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DISA Director Discusses Need to Improve DOD Cyber Measures
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DISA Director Discusses Need to Improve DOD Cyber Measures

The director of the Defense Information Systems Agency said the Department of Defense needs to enhance its cybersecurity measures and technologies to counter threats and protect critical networks.

Speaking at the 2024 Department of the Air Force Information Technology & Cyberpower Conference, DISA Director Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner, a 2024 Wash100 awardee, highlighted how optimizing operations and industry collaboration can help secure the U.S. cyber landscape in the coming years, noting that data breaches in 2023 rose 72 percent and the cost of cybercrime is expected to increase to over $10 trillion in 2026, DISA said Friday.

Skinner emphasized the importance of integrating identity management into the DOD network, saying that “identity is at the heart of zero trust.”

He asked industry to deliver artificial intelligence capabilities that address risk management framework challenges and accelerate the civilian hiring process to help overcome the shortage of cybersecurity professionals.

“The problems we’re running into and are going to run into aren’t getting any easier,” said Skinner. “So that’s my ask to industry, is continue driving forth on critical thinking and see where we can improve.”

Skinner, who also serves as commander of the Joint Force Headquarters-DOD Information Network, discussed ongoing efforts to protect the DODIN. He said the DOD controls access at internet access points but the effort is not enough, pointing to the delay in implementing Comply-to-Connect protocols.

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OPIR Missile Warning System Payload Delivered to Lockheed Facility
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OPIR Missile Warning System Payload Delivered to Lockheed Facility

RTX company Raytheon has delivered to Lockheed Martin the first of two Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared Missile Warning Program satellite payloads meant for deployment to geosynchronous Earth orbit.

The payload—dubbed Next-Gen OPIR sensing in Geosynchronous Earth Orbit 1, or NGG-1—will now undergo integration with its satellite’s bus at Lockheed’s facility in Sunnyvale, California, where it will subsequently be subjected to further testing, Space Systems Command said Friday. The payload had previously undergone thermal vacuum chamber testing at Raytheon’s facility in El Segundo from late April through early August.

NGG-1 is on track for initial launch capability by December 2025. Once operational, it will provide strategic missile warning capabilities — including against hypersonic weapons — alongside OPIR sensors in a highly elliptical orbit.

Commenting on the effort, SSC NGG Program Mission Payloads section chief Capt. Christian Pung said, “Next-Gen OPIR capabilities will ensure we maintain an asymmetric advantage against adversarial threats.”

“Our advancements in early warning capabilities strengthen our ability to track incoming missiles and deter their potential effects throughout all phases of a conflict. I look forward to our team of military, civilian, Federally Funded Research and Development Center, and industry partners continuing to work together to keep ahead of threats and future conflicts in space,” Pung added.

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CDC Taps Leidos for $51M Health Safety Network Modernization Contract
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CDC Taps Leidos for $51M Health Safety Network Modernization Contract

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has awarded Leidos a five-year, $51 million contract to provide technical support for the agency’s healthcare safety network.

Under the National Healthcare Safety Network, or NHSN, Development, Maintenance, Support and Modernization contract, Leidos will continue its ongoing work operating and evolving the NHSN platform through data management and software development, among other duties, the Reston, Virginia-based company announced Tuesday.

Liz Porter, president of Leidos’ health and civil business, said, “NHSN is a critical cornerstone in enhancing patient safety and healthcare delivery across the U.S.”

The NHSN application transfers electronic messaging directly from electronic health records, provides case-by-case infection prevention and provides users insights into healthcare facility capacities. The platform also tracks vaccination uptake in healthcare settings, monitors blood safety abberation and aims to help mitigate contagious outbreaks. 

“Since the inception of NHSN in 2003, our collaboration with the CDC has empowered over 160,000 users at more than 38,000 facilities with reliable and actionable data,” Porter stated. “Our combined efforts ensure the secure transmission of healthcare data across evolving sites of care, driving improvements in patient outcomes and fostering system modernization and efficiency.”

The CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases authorized the NHSN contract.

