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Omnibus Budget Bill Includes Legal Framework for Law Enforcement Access to Overseas Data
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Omnibus Budget Bill Includes Legal Framework for Law Enforcement Access to Overseas Data


Omnibus Budget Bill Includes Legal Framework for Law Enforcement Access to Overseas DataBoth chambers of Congress passed legislation that would establish a legal framework governing law enforcement access to overseas data.

Brad Smith, president and chief legal officer at Microsoft, wrote in a blog post published Wednesday that the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act, or the CLOUD Act, would address foreign governments’ need to investigate crimes in their own territories.

The CLOUD Act was approved Friday as part of a $1.3 trillion omnibus funding bill for fiscal year 2018.

Smith added that the CLOUD Act is also intended to help technology companies uphold the privacy rights of their international customers.

The bill includes a provision that would prevent governments from requiring U.S. companies to “create backdoors” around encrypted data.

Smith noted that the U.S. government needs to establish new international agreements with other countries once the bill is signed into law.

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White House to Impose 25% Tariffs on Chinese Products to Address ‘Unfair’ Trade Practices
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White House to Impose 25% Tariffs on Chinese Products to Address ‘Unfair’ Trade Practices


White House to Impose 25% Tariffs on Chinese Products to Address 'Unfair' Trade PracticesPresident Donald Trump has proposed to impose an additional 25 percent tariffs on certain products in response to China’s unfair trade practices that harm American innovation.

A White House fact sheet published Thursday says the proposed tariffs would impact information communication technology, aerospace and machinery sectors.

The Treasury Department will work with other agencies to introduce restrictions on Chinese investments in “sensitive” U.S.-made technology systems.

The U.S. Trade Representative will also address the Asian country’s “discriminatory” licensing processes for technologies through a dispute proceeding with the World Trade Organization.

The White House’s actions are based on the results of a USTR investigation launched in August 2017.

The investigation found that China uses joint venture arrangements and other foreign ownership restrictions to coerce U.S. firms to facilitate technology transfer to Chinese companies and that the country backs cyber intrusions to gain access to U.S. companies’ trade secrets and other commercial data.

Congress Sends $1.3T Omnibus Deal to White House
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Congress Sends $1.3T Omnibus Deal to White House


Congress Sends $1.3T Omnibus Deal to White HouseThe Senate voted 65-32 past midnight Friday to pass a $1.3 trillion omnibus bill to avoid a government shutdown and fund federal agencies through the end of fiscal 2018, Bloomberg reported Friday.

The budget package is now headed to the White House for President Donald Trump’s signature.

Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, told reporters the president would sign the spending package since the measure backs his priorities.

The proposed legislation includes $1.6 billion for border security, $21 billion for infrastructure projects, $4 billion to address the opioid crisis and at least $600 million to set up a rural broadband network.

The upper chamber’s decision came hours after the House approved the omnibus bill through a 256-167 vote, Defense News reported Thursday.

Congressional leaders unveiled Wednesday the 2,232-page budget package that would authorize $654.6 billion in funds for the Defense Department, a figure that represents a $15.5 billion increase from the president’s spending request for fiscal 2018.

“This bill provides the largest increase in defense spending in 15 years,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin).

“We’re boosting resources for training, equipment, maintenance, base operations. It means new naval ships, new fighters, new helicopters,” he added.

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Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton to Replace Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster as National Security Adviser
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Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton to Replace Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster as National Security Adviser

 

Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton to Replace Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster as National Security Adviser
John Bolton

President Donald Trump has named John Bolton, former United Nations ambassador, to succeed the retiring Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster as national security adviser, The Hill reported Thursday.

Trump announced in a tweet Thursday that Bolton’s appointment will take effect April 9.

Bolton is a Fox News analyst and currently works at the American Enterprise Institute.

He has been Trump’s informal adviser and previously served during former President George W. Bush’s administration.

Bolton’s appointment came a week after the president nominated CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State.

 

 

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House Committee OKs Space Exploration, Innovation Corps Program Expansion Bills
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House Committee OKs Space Exploration, Innovation Corps Program Expansion Bills


House Committee OKs Space Exploration, Innovation Corps Program Expansion BillsThe House Science, Space and Technology Committee has unanimously passed two bills to increase U.S. space exploration technology development efforts and a third bill to expand the National Science Foundation’s entrepreneurial training program.

The American Leadership in Space Technology and Advanced Rocketry Act, introduced by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Alabama), would designate Marshall Space Flight Center as NASA‘s primary development center for rocket propulsion, the committee said Thursday.

The Commercial Space Support Vehicle Act, introduced by Rep. Bill Posey (R-Florida), would establish processes to license and authorize space support vehicles.

Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Illinois) introduced the Innovators to Entrepreneurs Act to add a course for commercialization-ready innovation research entities under NSF’s Innovation Corps program.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) chairs the SST committee that approved all three bills.

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Report: Omnibus Bill Lacks Funding for Revised FBI HQ Consolidation Plan
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Report: Omnibus Bill Lacks Funding for Revised FBI HQ Consolidation Plan


Report: Omnibus Bill Lacks Funding for Revised FBI HQ Consolidation PlanA $1.3 billion omnibus spending measure that would fund government operations through the end of September does not authorize any budget to support the General Services Administration’s new plan to establish a new FBI headquarters, Federal News Radio reported Thursday.

