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Shield AI Demonstrates First Multi-Jet Autonomy Flights
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Shield AI Demonstrates First Multi-Jet Autonomy Flights

Shield AI, a venture-backed defense technology company, has conducted its first multi-jet autonomy flights, marking a significant development in its pursuit of global autonomy.

The company said Wednesday it achieved the milestone using two MQM-178 Firejets from Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, a technology, products, system and software company.

The flight tests were conducted using two autonomous agents controlled by Shield AI’s Hivemind AI Pilot. The agents managed to execute coordinated maneuvers and demonstrate operationally relevant collaborative behaviors.

Through the demonstration, Shield AI showcased the potential of future unmanned jets and drones that can be flown with all computing done onboard and in-air agent communication seamlessly integrated.

Brandon Tseng, president and co-founder of Shield AI, believes that AI pilots will be capable of flying autonomous systems in the near future and that the recently concluded flight tests is a major step in attaining that goal.

“In the next decade, AI pilots will command and maneuver all unmanned systems, enabling the US and our allies to deploy millions of intelligent, resilient drones,” said the former Navy SEAL. “These Firejet flight tests represent a key milestone on our journey to bring autonomy to the world. What’s awesome is that the algorithms are not limited to the number of aircraft. For test objectives and budgetary reasons, we limited the number of Firejets to 2, but it could have been 4, 8, 16, 32, and so on.”

This recent development follows several AI-piloted Firejet flight tests conducted earlier in the year, marking the sixth time an aircraft was flown using the Hivemind AI Pilot. The company also concluded the first Live Virtual Constructive integration last June. This simulation connected live platforms with virtual environments enabling dynamic interactions across different domains.

Shield AI and Kratos previously worked together on a similar project in 2023. It involved an AI pilot incorporated into the Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie.

Catch government and industry speakers discuss international partnerships, coalition warfare and emerging technologies at the GovCon International Summit. Register here.

Shield AI Demonstrates First Multi-Jet Autonomy Flights
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DOJ Watchdog Issues Memorandum on FBI’s Media Storage Procedures
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DOJ Watchdog Issues Memorandum on FBI’s Media Storage Procedures

The Department of Justice has expressed concerns over how the FBI manages its electronic storage for media that may contain sensitive but unclassified—or SBU—information.

Michael Horowitz, the inspector general of the DOJ, said in a management advisory memorandum addressed to FBI Director Christopher Wray that media containing SBU information or classified national security information are not always accounted for. 

According to the memorandum, the FBI requires field offices to extract hard drives from top secret computers for destruction. However, the law enforcement agency fails to track the internal hard drives and cannot ensure that the components were destroyed.

Horowitz also pointed out that components removed from computers and servers for disposal do not have the appropriate classification label needed to identify classification levels, which is against DOJ and FBI policies.

The physical security of media storages also causes concern. Horowitz recounted an incident in which a pallet of extracted internal hard drives was left in storage for 21 months, with its wrapping torn open. 

The IG recommends that the FBI update its procedures to ensure that electronic media storage containing sensitive or classified material are labeled appropriately, stored securely and always accounted for. The FBI agreed with the recommendations.

Get an update on the U.S. Intelligence Community directly from IC leaders at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Intel Summit on Sept. 19. Register here.

DOJ Watchdog Issues Memorandum on FBI's Media Storage Procedures
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NSA & Partners Issue Cyber Information Sheet on Threat Detection
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NSA & Partners Issue Cyber Information Sheet on Threat Detection

The National Security Agency has released a cybersecurity information sheet outlining the best practices for event logging and threat detection in cloud services, enterprise networks, mobile devices and operational technology networks.

The CSI was published in collaboration with other federal agencies, such as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and international partners, led by the Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre, NSA said.

“Best Practices for Event Logging and Threat Detection” is designed to help organizations’ IT and cyber personnel defend against threat actors that use living-off-the-land techniques.

“Implementing and maintaining an effective event logging solution improves the security and resilience of systems by enabling network visibility and quicker incident response,” NSA Cybersecurity Director Dave Luber said in a statement.

He noted that organizations must bolster their resilience against advanced attack strategies in today’s cyberthreat environment.

