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Treasury Dept Issues Rule to Enforce Foreign Cyber Intruder Sanctions
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Treasury Dept Issues Rule to Enforce Foreign Cyber Intruder Sanctions

cyberThe Treasury Department has published an abbreviated form of its policy to punish foreign organizations or individuals that hack U.S.’ cyber-dependent critical infrastructure, Federal Times reported Monday.

Aaron Boyd writes the regulation came after President Barack Obama ordered the department to protect U.S. assets and citizens against large-scale intrusions by international threat actors through a sanctions program.

“The executive order allows us to put a name to those who go to great lengths to mask their identities and to expose our adversaries behind these attacks for the world and, of course, financial institutions to see,” John Smith, acting director of the Treasury’s foreign assets control office, was quoted as saying.

The federal cyber sanctions program calls for authorities to restrict entry of suspected overseas hackers to the U.S. , freeze their accounts and ban them from doing business with local companies.

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Army FORSCOM Relaunches Intell Operations Facility in North Carolina
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Army FORSCOM Relaunches Intell Operations Facility in North Carolina


operational-security1The U.S. Army Forces Command has reopened a 27,000-square-foot facility at Fort Bragg in North Carolina to provide a training venue for uniformed personnel and support future intelligence missions, FayObserver.com reported Dec. 25.

Drew Brooks writes FORSCOM launched the Forces Command Intelligence Readiness & Operations Center on Dec. 16 four years after a tornado destroyed the then-Geospatial Readiness Center in April 2011.

FORSCOM collaborated with the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency to rebuild the facility, Brooks reports.

Col. Anthony Hale, deputy chief of staff for intelligence at FORSCOM, said the service branch will use FIROC to provide additional space for classified intelligence missions.

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Gen. Joseph Dunford: DoD’s Organizational Construct Should Align With Threat Mgmt Strategy
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Gen. Joseph Dunford: DoD’s Organizational Construct Should Align With Threat Mgmt Strategy


Joseph Dunford
Joseph Dunford

Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said the Defense Department must identify an organizational framework that will allow the U.S. military to keep pace with new and emerging threats, DoD News reported Monday.

“We need to make sure in the context of transregional, multidomain, multifunctional conflicts that we have the right command-and-control construct in place to integrate joint capabilities and support rapid decisionmaking by national command authorities,” Dunford told DoD News.

Jim Garamone writes Dunford added U.S. military leaders will examine the department’s Unified Command Plan and submit recommendations to the defense secretary and Congress.

UCP was developed out of the Goldwater-Nichols Act, a defense reorganization law enacted in 1986, Garamone reports.

Dunford told reporters during a visit in Stuttgart, Germany, he also believes the U.S. should pay close attention to Russia’s capability development efforts, according to a subsequent DoD News report.

He said he is willing to meet with his Russian counterpart Gen. Valery Gerasimov to discuss U.S.-Russia military relations and other significant matters, the report noted.

“No matter what the relationships are between states, it’s important to keep the lines of communication open,” Dunford added.

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DoD Gives Extension for Vendors to Implement NIST Cloud Security Requirements
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DoD Gives Extension for Vendors to Implement NIST Cloud Security Requirements


cloud securityThe Defense Department has issued an interim rule that amends a provision in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement to enable contractors to implement National Institute of Standards and Technology security requirements through Dec. 31, 2017.

A notice posted Wednesday on the Federal Register indicated that the extension is in response to industry feedback on another DFARS interim rule issued in August.

The initial interim rule covered vendor compliance with cloud security requirements under NIST Special Publication 800-171 to safeguard defense information on contractor systems.

This latest interim rule also requires vendors to report unmet NIST SP 800-171 requirements to the DoD chief information officer within 30 days of the contract award.

According to the notice, public comments to the interim rule are due Feb. 29.

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Report: Navy to Terminate ‘Red Wolves’ Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron
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Report: Navy to Terminate ‘Red Wolves’ Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron


ArmyChopperThe U.S. Navy will remove one of its two reserve helicopter sea combat squadrons from service in March as part of a reorganization program, Navy Times reported Sunday.

Meghann Myers writes the military branch has decided to decommission the Norfolk, Virginia-based HSC-84 Red Wolves and retain the San Diego-headquartered HSC-85 Firehawks.

HSC-84 has performed special operations with HH-60H helicopters and is a recipient of 120 Air Medals with Valor, 13 Bronze Stars and three Distinguished Flying Crosses, Myers reports.

Lt. j.g. Kara Yingling, a Navy spokesperson, told the publication that the branch also plans to establish two tactical units to fly MH-60S helicopters and support missions on the East Coast and West Coast.

