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OMB’s Risk Report Calls for Cyber Threat Framework Implementation, IT Capability Standardization
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OMB’s Risk Report Calls for Cyber Threat Framework Implementation, IT Capability Standardization


OMB’s Risk Report Calls for Cyber Threat Framework Implementation, IT Capability StandardizationThe Office of Management and Budget has released a new report that details four key measures needed to address cybersecurity threats across the federal government.

OMB said in the risk report that federal agencies should increase their cyber threat awareness through the implementation of the Cyber Threat Framework as well as enhance asset management by standardizing information technology and cyber capabilities.

The two other core actions call for the consolidation of security operations centers to facilitate incident detection and response operations and efforts to promote accountability through risk assessments and governance processes, according to the Federal Cybersecurity Risk Determination Report and Plan.

OMB teamed up with the Department of Homeland Security to evaluate the risk management performance of 96 agencies across 76 metrics and found that 74 percent of them have cyber programs that are classified as “high risk” or “at risk.”

OMB and DHS also found that agencies lack the capability to assess how threat actors gain access to their data and information systems.

OMB issued the risk report in compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive order on cybersecurity.

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Peter O’Rourke Named VA Acting Secretary in Series of Leadership Moves
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Peter O’Rourke Named VA Acting Secretary in Series of Leadership Moves


Peter O’Rourke Named VA Acting Secretary in Series of Leadership Moves
Peter O’Rourke

Peter O’Rourke, chief of staff at the Department of Veterans Affairs, has been appointed to serve as VA secretary on an acting basis.

He will replace Robert Wilkie, interim VA secretary who has been nominated by President Donald Trump to lead the department, VA said Wednesday.

Wilkie will return to the Defense Department to continue his role as defense undersecretary for personnel and readiness.

O’Rourke previously served as executive director for VA’s office of accountability and whistleblower protection and senior adviser to the VA secretary.

He held leadership roles at Calibre Systems, Blackland Group and Accenture and served as executive board member of the Association of the U.S. Army.

He served in the U.S. Air Force as a logistics readiness officer and as an enlisted airman in the U.S. Navy.

VA announced that Jacquelyn Hayes-Byrd, deputy chief of staff, will take over as acting chief of staff.

Thomas Bowman will retire on June 15 as VA’s deputy secretary but will continue to serve as an expert consultant to the department’s interim secretary, VA added.

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DOC and DHS Publish Report on Automated Cyberattack Threat Mitigation
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DOC and DHS Publish Report on Automated Cyberattack Threat Mitigation


DOC and DHS Publish Report on Automated Cyberattack Threat MitigationThe Commerce Department and the Department of Homeland Security recently published a report about measures that can be taken to mitigate the threat posed by automated and distributed cyberattacks to the country’s internet and communications network. The report is pursuant to instructions from President Trump, which are detailed in Executive Order 13800, NIST.gov reported.

The report itemizes threat-mitigating actions that align to five complementary and mutually-reinforcing goals, which include identifying a pathway toward a technology marketplace that is adaptable, sustainable and secure; as well as promoting cyber infrastructure innovation that would make dynamic adaptation to evolving threats possible.

The report also recommends that the DOC and DHS design, in consultation with appropriate stakeholders, a road map ensuring that the actions that need to be taken are prioritized in accordance with the agenda of the Trump Administration.

Commenting on the report, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said, “Ensuring that our government and economy are safe from cyberattacks remains a top priority, and having clear information about these continuing threats will help us better prepare to keep Americans, and their information, safe from our adversaries.”

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DoD Renames USPACOM as Indo-Pacific Command; James Mattis Comments
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DoD Renames USPACOM as Indo-Pacific Command; James Mattis Comments


DoD Renames USPACOM as Indo-Pacific Command; James Mattis Comments
James Mattis

The Defense Department has renamed the U.S. Pacific Command to emphasize the combatant command’s missions in the Indian Ocean region, DoD news reported Wednesday.