In the publication, the NSA details the important considerations when applying logging best practices, namely enterprise-approved logging policy, centralized log access and correlation, secure storage and log integrity, and detection strategy for relevant threats.

Public and private sector organizations are advised to review the guide and execute its recommended actions, which can help identify malicious activity, behavioral anomalies, and compromised networks, devices or accounts.

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Mike Horton Appointed Acting Chief AI Officer at Department of Transportation
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Mike Horton Appointed Acting Chief AI Officer at Department of Transportation

Mike Horton has been chosen as the acting chief artificial intelligence officer at the U.S. Department of Transportation, according to a post the executive shared on LinkedIn.

As the acting CAIO, Horton is charged with supervising the department’s AI use and fostering AI innovation. His other responsibilities include ensuring compliance with federal guidelines and regulations through risk assessment of AI applications, establishing and updating processes for measuring, monitoring and evaluating AI applications’ performance and utilizing a specific program for AI risk management.

Horton has been with USDOT for over five years. He joined the department in 2019 as team lead of the Federal Aviation Administration Human Capital Data Analytics and Systems. He then became deputy chief data officer in 2023, overseeing all the non-geospatial divisions within the Office of the Chief Data Officer.

As an educator, Horton was an adjunct professor at George Mason University and Saint Joseph’s University’s Erivan K. Haub School of Business. He currently teaches part-time at Northeastern University.

The AI governance professional served as a senior analyst, researcher and data engineer for the Office of Financial Research of the Department of the Treasury. He was also an analyst, researcher, investigator and data scientist for the Employee Benefits Security Administration of the Department of Labor.

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NSF to Host Workshop on Open-Source Software Ecosystem for Future Wireless R&D
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NSF to Host Workshop on Open-Source Software Ecosystem for Future Wireless R&D

The National Science Foundation will hold a workshop on Sept. 25 to examine the open-source software—or OSS—ecosystem that supports future wireless and spectrum research and development and identify opportunities to advance collaboration between R&D institutions and OSS communities to promote open-source platforms needed to drive wireless innovation.

According to a Federal Register notice published Wednesday, the workshop will be held at the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development National Coordination Office in Washington, D.C.

The event will also explore the objectives and limitations facing the diverse communities that play a role in shaping the direction of key OSS projects.

According to NSF, workshops sessions will address the current state of the wireless OSS ecosystem, emerging security and resilience requirements, transparency and confidence in OSS supply chains, and perspectives of researchers and experimenters on leveraging OSS to back wireless and spectrum R&D efforts.

Registration for the event will close on Sept. 24.

Industry Participation Critical to 6G Rollout & Regulation, ITI Says
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Industry Participation Critical to 6G Rollout & Regulation, ITI Says

For the Information Technology Industry Council, government efforts to regulate 6G will have to involve industry because it is industry that will drive the transition to the next-generation communications technology, which is anticipated for release in 2030.

ITI expressed this recommendation in a press release issued Wednesday, which summarizes the global technology trade association’s responses to a request for comment from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration regarding the advancement of 6G.

The organization also highlighted the role industry will play in ensuring 6G cybersecurity, establishing 6G standards and driving 6G innovations, including those related to sustainability.

“By relying on industry expertise, the U.S. can proactively address evolving challenges, while maximizing 6G’s transformative potential in areas like sustainability and AI for network performance,” said Katie McAuliffe, ITI senior director for telecommunications policy.

“ITI and our members look forward to continuing to work with policymakers to advance 6G in the United States and globally,” McAuliffe added.

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DHS Developing ‘Different’ Prototype Data Protection Method
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DHS Developing ‘Different’ Prototype Data Protection Method

The Department of Homeland Security‘s Science and Technology Directorate is prototyping a way to protect data that S&T Data Analytics Technology Center Director Alexandria Phounsavath describes as “a different way of thinking about security,” Federal News Network reported Wednesday.

Under the new method, the data that needs to be protected will feature components allowing owners to place access controls like expiration dates for self-deletion or billing elements that require payment depending on the user, Phounsavath explained on Federal Monthly Insights — Unleashing Data Insights to Drive Government Innovation.

