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Report: Grant Schneider Named Federal Chief Information Security Officer
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Report: Grant Schneider Named Federal Chief Information Security Officer


Report: Grant Schneider Named Federal Chief Information Security Officer
Grant Schneider

Grant Schneider, acting federal chief information security officer, has been named permanent federal CISO at the Office of Management and Budget, Nextgov reported Thursday.

He will serve as chairman of the CISO Council, oversee the executive branch’s cyber strategy and will continue to serve as senior director for cyber security at the National Security Council.

“Schneider brings extensive cyber security experience well aligned to lead efforts in securing government systems from cyber attacks,” said Margaret Weichert, chief management official at OMB.

Schneider served as former deputy CISO and then appointed interim CISO in January 2017 after Gregory Touhill stepped down from his post as the first federal CISO.

He previously held the roles of director for government cybersecurity at NSC, senior adviser to the Office of Personnel Management director and federal cybersecurity adviser at OMB.

He spent two decades at the Defense Intelligence Agency, where he served in various roles such as chief information officer and head of information technology operations group.

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New Congressional Measure Aims to Expand CFIUS Authority Over Foreign Investment Deals
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New Congressional Measure Aims to Expand CFIUS Authority Over Foreign Investment Deals


New Congressional Measure Aims to Expand CFIUS Authority Over Foreign Investment DealsHouse and Senate negotiators have agreed on a new measure that would strengthen the U.S. export-control process and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. in order to address national security concerns associated with Chinese deals and other overseas transactions, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

The provision would authorize CFIUS to assess foreign investment deals through venture capital funds, transactions that seek to obscure ownership through the use of shell companies and real-estate agreements near sensitive U.S. sites.

The measure would also strengthen export controls through evaluation of foreign joint-venture deals that involve sensitive technology platforms.

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Rep. Robert Pittenger, R-N.C., first proposed in November 2017 the measure, which gained bipartisan support from lawmakers such as Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said he expects the chamber to decide next week on the defense spending bill containing the CFIUS provision.

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Lt. Gen. Charles Hooper: U.S. Weapons Sales to Allies Reached $47B Over 6 Months
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Lt. Gen. Charles Hooper: U.S. Weapons Sales to Allies Reached $47B Over 6 Months


Lt. Gen. Charles Hooper: U.S. Weapons Sales to Allies Reached $47B Over 6 Months
Charles Hooper

Lt. Gen. Charles Hooper, director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency and a 2018 Wash100 recipient, has said the U.S. has approved a total of $46.9 billion in foreign military sales for the first half of fiscal year 2018, Defense News reported Thursday.

The amount exceeds the $41.9 billion worth of FMS deals recorded during FY 2017.

Hooper told Defense News in an interview the White House’s efforts to facilitate arms sales to U.S. partners and allies have helped drive defense exports.

The Trump administration implemented in April a new conventional arms transfer policy in a push to sustain the defense industrial base.

NASA Partners With French Aerospace Research Center on Sonic Boom Site Prediction
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NASA Partners With French Aerospace Research Center on Sonic Boom Site Prediction


NASA Partners With French Aerospace Research Center on Sonic Boom Site PredictionNASA and France’s national aerospace research center, ONERA, will collaborate on a study to predict the landfall location of sonic booms from aircraft flights.

The research agreement, signed at the 2018 Farnborough International Airshow in the U.K., will support efforts meant to develop supersonic over-land passenger flights, NASA said Wednesday. Supersonic travel has been cited as a way to vastly reduce international travel time.

The partnership is NASA and ONERA’s 12th collaboration, establishing common verification cases and a forum for the exchange of technical data and insights.

Efforts are intended to facilitate the development of new technologies to mitigate the effects of sonic booms during air transportation.

NASA is currently testing the X-59 supersonic aircraft at Langley Research Center in Virginia.

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Joint Space Operations Center Changes Name to Combined Space Operations Center
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Joint Space Operations Center Changes Name to Combined Space Operations Center


Joint Space Operations Center Changes Name to Combined Space Operations CenterThe Joint Space Operations Center has changed its designation to a Combined Space Operations Center during a ceremony that took place Wednesday at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The CSpOC will work to help identify, warn, describe, attribute and address threats to space assets, as well as aid the delivery of space-based applications for partners and allied nations, the U.S. Air Force said Thursday.

Gen. John Hyten, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, has been directing the transition since 2017 in aims to support coordination between the country and its allies, as well as to bolster military performance across all domains.

The newly transitioned center will conduct missions encompassing missile warning; positioning, navigation and timing; optimization and restoration of military satellite communications; infrared-based theater battlespace awareness; environmental monitoring; theater support; defensive space situational awareness; and space defense.

Gen. Jay Raymond, who commands the Joint Force Space Component and the Air Force Space Command, led the ceremony.