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Army’s Doug Bush Signs Memo to Require Software Bills of Materials in Related Contracts
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Army’s Doug Bush Signs Memo to Require Software Bills of Materials in Related Contracts

Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, has signed a memorandum that directs the U.S. Army’s procurement community to start including contract language requiring vendors to produce and deliver software bills of materials, or SBOMs, for all covered computer software, Federal News Network reported Monday.

The memo signed Aug. 16 provides the Army with 90 days to work on implementation guidance for SBOMs, including sample contract language and sample data item descriptions.

Upon the guidance’s release, individual program offices will have another 90 days to incorporate SBOM contract language for covered software, including for subcontractors.

In the memo, Bush, a previous Wash100 awardee, wrote that the government has a shared responsibility when it comes to managing supply chain risks.

“Software is a subset of SCRM risk and SCRM is to be conducted on systems throughout their lifecycle. Army Directive 2024-02 (Enabling Modern Software Development and Acquisition Practices) emphasizes the Army’s reliance on software and the importance of understanding the risks systems can introduce to a network and how to mitigate those risks to the greatest extent possible,” he added.

The new policy does not include cloud services.

According to the report, the service expects to have the new rules for the SBOM contract language in place by February 2025.

In late 2022, the Army solicited industry feedback on how to collect and use SBOMs to help improve the security of its software supply chains and comply with the policies codified in the May 2021 executive order on cybersecurity.

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Newly Adopted FCC Rules Allow Drone Operators to Use 5 GHz Band
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Newly Adopted FCC Rules Allow Drone Operators to Use 5 GHz Band

The Federal Communications Commission has adopted initial rules allowing emergency and commercial operations of uncrewed aircraft systems in the 5 GHz spectrum band for wireless communications. 

Under the new rules, drone operators can obtain direct frequency assignments in a portion of the 5030 MHz to 5091 MHz band for non-networked operations to provide UAS flights with reliable two-way communications to ensure safe drone integration into the U.S. National Airspace System, the FCC said Thursday.

The rules rely on dynamic frequency management systems to manage and coordinate access to the spectrum.

To enable operations in the band during the period before the systems are in operation, UAS operators can submit a request to the Federal Aviation Administration for deconfliction and approval.

Upon FAA authorization, applicants should complete an online registration form with the FCC. 

The interim mechanism will be made available to operators after the rules become effective and the FCC announces that it will begin accepting registrations.

The commission adopted the initial rules after it sought feedback on its proposed use of the 5 GHz spectrum for drone operations amid the increasing use of unmanned aircraft in the United States for various applications, including search and rescue missions, infrastructure inspections, medicine delivery and news gathering.

According to the FCC, providing a dedicated frequency band for drones will avoid interference with other wireless devices.

“The FCC is working hard to meet the spectrum needs of remote-piloted aircraft activity,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “We will continue to work with our public and private partners to support the best outcomes for public safety, wireless services, consumers, and our economy.”

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CISA Bolsters Cyber Incident Reporting Service With New Web Portal
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CISA Bolsters Cyber Incident Reporting Service With New Web Portal

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has launched a new portal as part of its efforts to improve cyber incident reporting.

The CISA Services Portal and Voluntary Cyber Incident Reporting webpage integrates with login.gov credentials and lets users file, save, update, search and filter reports; share reports with colleagues or clients; and engage in informal discussions with CISA, the agency said Thursday.

A voluntary cyber incident reporting resource has also been issued to guide users through the reporting process.

Commenting on the launch of the webpage, CISA Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity Jeff Greene said the agency “is excited to make available our new portal with improved functionality and features for cyber reporting.”

Greene also underscored the importance of incident reporting, saying, “Any organization experiencing a cyber attack or incident should report it – for its own benefit, and to help the broader community. CISA and our government partners have unique resources and tools to aid with response and recovery, but we can’t help if we don’t know about an incident.”

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US AI Safety Institute Inks Research & Testing Agreements With OpenAI, Anthropic
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US AI Safety Institute Inks Research & Testing Agreements With OpenAI, Anthropic

The U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute within the National Institute of Standards and Technology has signed agreements with Anthropic and OpenAI to facilitate collaboration on AI safety research, testing and assessment.