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command aims to strengthen military relations with allies and provide security for diplomats working to negotiate in the region.

“Over many decades, this command has repeatedly adapted to changing circumstance and today carries that legacy forward as America focuses west,” said Defense Secretary James Mattis, a 2018 Wash100 recipient.

Mattis announced USPACOM’s new name during a change-of-command ceremony held Wednesday at Joint Base Pear Harbor-Hickam.

U.S. Navy Adm. Philip Davidson, former head of the U.S. Fleet Forces Command, took helm of Indo-Pacific Command.

Davidson was nominated by President Trump in April and succeeded Adm. Harry Harris Jr.

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Will Roper: Air Force Should Consider Licensing Arrangements to 3D-Print Components
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Will Roper: Air Force Should Consider Licensing Arrangements to 3D-Print Components


Will Roper: Air Force Should Consider Licensing Arrangements to 3D-Print Components
Will Roper

Will Roper, assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics at the U.S. Air Force, has said a licensing arrangement could allow the service branch to harness three-dimensional printing technology in components production, Defense One reported Tuesday.

The report noted that manufacturers own the intellectual property data on weapons and legal worries can hinder the service branch from reproducing components with additive manufacturing techniques.Will Roper: Air Force Should Consider Licensing Arrangements to 3D-Print Components

“If we had kind of a licensing or fee agreement with them, we should be able to print that part and they get a kickback or a royalty and off we go,” Roper told Defense One in an interview.

“It’s that kind of creative thinking that we need to do.”

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Air Force Materiel Command’s Fiscal 2017 Savings Hit $2.5B
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Air Force Materiel Command’s Fiscal 2017 Savings Hit $2.5B


Air Force Materiel Command's Fiscal 2017 Savings Hit $2.5BThe Air Force Materiel Command saved more than $2.5 billion over the last fiscal year, which addressed its cost savings and avoidance objective under the 2017 AFMC Strategic Plan.

All five AFMC centers implemented initiatives during FY 2017 to reduce expenses and increase operational efficiency, the command said Tuesday.

“Air Force leadership looks to AFMC as the service’s cost conscience,” said Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, AFMC commander.

” It’s a responsibility we take very seriously and a goal we are constantly striving to work toward.”

The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s program to manage jet fuel consumption resulted in a cost avoidance of nearly $1.9 million.

The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center’s contracting agency posted $6.5 million in cost avoidance through the implementation of contracted transient alert services across nine major commands.

The Air Force Research Laboratory achieved cost avoidance of $17 million with the use of agile business processes.

The Air Force Test Center saved $375,000 following the development of a yaw test method designed to eliminate damaged balances and prevent testing delays.

The Air Force Sustainment Center reported $21.4 million in cost avoidance via its process of qualifying parts and certifying additional suppliers of aircraft parts.

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Lt. Gen. Austin Miller Named NATO Support Mission, U.S. Forces-Afghanistan Commander
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Lt. Gen. Austin Miller Named NATO Support Mission, U.S. Forces-Afghanistan Commander


Lt. Gen. Austin Miller Named NATO Support Mission, U.S. Forces-Afghanistan Commander
Austin Miller

Lt. Gen. Austin Miller, commander of the Joint Special Operations Command, has been promoted to the rank of general and assigned to lead the Resolute Support Mission of NATO and the U.S. Forces-Afghanistan.

President Donald Trump’s nomination of Miller for the new appointment and assignments was announced by Defense Secretary James Mattis, the Defense Department said Tuesday.

Miller is currently based at the U.S. Special Operations Command’s Joint Special Operations Command Forward in Fort Bragg, N.C.

He was previously with the U.S. Army‘s Maneuver Center of Excellence as a commanding general after his service as a special assistant to the USSOCOM deputy commanding general and the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization’s director.

His military career includes deployments to combat operations such as in Afghanistan and Iraq and the Battle of Mogadishu and assignments across USSOCOM.

