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Denise Turner Roth: GSA Should Ensure Small Businesses Have Access to Federal Contracting Tools
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Denise Turner Roth: GSA Should Ensure Small Businesses Have Access to Federal Contracting Tools


Denise Turner Roth
Denise Turner Roth

Denise Turner Roth, head of the General Services Administration, has launched an effort to make it easier for small businesses to access data and tools related to the federal contracting process.

“We must ensure that our agency provides opportunities for suppliers across the board, most especially small, young and women-owned businesses,” Roth said Thursday during a keynote speech at a luncheon event held by the Sterling Women of Washington.

She noted that women-owned companies play a role in helping local economies grow and aims for the agency to serve as a catalyst for economic development efforts in the U.S.

GSA’s Multiple Award Schedules program generated more than $30 billion during the government’s 2014 fiscal year, according to Roth.

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GAO Finds Security Loopholes in CMS Healthcare.gov Systems
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GAO Finds Security Loopholes in CMS Healthcare.gov Systems


cyber-hack-network-computerThe Government Accountability Office has identified several vulnerabilities in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ technical controls for systems that support the federal health insurance marketplace.

GAO said Wednesday it found insufficient administrator privilege restriction, inconsistent security patch implementation and insecure administrative network configuration for Healthcare.gov supporting systems and the Federal Data Services Hub.

GAO reports that CMS did not develop a schedule for security oversight procedures and follow-up corrective actions.

The government watchdog recommends that CMS establish procedures for the oversight of state-based marketplaces and enforce continuous security monitoring for those marketplaces.

Oversight and continuous monitoring work to ensure the security and privacy of data processed through Healthcare.gov, GAO noted.

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Robert Ferrell: Army Needs More Time to Make OS Transition to Windows 10
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Robert Ferrell: Army Needs More Time to Make OS Transition to Windows 10


Robert Ferrell
Robert Ferrell

Lt. Gen. Robert Ferrell, chief information officer of the U.S. Army, estimates it will take more than one year for the military service to update its legacy computers to Microsoft‘s Windows 10 operating system, Federal News Radio reported Thursday.

Scott Maucione writes that Terry Halvorsen, the Defense Department‘s CIO and a 2016 Wash100 recipient, issued a directive in November instructing all DoD component organizations to complete their Windows 10 transition efforts by January next year.

Ferrell noted his office collaborates with Microsoft engineers to assess the branch’s current information technology platforms and to create a roadmap to implement the new OS, Maucione reports.

The report said he is also working with DoD and the Army’s industry partners to develop a mobility strategy for the military service.

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Lawfare Blog: NPPD Reorganization Plan Seeks Focus on National Cyber, Physical Infrastructure Security
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Lawfare Blog: NPPD Reorganization Plan Seeks Focus on National Cyber, Physical Infrastructure Security


cybersecurityThe Department of Homeland Security has proposed to restructure its National Protection and Programs Directorate into a new organization that will focus on addressing threats to U.S. cyber and physical systems, according to a Lawfare blog article published March 21.

Paul Rosenzweig, founder of Red Branch Consulting, reports the department has offered Congress a plan to realign NPPD functions and programs and rebrand the agency as “Cyber and Infrastructure Protection.”

The reorganization effort seeks to distribute NPPD’s acquisition, business, strategic and analytical operations into three subcomponents.

Those subcomponents will be known as the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, Infrastructure Security and Federal Protective Service.

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NOAA Launches Weather Forecast Equipment Repair Facility in Missouri; Kathryn Sullivan Comments
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NOAA Launches Weather Forecast Equipment Repair Facility in Missouri; Kathryn Sullivan Comments


NOAALogoThe National Weather Service has opened a new weather service equipment repair facility in Missouri that is leased by the General Services Administration.

The 222,000 square-foot building in Grandview will house a national logistics and reconditioning center responsible for the proper function of weather monitoring systems, GSA said Thursday.

“Each and every day, employees at this center handle critical functions that keep the national weather service systems operating,” said Kathryn Sullivan, NOAA administrator.

“Their hard work is advancing NOAA’s efforts to build a weather-ready nation by making sure the tools NOAA forecasters need to issue timely public weather warnings are always working,” Sullivan added.

Engineers and technicians at the center will develop fixes to weather tracking systems and produce repair parts for local forecasting stations throughout the country.

Pentagon Officials Select 2016 National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellows
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Pentagon Officials Select 2016 National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellows


PentagonDefense Department officials have announced the fifteen university faculty scientists and engineers selected in the 2016 class of National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellows.

Among the list are members of National Academies, five winners of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and a Nobel Prize laureate, DoD said Thursday.

“The program awards grants to top-tier researchers from U.S. universities to conduct long-term, unclassified, basic research of strategic importance to the Defense Department,” said Melissa Flagg, deputy assistant secretary of defense for research.

“These grants engage outstanding scientists and engineers in the most challenging technical issues facing the department.”

