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OMB Seeks IT Specialist for Data Mgmt
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OMB Seeks IT Specialist for Data Mgmt


OMB Seeks IT Specialist for Data MgmtThe Office of Management and Budget has kicked off its search for an information technology specialist who will work within the budget analysis and systems branch of OMB’s budget review division.

A USAJobs notice posted Thursday stated that the IT specialist will fulfill analytical and management duties related to the planning, development, implementation and administration of data in OMB’s MAX database.

The MAX Budget System is designed to help federal agencies prepare the president’s budget and help OMB carry out a range of budget collection and decision support-related work.

The IT specialist will oversee the design, implementation, monitoring, maintenance, tuning, administration and access management for the MAX database environment.

The incumbent will also create standards, policies and procedures for MAX database environment and provide in-house expertise on database concepts.

OMB could hire more than one IT specialist if additional vacancies come up.

The agency will accept applications through June 1.

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MDA Conducts Ground-Based Ballistic Missile Defense Intercept Trial
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MDA Conducts Ground-Based Ballistic Missile Defense Intercept Trial


MDA Conducts Ground-Based Ballistic Missile Defense Intercept TrialThe Missile Defense Agency conducted an initial live-fire test Tuesday of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense platform component of the ballistic missile defense system.

MDA said Tuesday a land-based interceptor that launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California used its exo-atmospheric kill vehicle to intercept and destroy an intercontinental ballistic missile that took off from a test site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

During the test, the GMD system devised a fire control strategy to intercept the ICBM target through the use of tracking data received from the Command, Control, Battle Management and Communication platform.

The Sea-Based X-band radar system located in the Pacific Ocean also assisted the GMD platform to acquire data and monitor the target.

MDA worked with the U.S. Air Force’s 30th space wing, U.S. Northern Command and the Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense to perform the Flight Test Ground-Based Interceptor-15 test.

MDA will use the data from the FTG-15 test to further evaluate the GMD system’s performance.

The BMDS’ GMD element works to help U.S. combatant commanders engage long-range and intermediate ballistic missile threats.

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NSF to Award Cornell University $2.5M Grant to Develop Cryptographic Mechanisms for Software Security
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NSF to Award Cornell University $2.5M Grant to Develop Cryptographic Mechanisms for Software Security


NSF to Award Cornell University $2.5M Grant to Develop Cryptographic Mechanisms for Software SecurityThe National Science Foundation will award up to $2.5 million in federal funds to Cornell University to develop cryptographic mechanisms to secure software platforms.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York) said in a statement published Friday that Cornell will create cryptographic systems with the use of a programming language and the Viaduct platform.

Viaduct is designed to convert collected protocols into primitive cryptographic building blocks that create machine-checkable security systems.

Cornell University will conduct demonstrations, tutorials and workshops to advocate the product’s usage and demonstrate its capacity to offer end-to-end synthesis.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said the funds will help Cornell develop systems that can protect personal information from potential hacker attacks.

“I will continue to support more federal funding for scientific research at our colleges and universities, so that more young people can be inspired to do research,” said Gillibrand.

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CBO: VA Accountability & Whistleblower Protection Act Would Increase Costs by $3M Through 2022
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CBO: VA Accountability & Whistleblower Protection Act Would Increase Costs by $3M Through 2022


CBO: VA Accountability & Whistleblower Protection Act Would Increase Costs by $3M Through 2022The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the implementation of the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 would increase costs by $3 million over the next five years.

A CBO report published Friday stated that the legislation would impact direct spending over the 2017-2027 period but the effects would not be significant and the bill would not affect revenues.

Enacting bill would not raise net direct spending or on-budget deficits in the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028, according to the report.

CBO also found that the legislation does not include intergovernmental or private-sector mandates and would not affect state, local or tribal government budgets.

A section of the bill seeks to shorten all stages of the appeals process for actions against VA medical practitioners, which would cost $2 million over the 2018 to 2022 period to cover additional administrative staff, training for medical professionals and medical care for VA patients.

VA would also be required to review and assess the impact of the bill on the department’s senior executive service personnel within two years of enactment — a move that would cost approximately $1 million over five years, CBO reported.

Sections of the bill would authorize VA to retrieve awards, bonuses and relocation expenses paid to employees if determined appropriate, which would reduce personnel costs by less than $500,000 through the 2018-2022 period.

CBO also estimated that it would cost less than $500,000 over a five-year period for VA to conduct various studies as required by the legislation.

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John Kelly: DHS Helped Protect US Computers Against WannaCry Ransomware Attack
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John Kelly: DHS Helped Protect US Computers Against WannaCry Ransomware Attack


John Kelly: DHS Helped Protect US Computers Against WannaCry Ransomware Attack
John Kelly

John Kelly, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has said a DHS-led interagency effort helped prevent the WannaCry ransomware from spreading to new computers across the U.S., Nextgov reported Wednesday.

“We defended the country from the biggest cyber onslaught in history and we were successful in keeping it out of our country with the exception of a tiny, tiny, tiny number of computers,” Kelly told a House subcommittee Wednesday.

The report said DHS’ Computer Emergency Readiness Team disseminated alerts to potential targets about imminent cyber threats and the department recommended companies and consumers to update software programs as well as install patches regularly to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.