Miller instructed students at the School of the Americas in Fort Benning after his assignments to several command posts of the 2nd Infantry Division and the 75th Ranger Regiment.

He served as a platoon leader of the 82nd Airborne Division after completing the Ranger School course.

Miller was first commissioned as an infantry officer after his graduation from the U.S. Military Academy.

He completed programs at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, the U.S. Marine Corps War College and the Joint and Combined Warfighting School.

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Jeremy Yagle: NASA Leverages AI, Machine Learning Tech to Speed Up Searches, Manage Data
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Jeremy Yagle: NASA Leverages AI, Machine Learning Tech to Speed Up Searches, Manage Data


Jeremy Yagle: NASA Leverages AI, Machine Learning Tech to Speed Up Searches, Manage DataJeremy Yagle, technical lead of the data science team at NASA’s office of the chief information officer, has said the agency has accelerated searches on space-related studies through the adoption of text analytics tools developed through six years of experimentation with artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, Federal News Radio reported Monday.

“It’s not uncommon for somebody who’s worked at NASA for decades to have upwards of 10,000 or 20,000 papers on their personal computer,” Yagle said Thursday at IBM’s Think Gov conference in Washington.

“To be able to look at that really quickly takes time, and some of these new technologies reduce that time, and therefore save time for scientists to do what they really do best.”

He noted about NASA’s plan to build a “Siri on steroids” designed to handle complex mathematical problems and the agency’s goal to improve data management through the development of AI applications.

“We need to build a knowledge base. … We actually need to know that data is, how to pool that data out, how to connect it with other data sets,” Yagle added.

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Alan Lewis to Retire as Defense Spectrum Org Director
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Alan Lewis to Retire as Defense Spectrum Org Director

 

Alan Lewis to Retire as Defense Spectrum Org Director
Alan Lewis

Alan Lewis, director of the Defense Information Systems Agency‘s Defense Spectrum Organization, is due to retire on Thursday after more than 38 years of federal service.

DISA said Tuesday it will host a retirement ceremony for the 11-year agency veteran at Fort George G. Meade in Maryland.

Lewis has led the organization that supports the Defense Department in efforts to develop spectrum management policies and technology standards.

“It makes sense to have a joint organization that is providing capability that everyone needs rather than having multiple organizations doing it redundantly,” he said about DISA.

“I would not have done anything differently in my career in terms of DISA because I believe so strongly in what we do and how critical it is, and for me, that’s been my fulfillment.”

Lewis joined the agency in 1991 while serving as a U.S. Navy officer. He also served short-term stints in the private sector and then rejoined the federal government in 2005.

 

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DARPA Program Seeks Gene Modulators to Boost Human Body’s Defenses Against Biological, Chemical Threats
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DARPA Program Seeks Gene Modulators to Boost Human Body’s Defenses Against Biological, Chemical Threats


DARPA Program Seeks Gene Modulators to Boost Human Body’s Defenses Against Biological, Chemical ThreatsThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has launched a four-year program that aims to develop transient and programmable gene modulators designed to temporarily boost the body’s defenses against chemical, biological and radiological threats.

The PReemptive Expression of Protective Alleles and Response Elements program “will study how to support [the human body’s] innate resistance by giving it a temporary boost, either before or after exposure, without any permanent edits to the genome,” Renee Wegrzyn, PREPARE program manager, said in a statement published Friday.

The PREPARE program will focus on influenza viral infection, gamma radiation exposure, organophosphate poisoning and opioid overdose that will serve as proofs of concept for a proposed platform designed to address national security and public health threats.

“Focusing only on programmable modulation of gene expression enables us to provide specific, robust protection against many threats at once, with an effect that carries less risk, is limited but tunable in duration, and is entirely reversible,” Wegrzyn added.

DARPA said it expects potential research teams to submit a regulatory review application with the Food and Drug Administration for their proposed medical countermeasure platforms by the end of the program.

The agency intends to discuss the program with stakeholders at a proposer’s day that will take place on June 13 in Arlington, Va.

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