/
Report: VA Outlines Efforts to Address Inspector General’s 33 Cybersecurity Recommendations
Published on
Report: VA Outlines Efforts to Address Inspector General’s 33 Cybersecurity Recommendations


Report: VA Outlines Efforts to Address Inspector General’s 33 Cybersecurity RecommendationsThe Department of Veterans Affairs’ office of information and technology has asked VA’s inspector general to close 18 out of 33 recommendations since it has implemented measures to update its information security efforts, Federal News Radio reported Friday.

The office’s statement is in response to the IG’s Federal Information Security Management Act audit report for fiscal 2016, which found that VA failed to address cybersecurity weaknesses for 18 consecutive years.

OI&T said VA updated information systems that require authority to operate by the end of calendar year 2016 and that the department’s enterprise cybersecurity strategy team has begun to implement the authorizations approach in compliance with the Office of Management and Budget’s updated Circular A-130.

VA said ECST also has made changes to its password management efforts, such as the implementation of single sign-on measures and use of smart identity cards.

The department also expects to fully field an event management and security incident tool and ensure that patches and security vulnerabilities are addressed by June 30.

VA also expects to address eight recommendations by Sept. 30 and the remaining five by the end of December.

“As VA provides documentation to support the corrective actions taken on any recommendation, we will review it and make the determination on whether we can close that recommendation,” Linda Halliday, VA’s deputy inspector general, told the station in an email.

Reports: House Committee Drafts $658B Fiscal 2018 Defense Appropriations Bill
Published on
Reports: House Committee Drafts $658B Fiscal 2018 Defense Appropriations Bill


Reports: House Committee Drafts $658B Fiscal 2018 Defense Appropriations BillThe House Appropriations Committee has unveiled a $658.1 billion draft spending bill that would allocate $584.2 billion in discretionary funds to the Defense Department for the government’s 2018 fiscal year and another $73.9 billion in war funds, The Hill reported Sunday.

The panel’s proposed defense budget is $18.4 billion more than the amount stated in President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2018 budget blueprint, according to the newspaper.

“This legislation is a step forward in rebuilding our military and ensuring our nation is ready to meet any new or existing threat,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-New Jersey).

Defense News reported the bill includes $149 billion for the procurement of military weapons and equipment and $21.5 billion for the construction of 11 new U.S. Navy ships.

The legislation would also help DoD buy additional aircraft such as 84 F-35 jets from Lockheed Martin; 56 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from Lockheed’s Sikorsky subsidiary; 12 MQ-1 Gray Eagle drones from General Atomics; and 24 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, seven P-8A Poseidons and 15 KC-46 Pegasus tankers from Boeing.

/
NIST, University Partner to Demo Atmospheric Gas Mapping, Scanning Tech
Published on
NIST, University Partner to Demo Atmospheric Gas Mapping, Scanning Tech


NIST, University Partner to Demo Atmospheric Gas Mapping, Scanning TechThe National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Colorado Boulder have demonstrated a portable ground-based system designed to scan and map atmospheric gas plumes.

NIST said Friday the “comb and copter” system has potential to search for leaks in gas and oil fields as well as examine the combination of auto emissions and other gases in an area between the earth’s surface and the next layer of the atmosphere.

The agency partnered with unmanned aircraft researchers from the University of Colorado’s Integrated Remote and In Situ Sensing team to fly the instrument on a multi-copter and measure location, temperature, air pressure and path length of gas concentrations.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency helped fund the development of the laser instrument equipped with a pair of frequency combs that work to identify and analyze gases based on absorbed light.

/
DHS, Google Subsidiary Launch Challenge to Improve Passenger Screening Algorithm
Published on
DHS, Google Subsidiary Launch Challenge to Improve Passenger Screening Algorithm


DHS, Google Subsidiary Launch Challenge to Improve Passenger Screening AlgorithmThe Department of Homeland Security has kicked off a challenge for the data science community to help optimize algorithms used by the Transportation Security Administration to check passenger body scans for potential threats, GCN reported Friday.

DHS teamed up with Google-owned company Kaggle on the Passenger Screening Algorithm Challenge, which seeks algorithms that can automatically identify concealed items as passengers walk through scanners, the report stated.

Participants will be given access to a set of images of volunteers that were collected using the High Definition-Advanced Imaging Technology screening system.

Challengers must predict the presence of threats under various objects, clothing and body types.

The challenge offers a total of $1.5 million in prizes to eight winners, including $500,000 for the first place winner.

The final submission deadline is on Dec. 15.

/
DARPA to Host Event on National Security Challenges, Technologies
Published on
DARPA to Host Event on National Security Challenges, Technologies

DARPA to Host Event on National Security Challenges, TechnologiesThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency will host a two-day event on Aug. 2 to 3 in Arlington, Virginia to discuss the Strategic Technology Office’s mission, problem spaces and technology interests with industry.

DARPA said Friday the Sync with STO event seeks to foster discussion between STO program managers and technologists on ways to address national security challenges.

“We look forward to engaging with a wide spectrum of technology companies, university researchers, and other technologists who can provide unique insights and advanced commercial technologies that could be applied in new ways to achieve STO’s vision,” said STO Director Tom Burns.

“We are especially interested in hearing from small, innovative, tech-savvy companies or research teams that have never worked with us before,” Burns added.

STO seeks to develop technologies in five areas including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; battle management; command and control; communications and networking; and electronic warfare.

Sync with STO will involve two workshop sessions wherein DARPA PMs and attendees will work together to assess military challenges and create potential technology solutions.

Discussions will focus on identifying ways to mitigate strategic U.S. military challenges; unconventional global security problems; and challenges associated with design, deployment and operation of complex and adaptive technologies, DARPA noted.