Europol found that WannaCry affected at least 200,000 computer users around the world as well as global companies such as FedEx, Renault and Telefonica.

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G7 Leaders Urge Tech Firms to Help Address Online Extremism
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G7 Leaders Urge Tech Firms to Help Address Online Extremism


G7 Leaders Urge Tech Firms to Help Address Online ExtremismLeaders of Group of Seven member states have issued a joint declaration that calls for social networking sites and internet companies to stem the spread of terror propaganda, the Associated Press reported Friday.

State leaders signed the declaration Friday during the G7 Summit in Sicily, Italy, days after the Islamic State militant group-related suicide bombing attack in Manchester, England, that resulted in the death of 22 individuals.

Heads of the U.S., Japan, U.K., Canada, Germany, Italy and France jointly urged industry to develop and share new technology platforms designed to detect and remove content that promotes online extremism and violence, The Hill reported Friday.

Facebook has said it has collaborated with other groups to eliminate extremism-related content, while Twitter suspended in February 2016 125,000 accounts that promote terrorism, the report added.

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Senate Bill Would Establish DHS ‘Bug Bounty’ Program
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Senate Bill Would Establish DHS ‘Bug Bounty’ Program


Senate Bill Would Establish DHS 'Bug Bounty' ProgramSens. Maggie Hassan (D-New Hampshire) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) have introduced a bill that seeks to establish a bug bounty pilot program to boost the Department of Homeland Security‘s cyber defense.

The Hack Department of Homeland Security Act would require DHS to enlist “white-hat” or ethical hackers to report vulnerabilities within its networks and data systems, Hassan’s office said Friday.

The bug bounty initiative would be modeled after similar programs of the Defense Department and technology companies such as Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple as well as provide monetary rewards to participants who uncover vulnerabilities.

The legislation would also require the DHS Secretary to coordinate with the Attorney General to assure that participants will not face prosecutions for their work in the program.

Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) and Kamala Harris (D-California) also co-sponsored the bill.

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Report: Army Sees 4-Year Delay in Anti-Missile C2 System IOC Based on FY 2018 Budget Request
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Report: Army Sees 4-Year Delay in Anti-Missile C2 System IOC Based on FY 2018 Budget Request


Report: Army Sees 4-Year Delay in Anti-Missile C2 System IOC Based on FY 2018 Budget RequestThe U.S. Army’s fiscal year 2018 budget proposal indicates a possible four-year delay in the initial operational capability of the service branch’s anti-missile command-and-control platform, Defense News reported Thursday.

The service now expects to achieve IOC for the Northrop Grumman-built Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System by the third quarter of FY 2022 compared with the FY 2017 budget request in which the Army anticipated to meet IOC by the third quarter of FY 2018.

The service branch’s FY 2018 proposal also showed an increase of more than $500 million in research, development, test and evaluation funds compared with the budget request for fiscal 2017.

Dan O’Boyle, a spokesman for the Army, told Defense News in a statement issued Thursday the additional funds and revised schedule seek to facilitate integration with the Patriot software’s latest version and buy time for development, analysis and testing phases to demonstrate software functionalities.

IBCS is a component of the service’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense System designed to replace the Patriot platform and is built to be interoperable with combat platforms such as the Indirect Fire Protection Capability system that works against artillery and rockets, the report added.

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Lawmakers Urge Sens. Ron Johnson, Claire McCaskill to Mark Up Federal IT Modernization Bill
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Lawmakers Urge Sens. Ron Johnson, Claire McCaskill to Mark Up Federal IT Modernization Bill


Lawmakers Urge Sens. Ron Johnson, Claire McCaskill to Mark Up Federal IT Modernization BillFour senators have asked Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri), the committee’s ranking member, to mark up a bipartisan bill that would allow federal agencies to establish their own working capital funds to upgrade their information technology systems.

The lawmakers said in a letter published Wednesday the Modernizing Government Technology Act of 2017 also seeks to create a centralized modernization fund within the Treasury Department that would be managed by a board of federal IT experts.

They said reporting the proposed legislation out of the Senate panel would help advance national security objectives.

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) co-wrote the letter with Sens. Tom Udall (D-New Mexico), Steve Daines (R-Montana) and Mark Warner (D-Virginia).

The senators wrote the letter a week after the House passed a companion bill to the MGT Act by a voice vote.

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DoD Seeks $259M to Speed Up Multi-Object Kill Vehicle Devt
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DoD Seeks $259M to Speed Up Multi-Object Kill Vehicle Devt


DoD Seeks $259M to Speed Up Multi-Object Kill Vehicle DevtThe Defense Department‘s budget request will allocate $259 million to accelerate the development of a kill vehicle for the U.S. military to intercept multiple enemy warheads, Defense One reported Friday.

The budget request will fund a new development phase for the Multi-Object Kill Vehicle and shorten the program’s projected completion date by five years, according to the report.

An unnamed official from the Missile Defense Agency told the publication that MDA seeks to have a demonstrated MOKV platform by 2025 through accelerated risk reduction and product development phases.

The official added the decision is “not in response to any specific intelligence, but to stay ahead of potential future threats,” the report stated.

 

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