Brig. Gen. Loretta Reynolds, commander of the Marine Forces Cyber Command, said the U.S. Marine Corps aims to build on information warfare to invade enemies’ networks and reveal their thought processes, Marine Corps Times reported Sunday.

Matthew Schehl writes Reynolds said at a panel discussion during the Sea-Air-Space expo that information warfare goes beyond cyberdefense and involves operations to dominate the “information environment.”

“It’s also trying to get inside the enemy’s cognitive space in a way to have him make choices that you want him to make, when you want him to make it,” said Reynolds.

Reynolds added there is a need for cultural adjustment in the service branch to further address cyber threats, Schehl wrote.

Rear Adm. Kevin Lunday, training and exercises director at U.S. Cyber Command and also on the panel, said servicemen have to change mindsets and understand they are using mission platforms instead of computers.

A MeriTalk survey of 150 government information technology leaders has showed that nearly 79 percent of respondent officials are not satisfied with the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program to authorize cloud computing products for use at agencies.

MeriTalk said Monday the study also showed close to 17 percent did not include FedRAMP in their cloud considerations while 59 percent would likely use a non-compliant cloud product or service.

Fifty-five percent of federal officials and 65 percent of defense agencies do not believe FedRAMP has increased security, MeriTalk added.

Forty-one percent of respondents claim they do not not use another agency’s FedRAMP authority-to-operate, while 35 percent of agencies said they did not allow others to use their ATO and 26 percent were barred from using another agency’s ATO.

The General Services Administration launched efforts to restructure the cloud authorization program in March to address concerns, streamline the process for cloud service providers and provide provisional ATOs within three to six months.

MeriTalk noted 41 percent of government officials said they are not familiar with GSA’s plans.

Forty-seven percent want an clearinghouse where agencies can access and are required to accept all ATOs, while 27 percent recommend a change of leadership at GSA’s FedRAMP program management office, MeriTalk said.

The Federal Risk Authorization Management Program team seeks to revamp the readiness assessment process for cloud service providers in an effort to help reduce wait times for vendors seeking authorization, Federal News Radio reported Friday.

Meredith Somers writes William Hamilton, FedRAMP program manager for operations, and his team currently work to cut the assessment process from the 6-12 month time frame to the target 3-6 month duration under the FedRAMP Accelerated program.

Hamilton told a panel hosted by ISC2 in Washington that the readiness assessment process will help cloud vendors “get to our FedRAMP marketplace faster,” according to the report.

The process will require cloud companies to submit short reports and undergo reviews to address cloud issues, the station reports.

Claudio Belloli, FedRAMP program manager for cybersecurity, said the team conceived the new authorization process based on previous tours and discussions with stakeholders; architecture, engineering and cybersecurity reviews; and interviews with the Defense Department, Department of Homeland Security and the General Services Administration.

Some former and current government security officials who took part in a panel discussion held Friday in Washington believe collaboration between technology users in the public and private sectors is key to address advanced cyber threats, Fedscoop reported Friday.

Greg Otto writes Leo Scanlon, acting chief information security officer of the Department of Health and Human Services, said the Information Sharing and Analysis Center can serve as a collaborative model for companies who aim to secure their information technology systems.

“I think it’s a very effective step,” Scanlon told the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium-hosted panel discussion Friday.

“I think it’s introducing a capability that’s particularly useful in places that we don’t expect to be able to field full blown IT [security operations center] capabilities,” he added, according to the report.

The report said the Information Sharing Analysis Organization Standards Organization developed a framework for the establishment of threat data sharing hubs.

The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center has developed a system that works to troubleshoot the Improved Data Modem software which supports digital message exchange for rotary-wing aircraft.

The service branch said Thursday the IDM Systems Interoperability Lab conducted live, virtual and constructive simulation at the aviation systems integration facility of AMRDEC’s software engineering directorate to track issues in IDM.

Scott Dennis, director of the aviation systems integration facility, said IDM works to send and receive digital messages from multiple products, networks and aircraft with 11 software variations, three hardware variances and four guide documents.

Dennis added the range of involved products and versions make it a challenge to meet project objectives.

He further said SIL is designed to use virtual battlefield simulations to gauge IDM performance in real world scenarios.

SIL worked to identify three defects in the IDM version 9.2.1.1 operational flight program during its software development phase in 2015, Dennis noted.