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Census Bureau Implements Cybersecurity Measures for Next Decennial Count
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Census Bureau Implements Cybersecurity Measures for Next Decennial Count


Census Bureau Implements Cybersecurity Measures for Next Decennial CountThe U.S. Census Bureau has offered information about its cybersecurity posture ahead of the 2020 United States Census–the first time the decennial effort will be undertaken electronically.

The cybersecurity program that will be used during the collection, processing and storage of census information is “robust” while the data encryption protocols that will be implemented conform to federal IT security standards and industry best practices, the bureau said Wednesday.

Bureau personnel accessing the census data will also be required to undergo two-factor authentication, the agency noted.

The press release was a response to a July 16 letter signed by several former government officials who sought clarification about the bureau’s cybersecurity preparations.

The letter’s signatories said that “the American people deserve to understand the technical protocols and systems being utilized… to ensure that the electronic collection and storage of information about millions of Americans will be handled as securely as possible.”

The bureau assured the letter’s senders, as well as the public, that it has “strong and resilient security measures protecting every respondent’s information.”

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Navy Seeks Congressional Approval to Reprogram $63M for Supercarrier Technical Repairs
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Navy Seeks Congressional Approval to Reprogram $63M for Supercarrier Technical Repairs


Navy Seeks Congressional Approval to Reprogram $63M for Supercarrier Technical RepairsThe U.S. Navy has asked Congress for permission to shift approximately $62.7 million in funds to address issues with its Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier during the post-shakedown availability phase, Defense News reported Wednesday.

The service intends to move $30 million in funds for repair and tooling work on the main thrust bearings; $20 million for prolonged PSA phase, parts, labor and additional repairs; and $12.7 million to address technical issues with Advanced Weapon Elevators, according to the request document obtained by the publication.

Those issues emerged during the carrier’s post-delivery trials and that the requested funds are part of the Defense Department’s reprogramming request in June.

The aircraft carrier’s PSA started on Sunday, July 15, and the technology and repair issues prolonged that phase from eight months to a year at the facility of Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division, the Naval Sea Systems Command said in a statement.

Homeland Security to Host National Cyber Security Summit Later this Month
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Homeland Security to Host National Cyber Security Summit Later this Month


Homeland Security to Host National Cyber Security Summit Later this MonthThe Department of Homeland Security will hold a National Cybersecurity Summit at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in New York City, N.Y. on July 31.

Officials from the National Security Agency, FBI and the departments of Energy, Treasury and Defense will participate in the event along with experts from the academe and CEOs representing the telecom, financial and energy industries to discuss future initiatives to develop a collective defense model, DHS said Wednesday.

The event will include panel discussions, keynote addresses and breakout sessions aimed at launching DHS initiatives in advancing cyber security and risk management operations for critical infrastructure.

DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen noted that the DHS and private sector share a responsibility on cyber security which she said is “ too big for anyone acting alone.”

According to Christopher Krebs, undersecretary for the national protection and programs directorate, both the government and industry need to move beyond sharing information on cyber threats and “advance efforts to manage risk in a prioritized manner.”

DISA Launches Network Modernization Effort for DoD Personnel in Hawaii
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DISA Launches Network Modernization Effort for DoD Personnel in Hawaii


DISA Launches Network Modernization Effort for DoD Personnel in HawaiiThe Defense Information Systems Agency has started modernizing the information and communications network of the Defense Department in Hawaii through a new program.

DISA said Wednesday the Pacific Enterprise Services-Hawaii initiative consists of three contracts that allow DoD personnel in the state to replace aging voice and data services with internet protocol technology.

U.S. Army Maj. Ernesto Gumbs, deputy program manager of PES-HI, said the modernization program will help meet DoD telecommunications requirements and provide cost savings to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command customers in the long run.

The program succeeds the 12-year Joint Hawaiian Information Transfer System contract, which authorized the installation of 3,100 point-to-point intra-Hawaii transmission circuits to enable DoD telecommunication services, among other things.

 

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Trump Administration Supports Bill to Prevent UAS Threats
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Trump Administration Supports Bill to Prevent UAS Threats


Trump Administration Supports Bill to Prevent UAS ThreatsThe Trump administration has expressed support for a Senate bill that would authorize the departments of Homeland Security and Justice to develop, test and deploy technology aimed at countering unmanned aircraft systems that pose safety risks to the public.

The Preventing Emerging Threats Act of 2018 also proposes measures to further commercial drone market development, protect privacy and civil liberties and increase the safety of national airspace operations, the White House said Tuesday.

Current law prohibits the federal government from using detection, tracking and mitigation platforms designed to thwart drone threats.

The White House calls for the creation of a legal framework meant to safeguard people from those who use UAS for nefarious purposes such as terrorism, espionage, illicit surveillance, illegal aircraft and law enforcement interference, contraband delivery in prisons or the smuggling of drugs and other harmful materials along U.S. borders.

The administration is willing to work with Congress to address the legislation’s objectives.

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