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NIST Unveils Criticality Analysis Guidance Draft
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NIST Unveils Criticality Analysis Guidance Draft


NIST Unveils Criticality Analysis Guidance DraftThe National Institute of Standards and Technology has released draft guidance meant to help public and private sector entities identify system elements that must remain active in order to fulfill organizational missions.

NIST said Monday its Criticality Analysis Process Model document offers a step-by-step guide on how to analyze critical parts of a system and seeks to help organizations maintain infrastructure and functions without exceeding previously set budgets.

“This draft report shows people how to perform a criticality analysis that’s tailored to their organization,” said Jon Boyens, an NIST cybersecurity expert and co-author of the report.

“We are developing this for the government, but we want it to be friendly and useful for the private sector,” Boyens added.

NIST noted that criticality analysis helps identify high-value assets and modify traditional risk assessment procedures to help prepare an organization for what potential threats can do.

The agency will collect public feedback on the guidance through Aug. 18.

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Capt. Scott Moran Named NRL Commanding Officer as Capt. Mark Bruington Retires
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Capt. Scott Moran Named NRL Commanding Officer as Capt. Mark Bruington Retires


Capt. Scott Moran Named NRL Commanding Officer as Capt. Mark Bruington Retires
Scott Moran

Capt. Scott Moran, a career aviator with the U.S. Navy, has assumed command of the Naval Research Laboratory as former NRL Commanding Officer Capt. Mark Bruington retires from service.

NRL said Friday Moran took over as the 39th commanding officer of the Navy’s corporate laboratory during a dual ceremony that also recognized Bruington’s 28-year military career and three-year assignment as head of NRL.

“NRL has the human capital and infrastructure needed to realize essential technological gains for our future Naval Forces,” said Moran.

“I look forward to continuing the great work that Captain Bruington put into motion to improve upon NRL’s already incredible capabilities.”

Moran has experience in defense acquisition through shore tours with assignments in program management, requirements generation as well as test and evaluation.

He was deputy commander of an Iraq-based joint unit that fielded, tested and maintained systems that work to counter radio-controlled improvised explosive devices.

He held operational command of an aircraft carrier-based electronic attack squadron and flew the Northrop Grumman-built EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft during combat tours for the Navy.

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22 Universities to Receive NASA R&D Funds, Flight Opportunities
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22 Universities to Receive NASA R&D Funds, Flight Opportunities


22 Universities to Receive NASA R&D Funds, Flight OpportunitiesNASA will award grants to 22 universities to research and develop technology in areas such as remote sensing, nanotechnology, astrophysics and aeronautics.

The agency said Friday it may incorporate research results from the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research into ongoing Earth science, aeronautics and deep space exploration work.

Thirteen universities will get up to $750,000 each to carry out a three-year project while nine universities will receive approximately $900,000 and an opportunity to test their research on the International Space Station.

EPSCoR helps forge partnerships among academic institutions, industry and NASA’s research missions and programs through grants.

The list of awardees can be found on NASA’s website.

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Report: DISA to Adopt Encryption Protocol for Email Protection
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Report: DISA to Adopt Encryption Protocol for Email Protection


Report: DISA to Adopt Encryption Protocol for Email ProtectionThe Defense Information Systems Agency plans to adopt a new email gateway infrastructure by mid-2018 to support the use of an encryption protocol that works to protect e-mail messages in transit, Gizmodo reported Thursday.

Maj. Gen. Sarah Zabel, vice director of DISA, told Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) in a letter the agency is preparing an acquisition program to modernize the Defense Department‘s e-mail gateways that will aid in the STARTTLS encryption protocol implementation effort.

Wyden wrote to DISA in late March asking why DoD did not implement STARTTLS even though many federal and private organizations use the tool.

Zabel told Wyden that DISA initially opted not to use STARTTLS because the agency believed the protocol would interfere with methods to detect e-mail threats, according to the report.

He also sent a follow-up letter to the agency last week saying DoD’s aging technology has prevented the adoption of STARTTLS on a default basis.

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Kris Kobach: Presidential Commission to Keep Voter Data on White House Computers
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Kris Kobach: Presidential Commission to Keep Voter Data on White House Computers


Kris Kobach: Presidential Commission to Keep Voter Data on White House ComputersA presidential commission established through an executive order signed in May will download and store requested voter-roll data on White House computers under the guidance of Vice President Mike Pence’s office, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, vice chairman of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, disclosed the plan in a court filing in response to a lawsuit filed by the watchdog group Electronic Privacy Information Center.

EPIC asked U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to bar all voter data requests until evaluation of the potential impact on citizens’ privacy is completed.

Kollar-Kotelly was expected to decide Friday on the appeal for a temporary restraining order with regard to voter data requests.

Kobach said in the court filing that Pence chairs the presidential commission and named other members of the panel.

Those include Connie Lawson, Indiana secretary of state; Bill Gardner, New Hampshire secretary of state; Matthew Dunlap, Maine secretary of state; Ken Blackwell, former Ohio secretary of state; Christy McCormick, commissioner with the U.S. Election Assistance Commission; David Dunn, former Arkansas state representative; Mark Rhodes, clerk of Wood County, West Virginia; and Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow of the Heritage Foundation.

