

Dolan’s maintenance group will have almost 200 of these tablets to support the base’s future assignment of three F-35A squadrons, covering 78 aircraft in total.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency has found that the U.S. recorded $55.66B in fiscal 2018 foreign military sales, reflecting a 33 percent rise from total FMS sales posted in fiscal 2017.

DSCA said Tuesday the trend can be attributed to policy changes the White House has initiated such as the administration’s move to update the Conventional Arms Transfer Policy in April.

“These policy changes advance U.S. national security and foreign policy because they make FMS more attractive in a very competitive market,” said Lt. Gen. Charles Hooper, DSCA director and a Wash100 recipient.

The agency said the total figure includes $47.71B in transactions funded by partner countries; $4.42B in agreements funded by Defense Department agencies; and $3.52B in deals supported by the State Department’s Foreign Military Financing Program.

Some of the policy reforms that DSCA introduced include the FMS transportation reduction and the agency’s move to lower FMS-related administrative surcharge to 3.2 percent from 3.5 percent.
 

President Trump intends to appoint Margaret Weichert, deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget, as acting director of the Office of Personnel Management.

Replacing former OPM director Jeff Pon, she will hold the role concurrently with her position at the OMB, the White House said Friday.

Weichert has 25 years of professional experience, having previously filled executive roles at various consultancy and finance firms including Andersen Consulting, Bank of America, EY and First Data. In addition, she holds 14 U.S. patents and founded the e-commerce firm Achex, now a part of First Data.