Members of the 2016 class of National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellows are:

  • Scott Aaronson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Quantum Algorithms
  • Oscar Bruno, California Institute of Technology, Applied Math/Electromagnetism
  • Marc De Graef, Carnegie Mellon University, Structural Materials
  • Steve Elgar, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Oceanography
  • Julia Greer, California Institute of Technology, Nano-architected Meta-materials
  • Ali Jadbabaie, University Of Pennsylvania, Applied Math/Network Science
  • Mark Kasevich, Stanford University, Quantum Sensing
  • Wolfgang Ketterle, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Quantum Emulation
  • Daniel Koditschek, University Of Pennsylvania, Applied Math/Robotics
  • Ying-Cheng Lai, Arizona State University, Applied Math/Quantum Nonlinear Dynamics
  • Jennifer Lewis, Harvard University, Manufacturing Science
  • Aude Oliva, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Hongkun Park, Harvard University, Functional Materials
  • Susanne Stemmer, University of California Santa Barbara, Electronic Materials
  • Alan Willner, University of Southern California, Optics

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DOJ: 7 Iranians Indicted on US Financial System Hacking Charges
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DOJ: 7 Iranians Indicted on US Financial System Hacking Charges


CyberCrimeKeyboardA federal grand jury has indicted seven Iranian people whom government  investigators believe have orchestrated extensive denial-of-service attacks on U.S. financial services institutions between December 2012 and September 2013.

The Justice Department said Thursday computer hacking charges have been filed against Ahmad Fathi, Hamid Firoozi, Amin Shokohi, Sadegh Ahmadzadegan, Omid Ghaffarinia, Sina Keissar and Nader Saedi.

These individuals worked for Iranian security firms ITSecTeam and Mersad and are accused of working on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to conduct a massive DDoS campaign against U.S.-based banks that lasted for approximately 176 days.

“In unsealing this indictment, the Department of Justice is sending a powerful message: that we will not allow any individual, group, or nation to sabotage American financial institutions or undermine the integrity of fair competition in the operation of the free market,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch told a press conference Thursday.

Prosecutors also charged Firoozi with unauthorized access to the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition server at the Rye, New York-based Bowman Dam during 2013.

DOJ noted all of the seven cyber attack suspects face up to 10 years in prison and Firoozi could face an additional five-year imprisonment for the dam breach.

FedScoop: California Seeks FedRAMP Certification for State’s Cloud Service
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FedScoop: California Seeks FedRAMP Certification for State’s Cloud Service


CloudCalifornia’s department of technology has applied for a certification to cover the state’s cloud service offerings through the U.S. General Services Administration‘s Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, Fedscoop reported Tuesday.

Alex Koma writes the state’s Chief Information Officer Carlos Romero announced a pending application of CalCloud for the FedRAMP certification that would make California the first state to get the certification for its cloud service.

“What I see is, down the road, I think we’re going to see more and more agencies starting to move into cloud computing,” Ramos said at a California state assembly committee hearing, according to the report.

Ramos noted the state’s cloud service complies with the FBI‘s Criminal Justice Information Services standard and Federal Information Security Management Act benchmarks.

He added that other states and local governments such as Seattle have approached him to inquire about California’s cloud services.

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NASA Rolls Out 8 Earth Field Research Campaigns; Michael Freilich Comments
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NASA Rolls Out 8 Earth Field Research Campaigns; Michael Freilich Comments


EarthNASA has launched eight six-month field research projects in an effort to study the changes in the Earth’s sea, air and land resources.

The field studies will work to further understanding of the planet to complement NASA’s space-based Earth observation efforts, the space agency said Wednesday.

“Scientists worldwide use NASA Earth science field data together with satellite data and computer models to tackle many of today’s environmental challenges and advance our knowledge of how the Earth works as a complex, integrated system,” said Michael Freilich, director of NASA’s Earth science division.

The Oceans Melting Greenland research team has begun an aerial survey of the ice edge in Greenland to study how the oceans around the island affect the melting of the ice sheet’s edges underneath.

Members of the North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study team will begin in May to examine the association of the plankton bloom with the emergence of tiny organic particles that impact the movement of clouds and climate.

Other field research campaigns that NASA will launch in 2016 include the Korea U.S.-Air Quality project, Coral Reef Airborne Laboratory study, Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment, Atmospheric Carbon and Transport – America research, Atmospheric Tomography mission and the Observations of Clouds above Aerosols and their Interactions study.

KORUS-AQ and ABoVE are part of the NASA Earth science division research program while ORACLES, ACT-America, ATom, CORAL, OMG and NAAMES are new Earth Venture suborbital projects.

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DARPA Launches Competition on Machine-Learning Platforms for EM Spectrum Collaboration
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DARPA Launches Competition on Machine-Learning Platforms for EM Spectrum Collaboration


CellTowerThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has unveiled a three-year competition that seeks to develop machine-learning platforms designed to allow civilian and military wireless devices to gain access to the electromagnetic spectrum.

DARPA launched the Spectrum Collaboration Challenge at the two-day International Wireless Communications Expo that kicked off Wednesday in Las Vegas, the agency said Wednesday.

SC2 seeks to equip radios with machine-learning and artificial intelligence functions in order for the devices to collaborate with other types of radios in spectrum environments.

“DARPA Challenges have traditionally rewarded teams that dominate their competitors, but when it comes to making the most of the electromagnetic spectrum, the team that shares most intelligently is going to win,” said Paul Tilghman, SC2 program manager at DARPA’s microsystems technology office.

DARPA will start the competition in 2017 and will award a prize of $2 million to the winning team in early 2020.

The agency also plans to build a wireless testbed for the challenge in order to allow researchers to assess spectrum-sharing techniques and algorithms for radio platforms.

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