The U.S. military has started to roll out Lockheed Martin-developed anti-missile defense systems in South Korea following four ballistic missiles launches from North Korea, Reuters reported Tuesday.

James Pearson and Ju-min Park write the U.S. military has initiated the deployment of  Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense interceptors to South Korea amidst North Korean missile launches that landed in the sea off Japan’s northwest region.

Lockheed’s THAAD platform is designed to intercept missiles inside and outside the atmosphere as well as defend population centers and high value infrastructure.

“Japan and the U.S. confirmed that the latest North Korean missile launches were clearly against U.N. resolutions and a clear provocation against the regional and international community,” said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The report noted that officials from the U.S. and Japan have also called for a United Nations Security Council meeting to discuss the North Korean missile launch activity.

South Korea and the U.S. agreed to deploy THAAD units on the Korean Peninsula last year in response to North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

Gregory Brower, former deputy general counsel in FBI‘s office of the general counsel, will assume the role of assistant director for the bureau’s office of congressional affairs.

FBI said Friday the appointment is effective early March.

Brower, who joined the bureau in 2016 after seven years as a partner at law firm Snell and Wilmer, has also served as the U.S. attorney for Nevada and legislative counsel of the Justice Department‘s Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys.

He taught national security law and trial advocacy as an adjunct professor at the University of Nevada’s William S. Boyd School of Law in Las Vegas from 2012 to 2015 and was also inspector general then general counsel of the U.S. Government Publishing Office.

Prior to practicing law, Brower was a surface warfare officer with the U.S. Navy.

He earned his law degree from The George Washington University Law School in 1992.

Michael Kratsios, former chief of staff at investment firm Thiel Capital, has been named  as the White House’s deputy chief technology officer, TechCrunch reported Friday.

Kate Conger writes Kratsios succeeded former deputy CTO Alexander Macgillivray.

Kratsios previously worked as chief financial officer of investment management company Clarium Capital Management and as an analyst at Lyford Group International and Barclays Capital.

The report said President Donald Trump has yet to appoint an individual who will succeed Megan Smith in the role of federal CTO.

The CTO works with the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy on issues related to data, innovation and technology policy.

The Government Accountability Office has called on the General Services Administration and Office of Management and Budget to establish procedures that will help verify if real property disposal reports offer data as intended.

GAO said in a report published Thursday it determined GSA’s Federal Real Property Profile and OMB’s report on FRPP disposal data for fiscal years 2014 and 2015 as generally reliable sources for reports on real property disposals.

The FRPP acts as a building inventory database for federal agencies and offers disposal information such as disposal date, disposal method and buildings’ square footage data.

GAO recommended that GSA implement a data validation procedure to help mitigate multiple reporting of disposed buildings.

The congressional watchdog also found that OMB’s report on FRPP disposal data for fiscal years 2014 and 2015 had inconsistencies that led to small differences in the number of reported buildings.

“OMB, GSA and selected federal agencies have taken steps to improve government-wide real-property data and additional opportunities exist to make further improvements to data and reporting on disposed buildings,” GAO noted.

Sens. Gary Peters (D-Michigan) and David Perdue (R-Georgia) have introduced a bill that would require the Department of Homeland Security to help state and local authorities address cyber threats, Nextgov reported Thursday.

Joseph Marks writes the bill would direct the DHS’ main cyber operations unit to cooperate with non-federal government officials in efforts to identify potential cyber vulnerabilities in agency systems upon request.

The legislation also calls for DHS’ National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center to offer information to state and local officials about policies for incident response and cyber-related personal privacy and civil liberties.

“State and local governments face unique cybersecurity threats that can endanger critical infrastructure, as well as residents’ sensitive personal and financial data,” said Peters.

Peters and Perdue drafted the bill in response to public concerns over state and local governments’ capacity to defend critical infrastructure and citizen data from cyber attacks.