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Roy Kelley to Serve as Commander of Naval Air Force Atlantic
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Roy Kelley to Serve as Commander of Naval Air Force Atlantic


Roy Kelley to Serve as Commander of Naval Air Force Atlantic
Roy Kelley

Rear Adm. Roy Kelley, director of the Joint Strike Fighter Fleet Integration office, will be assigned as commander of the Naval Air Force for the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, the Defense Department said Friday.

He was appointed to his current position in April 2016 and led the integration of the Lockheed Martin-built F-35 aircraft into the service branch’s combat inventory.

Before that, Kelley served as commander of Carrier Strike Group 12 aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier and chief of Naval Air Training.

The nearly 31-year Navy veteran previously served in two command tours with Strike Fighter Squadron 102 Diamondbacks and Carrier Air Wing 7 during Operation Enduring Freedom.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Southeastern Oklahoma State University and a master’s degree in national security and strategic studies from Naval War College.

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GAO: DoD Starts Effort to Define Chemical, Biological Defense Program Infrastructure Manager’s Roles
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GAO: DoD Starts Effort to Define Chemical, Biological Defense Program Infrastructure Manager’s Roles


GAO: DoD Starts Effort to Define Chemical, Biological Defense Program Infrastructure Manager’s RolesThe Government Accountability Office has found that the Defense Department has named an infrastructure manager to oversee the Chemical and Biological Defense Program and has begun to define the manager’s responsibilities and roles through three phases.

DoD completed in October 2016 the initial phase that covers the clarification of the position’s responsibilities over the management of laboratories, support facilities and other physical infrastructure, GAO said in a report published Friday.

The second phase covers the development of a strategic investment plan, Biosafety Taskforce study, core competencies review and an infrastructure composition and disposition report.

CBDP officials told GAO that they expect phase two to conclude by the end of this year.

Phase three involves the clarification of the infrastructure manager’s responsibilities over the program’s intellectual infrastructure or the staff’s skills and knowledge, according to the report.

The agency also found that program officials will commence the last stage upon the second phase’s completion and expect to complete the final phase by the end of 2018.

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Kurt Volker Named US Special Envoy for Peace Negotiations in Ukraine
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Kurt Volker Named US Special Envoy for Peace Negotiations in Ukraine


Kurt Volker Named US Special Envoy for Peace Negotiations in Ukraine
Kurt Volker

The State Department has appointed Kurt Volker, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, as U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations.

“The United States remains fully committed to the objectives of the Minsk agreements, and I have complete confidence in Kurt to continue our efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine,” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement released Friday.

Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia agreed on a package of measures in Minsk, Belarus, in 2015 in an effort to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict that broke out when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

Volker also accompanied Tillerson on a trip to Ukraine’s capital city Kyiv where the latter met with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to reaffirm U.S. commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, Politico reported.

The report said Volker also serves as an expert in U.S. foreign and national security policy at the McCain Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank established by Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) and the Arizona State University.

Volker previously served as principal deputy assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs and director for NATO and Western Europe on the National Security Council.

House Panel Seeks $28.6B Natl Defense Restoration Fund
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House Panel Seeks $28.6B Natl Defense Restoration Fund


House Panel Seeks $28.6B Natl Defense Restoration FundThe House Appropriations Committee has passed a defense policy bill that would allocate $28.6 billion for the National Defense Restoration Fund for fiscal 2018, Breaking Defense reported Friday.

The proposed fund comprises 4.3 percent of the measure’s $658.1 billion defense budget and would be managed by the Defense Department secretary.

The House panel’s bill would authorize the DoD secretary to spend the restoration fund across seven various accounts in both overseas contingency operations and base budgets as well as inform Congress 15 days prior to allocating funds to a particular program.

The proposed fund includes $18.6 billion for the acquisition of aircraft, ships, vehicles, missile defense platforms and munitions, $7 billion for readiness efforts, $2 billion for research and development initiatives and $1 billion for service personnel.

Kay Granger (R-Texas), chair of the House committee’s defense subpanel, said the Joint Staff and Defense Secretary James Mattis are expected to present a new defense strategic review in September.

“The Defense Restoration Fund will enable the secretary to make necessary investments resulting from that review now, instead of having to wait until 2019,” Granger added.

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Army Rapid Capabilities Office Embarks on PNT, Electronic Warfare Tech Projects
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Army Rapid Capabilities Office Embarks on PNT, Electronic Warfare Tech Projects


Army Rapid Capabilities Office Embarks on PNT, Electronic Warfare Tech ProjectsThe U.S. Army‘s Rapid Capabilities Office has begun efforts to develop electronic warfare and positioning, navigation and timing technologies in a move to prepare the service branch for potential future mission challenges.

The service branch said Friday it aims to integrate an EW system into Stryker fire-support vehicles and create PNT systems for deployment in Europe.

Maj. Gen. Wilson Shoffner, director of RCO operations, said the organization also looks to build autonomous and semi-autonomous systems that can help counter evolving threats.

He added his office also collaborates with the Defense Department‘s Strategic Capabilities Office, Defense Innovation Unit Experimental and program managers to exchange feedback from soldiers who evaluate new technology platforms.

RCO also utilizes safety releases from the Army Test and Evaluation Command and materiel releases from the Army Materiel Command prior to the fielding of prototypes, according to Shoffner.

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