The budget package is now headed to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature following its passage by Congress.

“The Act does not include funding for the revised headquarters consolidation plan released on February 12, 2018, because many questions regarding the new plan remain unanswered, including the revision of longstanding security requirements and changes to headquarters capacity in the national capital region,” lawmakers wrote in an explanation of the spending package.

“Until these concerns are addressed and the appropriate authorizing committees approve a prospectus, the committees are reluctant to appropriate additional funds for this activity,” they added.

Lawmakers’ explanation came a week after GSA Inspector General Carol Ochoa wrote a letter to Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-Virginia) saying her office will review the agency’s decision to change its plan for the FBI headquarters consolidation project.

GSA plans to demolish the J. Edgar Hoover building and replace it with a new FBI headquarters facility under the revised strategy.

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NOAA Appoints Kenneth Graham to Lead National Hurricane Center
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NOAA Appoints Kenneth Graham to Lead National Hurricane Center


NOAA Appoints Kenneth Graham to Lead National Hurricane Center
Kenneth Graham

Kenneth Graham, a 24-year veteran of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has been appointed director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida effective April 1.

He succeeds Ed Rappaport, who has led the center on an interim basis since Rick Knabb stepped down in May last year, NOAA said Thursday.

Graham has served as the meteorologist-in-charge of the National Weather Service’s New Orleans/Baton Rouge forecast office since 2008 and previously worked as systems operations division chief at NWS Southern Region headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas.

He also held the position of meteorological service chief at NWS HQ in Silver Spring, Maryland, and meteorologist-in-charge at forecast offices in Alabama and Texas.

Before he joined NOAA, Graham was a broadcast meteorologist for the WCBI-TV station in Mississippi.

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Kirstjen Nielsen: Lack of US Election Systems Backup Poses National Security Risk
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Kirstjen Nielsen: Lack of US Election Systems Backup Poses National Security Risk


Kirstjen Nielsen: Lack of US Election Systems Backup Poses National Security Risk
Kirstjen Nielsen

Kirstjen Nielsen, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has said that the lack of a mechanism to audit election results in certain U.S. states poses a “national security concern,” Reuters reported Wednesday.

Nielsen, an inductee into the 2018 Wash100, told the Senate Intelligence Committee that states should use paper ballot backups for electronic voting systems to prevent hackers from tampering with election results.

New Jersey, Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana and South Carolina do not have verifiable paper ballot backup in their voting systems, but some plan to acquire such platforms to support audits.

Eight other states have electoral districts that lack paper backups.

Nielsen appeared before the committee alongside former DHS chief Jeh Johnson to describe DHS’ efforts to boost election systems security following the 2016 presidential election.

Nielsen and Johnson believe high-level Russian leaders were involved in an attempt to interfere with the 2016 election.

The incumbent DHS secretary said the department worked to identify the right state election authorities to contact regarding threat information sharing — a capacity that DHS did not have in 2016.

Nielsen added that more than half of U.S. states sought DHS’ cyber scanning services to identify potential vulnerabilities.

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House Bill Would Establish AI National Security Commission
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House Bill Would Establish AI National Security Commission


House Bill Would Establish AI National Security CommissionRep. Elise Stefanik (R-New York) has introduced a bill that would establish an independent commission to review artificial intelligence technology advancements and identify the country’s AI needs.

The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence Act of 2018 would also require the future group to recommend strategies for the White House and Congress to facilitate AI adoption in the federal government, the House Armed Services Committee said Wednesday.

“AI has already produced many things in use today, including web search, object recognition in photos or videos, prediction models, self-driving cars, and automated robotics,” said Stefanik.

“It is critical to our national security but also to the development of our broader economy that the United States becomes the global leader in further developing this cutting edge technology,” she added.

The commission would provide AI-focused recommendations encompassing competitiveness, technological advantage, cooperation, research investment, workforce and education, international law and data privacy.

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NIST Unveils Draft Guide on ‘Cyber Resilient’ Systems Development
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NIST Unveils Draft Guide on ‘Cyber Resilient’ Systems Development


NIST Unveils Draft Guide on 'Cyber Resilient' Systems DevelopmentThe National Institute of Standards and Technology has published a draft guide on how to achieve cyber resiliency across information technology systems.

NIST said Wednesday the guideline titled “Systems Security Engineering: Cyber Resiliency Considerations for the Engineering of Trustworthy Secure Systems” intends to address cyber resiliency issues relevant to organizations that are developing new IT systems as well as entities that are operating legacy IT platforms.

The document is the first in a series of publications that NIST developed to support the agency’s flagship systems security engineering guideline called “Systems Security Engineering: Considerations for a Multidisciplinary Approach in the Engineering of Trustworthy Secure Systems.”

Cyber resilient systems feature built-in security safeguards in the system architecture and design, NIST noted.

Those platforms demonstrate the capacity to withstand cyber attacks and continue to operate in a compromised state.

The draft guide includes factors that organizations should consider to achieve cyber resiliency with their existing and future IT products, systems and services.

The guideline is also designed to inform investment decisions related to cyber resiliency.

NIST will accept feedback on the draft guide until May 18.

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