The S&T official noted, however, that the effort, dubbed data autonomy, remains “an open ended problem” in that “to make this data autonomy concept realized, it’s going to require new products and services in the future, and a lot of thinking from all our partners in academia and industry, other government labs, to kind of solve this problem.”

“So I think it’s a very interesting space. It requires a lot of thought, but it’s really, really exciting,” Phounsavath added.

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DOD Hands Out 7 More Awards for Distributed Bioindustrial Manufacturing Program
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DOD Hands Out 7 More Awards for Distributed Bioindustrial Manufacturing Program

The Department of Defense has chosen seven more awardees for the Distributed Bioindustrial Manufacturing Program, or DBIMP, bringing the total to 13 awards with a combined value of $23 million.

The DOD said Tuesday the third batch of DBIMP awards was revealed during the National Defense Industrial Association’s Emerging Technologies Conference held on Aug. 7 in Washington, D.C.

The total number of awardees for the program is now 13 with the recent addition of the following bioindustrial companies:

  • Battelle in Columbus, Ohio
  • Modular Genetics in Cambridge, Massachusetts
  • Genomatica in San Diego
  • Industrial Microbes in Alameda, California
  • ZymoChem in San Leandro, California
  • The Better Meat Co. in West Sacramento, California
  • Biosphere, in Oakland, California

The DBIMP awards are part of Executive Order 14081, or “Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe and Secure American Bioeconomy,” which aims to enhance the nation’s bioeconomic strengths and defense capabilities.

Selected companies will receive funding to create business and technical plans for building domestic bioindustrial manufacturing facilities. These projects are part of the Defense Industrial Base Consortium Other Transaction Agreement, a contract vehicle managed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy.

Chosen projects will receive follow-on awards worth up to $100 million, which will be used to construct their proposed facilities.

Four-time Wash100 Award winner Heidi Shyu, the under secretary of defense for research and engineering, said, “Expanding the Department of Defense’s biotechnology capabilities is key to maintaining the United States’ supply chain and military superiority.”

Carla Zeppieri, deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial base resilience, also highlighted the need for more resilient supply chains to address emerging threats and bolster the nation’s security needs. She noted that the DIBC OTA “plays a pivotal role in DOD’s efforts to develop mission-critical materials domestically.”

Debut received the first award for the DBIMP in July 2024. The rest of the awards should be announced within the coming month.

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DTRA Names Robert Turk Its Chief Information Security Officer & Authorizing Official
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DTRA Names Robert Turk Its Chief Information Security Officer & Authorizing Official

Robert Turk, a retired U.S. Army colonel, has taken on the role of chief information security officer and authorizing official at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

He announced his appointment in a LinkedIn post published Wednesday.

Prior to this position, Turk was deputy director and deputy chief information officer at DTRA’s Information Technology Directorate. In 2015, he joined the agency as head of the IT cybersecurity department.

Before moving to DTRA, he served as senior cybersecurity engineer at CACI International.

Turk’s 25 years of active duty in the Army included time serving as military assistant to the deputy assistant secretary of defense for research, Army inspector general, division chief for IT service support within U.S. Special Operations Command and division automation management officer for the 2nd Infantry Division.

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NIST Soliciting Comments on Updated Digital Identity Guidance
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NIST Soliciting Comments on Updated Digital Identity Guidance

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is seeking public comments on a draft version of its updated digital identity guidance.

The draft Digital Identity Guidelines Special Publication 800-63 Revision 4 aims to ensure security, privacy and accessibility during the identity-proofing process for people accessing government services, regardless of the means by which a person chooses to prove their identity, NIST said Wednesday.

NIST incorporated feedback gathered in 2023 from private industry, federal agencies, privacy and civil rights advocacy groups, and members of the public into the updated guidance which, according to Office of Management and Budget deputy director for management Jason Miller, will help federal agencies better defend against evolving threats while providing critical benefits and services to the American people.

“These improved guidelines are intended to help organizations of all kinds manage risk and prevent fraud while ensuring that digital services are lawfully accessible to all,” said NIST Director Laurie Locascio.

Comments on the latest guidance will be accepted until Oct. 7. NIST will hold a webinar on Wednesday to discuss the draft publication.

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