Interested participants can register for the event until July 17.

/
Senate Bill Seeks to Advance Traffic Management, Federal Spectrum Policy for Drones
Published on
Senate Bill Seeks to Advance Traffic Management, Federal Spectrum Policy for Drones


Senate Bill Seeks to Advance Traffic Management, Federal Spectrum Policy for DronesFour senators have introduced a bipartisan bill that would direct the secretary of the Transportation Department to collaborate with NASA to establish within a year an implementation plan to help drone traffic management attain full operational capability.

The Safe DRONE Act of 2017 would also call for DOT secretary to advance the development of a trained unmanned aerial systems workforce through the establishment of a consortium of technical and community colleges that will train students for UAS-related career opportunities, Sen. Mark Warner’s (D-Virginia) office said Thursday.

The measure would create an interagency working group that would be responsible for the creation of a federal policy designed to address spectrum and communications requirements to facilitate the integration of drones into the national airspace system.

Lawmakers also proposed a $14 million budget for UAS research and development efforts and extend congressional authorization of Federal Aviation Administration-designated drone test sites through fiscal 2024.

The legislation would ask Congress to authorize FAA to continue to implement registration requirement for small drones and support FAA policies that seek to facilitate use of UAS in search-and-rescue operations and other emergency response missions.

Warner proposed the bill with John Hoeven (R-North Dakota), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada) and Dean Heller (R-Nevada).

/
GAO: Pentagon Works on Organizational Strategy
Published on
GAO: Pentagon Works on Organizational Strategy


GAO: Pentagon Works on Organizational StrategyThe Defense Department has moved to form a strategy that would define objectives to support collaboration and integration across DoD, as part of the requirements under section 911 of the fiscal year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act.

The Government Accountability Office said Friday DoD expects to complete the development of its organizational strategy by Sept. 1.

Section 911 also requires DoD to train officials within the office of the secretary of defense, who were appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, as well as award a contract to study practices for cross-functional teams.

DoD officials told GAO that the department plans to use existing approaches and establish additional methods to train OSD officials on leadership, organizational practice, collaboration and operation of cross-functional teams within three months of appointment.

The department issued a contract to explore leading practices for cross-functional teams on June 9, which is past the March 15 deadline set by section 911, according to the government watchdog agency.

Officials reported that DoD did not have enough funds to award the contract by the required date due to a delay in the passage of a defense appropriations bill for FY 2017.

DoD aims to submit results of the study to Congress in August.

/
DHS Grants to Support Community-Led Counterterrorism Efforts
Published on
DHS Grants to Support Community-Led Counterterrorism Efforts


DHS Grants to Support Community-Led Counterterrorism EffortsThe Department of Homeland Security has awarded $10 million in total grants to 26 local law enforcement and community organizations that aim to help the government combat terrorism and radicalization.

DHS said Friday the Countering Violent Extremism program will fund community-led initiatives to identify and stop terrorist recruitment and extremist activities as well as deter individuals from engaging in criminal behavior or terrorist plotting.

The initiatives will also address terrorist messaging and help local law enforcement intervene to keep the youth from radicalization, DHS added.

DHS’ Office for Community Partnerships will work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to execute the CVE grant program, which Congress established in December 2015.

The full list of awardees is posted on DHS’ website.

/
Rear Adm. Samuel Paparo Assigned as Navy Carrier Strike Group 10 Commander
Published on
Rear Adm. Samuel Paparo Assigned as Navy Carrier Strike Group 10 Commander


Rear Adm. Samuel Paparo Assigned as Navy Carrier Strike Group 10 Commander
Samuel Paparo

Rear Adm. Samuel Paparo, a U.S. Navy corporate fellow at Lockheed Martin, has been appointed to serve as commander of Carrier Strike Group 10 in Norfolk, Virginia, the Defense Department said Friday.

Paparo joined the Navy in 1987 and has supported Lockheed’s efforts to develop long-range objectives and strategic plans since August 2016 through the identification of internal and external factors that could affect corporate growth and innovation.

The 30-year naval officer previously held the roles of executive assistant to the chief of naval operations, executive assistant to the commander of the U.S. Fleet Forces Command and branch head within the service branch’s programming and assessment directorate.

He also led the Carrier Air Wing 7, Strike Fighter Squadron 106, Strike Fighter Squadron 195 and Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan.

Paparo holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Villanova University and master’s degrees from the Old Dominion University and Naval Postgraduate School.

/
Report: Trump Discusses Emerging Tech With Telecom, UAS Company Execs
Published on
Report: Trump Discusses Emerging Tech With Telecom, UAS Company Execs


Report: Trump Discusses Emerging Tech With Telecom, UAS Company ExecsPresident Donald Trump met with venture capitalists and leaders of telecommunications and unmanned aerial systems companies to discuss how the government can help industry bring emerging technologies to market, Reuters reported Thursday.

The meeting included executives of AT&T, General Electric, PrecisionHawk, Kespry, AirMap, Airspace, Measure UAS, Trumbull Unmanned, Verizon Communications and CenturyLink, among others, the report noted.

The president said he aims to give companies the “competitive advantage” they need as well as help industry create new companies and jobs.

UAS vendors told Trump that the government should approve a broader commercial use of drones.

On Monday, Trump also convened business leaders of 18 technology firms including Amazon, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, Adobe Systems, Alphabet and Apple to talk about ways to optimize government computing systems.

Trump is slated to meet energy industry executives next week as part of an effort to gain industry leaders’ perspective on ways to increase U.S. competitiveness in various fields.

1 … 2,299 2,300 2,301 2,302 2,303 … 2,712