“The TSU construct is still being finalized, but each TSU might have up to billets for 79 officers and enlisted,” Yingling added, according to the report.

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Timothy Bennett: DHS Eyes Drone Testing Program Consolidation
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Timothy Bennett: DHS Eyes Drone Testing Program Consolidation


droneTimothy Bennett, a program manager at the Department of Homeland Security’s science and technology directorate, has said DHS plans to merge two testing initiatives for unmanned aerial systems in an effort to improve border protection, Inside Unmanned Systems reported.

Dee Ann Divis writes Bennett said at a Center for Strategic and International Studies meeting held Dec. 16 that the department will combine the Robotic Aircraft for Public Safety program with the Robotic Aircraft for Maritime Public Safety initiative.

DHS will perform the second phase of the RAPS program at Fort Sill, Oklahoma on Jan. 11 to test the functions of drones in border patrol missions.

Bennett noted that the agency will carry out the RAMPS 1B demonstration in June as well as work with NATO and other allied countries to research and develop other UAS applications through the RAMPS program’s third phase, Divis reports.

DHS’ S&T directorate will also work to facilitate UAS-based communications between the Coast Guard and the Customs and Border Protection through the adoption of common control systems and data links, Bennett added.

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Pentagon Wants to Streamline Enterprise-Wide Project Requirements
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Pentagon Wants to Streamline Enterprise-Wide Project Requirements


DoD logo resizeThe Defense Department is seeking to adopt joint enterprise licensing agreements in a move to reduce program costs, Federal Times reported Wednesday.

John Edwards and Eve Keiser write JELAs require DoD to combine all project requirements into a single agreement that addresses all of the defense organizations’ needs.

Organizations with similar requirements will forge licensing agreements with government contracting companies under the approach, according to the report.

Federal Times reports DoD wants to apply JELAs to high volume deployments as part of the department’s transition to commercial cloud and cyber.

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Navy Capt. David Manero Named Defense Attache to Russia
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Navy Capt. David Manero Named Defense Attache to Russia


U.S. NavyU.S. Navy Capt. David Manero, special assistant to the Defense Intelligence Agency, has been appointed defense attache to Russia.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Adm. John Richardson, chief of naval operations, announced Manero’s new assignment in a Defense Department news release published Thursday.

The Navy Attache Affairs office screens and selects the candidates who will represent the service branch to international governments.

President Barack Obama also endorsed Manero’s promotion to the rank of rear admiral in April 2015.

The nearly 30-year Navy veteran also serves as integration branch head for international affairs at the chief of naval operations office.

He previously served as chief of the Europe division and security cooperation programs division of the U.S. European Command.

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Joshua Skule to Serve as FBI HQ Intell Directorate Assistant Director
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Joshua Skule to Serve as FBI HQ Intell Directorate Assistant Director

FBIJoshua Skule, a 17-year veteran of the FBI, has been appointed as assistant director of the bureau’s intelligence directorate in its Washington headquarters.

He was most recently in charge of the intelligence division at FBI’s Washington field office, the bureau said Monday.

Skule joined the bureau in 1998 as a Chicago-based special agent focused on violent crimes and public corruption cases and later elevated to leadership roles within the counterterrorism division.

After that, he oversaw investigations related to organized and violent crimes, cyberspace and gang activities at the bureau’s criminal division in Washington.

Skule assumed the role of section chief at CTD in 2012 and was promoted to deputy assistant director of the same unit a year later before he became head of the Washington field office’s intelligence division in September 2014.

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Rachel Flagg: GSA Develops New Tool to Collect, Evaluate Federal Customer Feedback
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Rachel Flagg: GSA Develops New Tool to Collect, Evaluate Federal Customer Feedback


GSAThe General Services Administration has rolled out a government customer experience index for agency personnel to gauge the experience of other agencies and citizens that receive GSA’s digital and technical services.

Rachel Flagg, a program analyst at GSA, wrote in a blog entry posted Dec. 28 that GCXi is designed to “measure overall satisfaction, customer loyalty and ease of use for all our programs, as well as task completion for our websites.”

GSA’s Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies used the index during a 2015 survey of almost 9,000 customers across the government.

“We shared the survey data with the entire staff, and we instituted an action planning process to help our program managers evaluate the feedback and take strategic, data-driven action to follow up on the findings,” she stated.

The agency has also learned through GCXi that there is still room for improvement in the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, Electronic Capital Planning and Investment Control system and Digital Analytics Program, according to Flagg.

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