NIST said Thursday the memorandum of understanding signed with the two companies will provide the U.S. AI Safety Institute access to new AI models before and after their public launch and will help advance research to assess the capabilities and safety risks of such tools and develop methods to mitigate risks.

“Safety is essential to fueling breakthrough technological innovation. With these agreements in place, we look forward to beginning our technical collaborations with Anthropic and OpenAI to advance the science of AI safety,” said Elizabeth Kelly, director of the U.S. AI Safety Institute.

The institute also intends to provide the two companies with feedback on potential safety improvements to their AI models.

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DISA CTO Shares Advice on How Small Businesses Can Achieve Contracting Success With the Government
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DISA CTO Shares Advice on How Small Businesses Can Achieve Contracting Success With the Government

Defense Information Systems Agency Chief Technology Officer Steve Wallace spoke during a panel at the recent AFCEA Small Business Workshop in Augusta, Georgia, where he offered small businesses advice on how to best engage and land contracts with the government.

Wallace, who also serves as director of the Emerging Technology Directorate, recommended collaboration with DISA’s Office of Small Business Programs, which is overseen by Carlen Capenos, the office’s director, according to a news article posted Wednesday on the DISA website.

Understanding the needs of government agencies is key for small businesses, and in the case of DISA, OSBP will “get you exposure within the agency and let you know what’s coming,” Wallace said.

Understanding various ways of collaboration, like broad agency announcements, commercial solutions openings and other transaction authorities, are also important. Concerning the latter, Wallace commented, “The beauty of OTAs is that they allow a lot more interactivity between us and the vendor community.”

Building partnerships with prime contractors can also be helpful to small businesses, especially in cases where they lack higher-level security clearance. The DISA CTO said his agency previously worked with companies that had never done business with the government because of their relationship with prime contractors.

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Carlos Del Toro: Access to Technical Data Could Help Navy Reduce Sustainment Costs
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Carlos Del Toro: Access to Technical Data Could Help Navy Reduce Sustainment Costs

Carlos Del Toro, secretary of the Navy and a 2024 Wash100 awardee, said the Department of the Navy is working to reduce sustainment costs and industry could help by providing DON access to technical data required to maintain its weapons systems.

In an opinion piece published Wednesday on Defense One, the Navy secretary wrote that the department’s contracting workforce knows that access to technical data rights is a “must have” in procurement contracts.

“When the DON’s General Counsel convened the Taxpayer Advocacy Project two years ago to identify legal tools to protect DON interests in acquisition and sustainment, the team noted that obtaining the technical data for certain aircraft programs would help facilitate cost reductions,” Del Toro noted.

In the piece, he mentions how the U.S. Marine Corps exercised its legal right to gain access to technical data packages in order to maintain a new generation of tactical equipment.

Del Toro also cited industry’s role in supporting the defense industrial base, particularly the submarine industrial base, through investments in shipyards and shipbuilding programs.

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ARPA-H Seeking Capabilities to Detect AI Medical Tools’ Degrading Performance
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ARPA-H Seeking Capabilities to Detect AI Medical Tools’ Degrading Performance

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health has launched a new program to develop capabilities that can detect and correct performance degradation of artificial intelligence-enabled medical tools.

The technologies developed under the Performance and Reliability Evaluation for Continuous Modifications and Useability [sic] of Artificial Intelligence—or PRECISE-AI—program can reportedly help maintain AI tools’ peak performance, making them more beneficial to clinicians and patients, ARPA-H said.

PRECISE-AI will develop techniques to analyze AI tools and pinpoint the root causes of performance deterioration, the agency described. It will also create a system to alert clinicians, developers, hospital administrators and regulators when performance degradation happens.

According to PRECISE-AI Program Manager Berkman Sahiner, the program will work on an optimal strategy to detect and mitigate AI model performance degradation and allow clinicians to provide better patient care.

To support the project, ARPA-H will conduct a solicitation for AI experts, health information specialists and clinicians to advance the required novel capabilities.

Depending on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds, the government expects to make multiple awards under the upcoming solicitation.

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