/
Latest FISMA Report Shows Increase in Cyber Incident Reports in FY 2023
Published on
Latest FISMA Report Shows Increase in Cyber Incident Reports in FY 2023

The Office of Management and Budget’s latest Federal Information Security Modernization Act report to Congress shows a nearly 10 percent increase in cybersecurity incidents reported by federal agencies in fiscal year 2023.

Incidents reported to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency totaled 32,211 in FY 2023, up 9.9 percent from the previous year, with most of the incidents considered minor cyber events according to CISA’s National Cyber Incident Scoring System.

The new cases were categorized based on various attack vectors such as violations of usage policies, email and phishing, impersonation and spoofing, and web-based attacks.

Despite the increase in cyber incidents, OMB revealed that federal agencies made progress in their adoption of cyber defensive measures and expanded their cyber detection capabilities by improving penetration testing, red team exercises and other efforts.

House Bill to Create Nonprofit Foundation to Support NIST Mission
Published on
House Bill to Create Nonprofit Foundation to Support NIST Mission

Reps. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., and Haley Stevens, D-Mich., have introduced bipartisan legislation that would establish a Foundation for Standards and Metrology, or FSM, to coordinate industry partnerships to help advance the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s mission.

The Expanding Partnerships for Innovation and Competitiveness Act would form the FSM to engage with industry, academia and civil society organizations to support NIST’s goals to advance measurement science, standards and emerging technologies, Obernolte’s office said Monday.

The FSM will give NIST increased access to private sector and philanthropic funding, diverse industry collaborations and workforce support through training and professional development.

“Tapping new collaborations will allow NIST to continue their vital role in securing American leadership in cyber, AI, and quantum computing in the mid-21st century and beyond,” Stevens said.

/
Newly-Developed Scorecard to Refine DCSA National Industrial Security Program Evaluation Process
Published on
Newly-Developed Scorecard to Refine DCSA National Industrial Security Program Evaluation Process

The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency recently announced the development of a scorecard meant to refine the security rating process used under the National Industrial Security Program to evaluate the eligibility of contractors to access classified information.

The DCSA said Monday that the scorecard will not alter the security rating process but will work to “streamline and simplify” it by increasing its clarity and quality while reducing subjectivity.

The agency said it will carry out training and communication initiatives to inform stakeholders about the changes.

The security rating scorecard was developed in collaboration with a working group from the National Industrial Security Program Policy Advisory Committee.

The scorecard will be implemented on Oct. 1.

//
Adversary Countries, Changing Nature of War Require Change in Sustainment, DLA’s Mark Simerly Says
Published on
Adversary Countries, Changing Nature of War Require Change in Sustainment, DLA’s Mark Simerly Says

The head of the Defense Logistics Agency said at the recent DLA Industry Association Leadership Meeting that his organization and the broader defense industry must make changes to the way sustainment is provided in order to match the transformation taking place across the Department of Defense.

U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Mark Simerly, the DLA director, attributed that transformation to the threats posed by Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, as well as by the changing nature of warfare itself, according to an article published Monday on the DLA website.

Of particular significance to DLA and industry is logistics being targeted by adversaries, which, according to Simerly, is already taking place. He predicted that logistics “will continue to be targeted in different ways than it ever has been in any other conflict previously.”

Such challenges demand that the agency go beyond being “in response mode” and instead take leadership, Simerly said.

The DLA director underscored the undeniable need for change, noting that “[it’s] how we change and when we change, and we should all have a sense of urgency about the pace.”

/
IRS Requests Information on Unified Data Analytics Platform Software, Maintenance Support Contract
Published on
IRS Requests Information on Unified Data Analytics Platform Software, Maintenance Support Contract

The Department of the Treasury’s Internal Revenue Service has begun seeking information on potential sources of Splunk Enterprise software or equivalent software, maintenance and related services to support data analysis across the department.

The IRS Office of Cybersecurity is looking to build a Unified Data Analytics Platform, or UDAP, that would integrate various data sources and tools under a single data analysis and decision-making architecture, according to a notice posted Monday on SAM.gov.

IRS requires that the UDAP architecture be built using containerization and orchestration, use a scalable and flexible infrastructure to handle vast amounts of data, provide software development kits and application programming interfaces and be able to log files in the cloud or hybrid environments.

The software must also support data ingestion, storage, processing and visualization; analytics and machine learning; and security and governance requirements.

Interested parties have until June 28 to respond to the request for information.

/
SOSi-Peraton Team to Provide IT Services to Army Regional Cyber Center in Europe; Julian Setian Quoted
Published on
SOSi-Peraton Team to Provide IT Services to Army Regional Cyber Center in Europe; Julian Setian Quoted

SOSi will support the U.S. Army’s Regional Cyber Center-Europe, known as RCC-E, under a new contract.

The company will work with prime contractor Peraton to provide the center with network engineering, cyber defense and information assurance services, SOSi announced from its Reston, Virginia headquarters on Tuesday.

SOSi CEO Julian Setian, a 2024 Wash100 Award recipient, highlighted the organization’s 20-year relationship with the Army Network Enterprise Technology Command, a partnership through which SOSi has also supported other regional cyber centers.

“We offer an unmatched ability to ensure the integrity of the Army’s networks and are proud to partner with Peraton on this critically important program,” Setian said.

SOSi-Peraton Team to Provide IT Services to Army Regional Cyber Center in Europe; Julian Setian Quoted

Contracts are a major part of the Army’s modernization push. Learn more about current Army initiatives at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Army Summit on Thursday — register here.

The RCC-E is tasked with monitoring, operating, maintaining and defending the Department of Defense Information Network within the U.S. Army Europe-Africa area of responsibility.

SOSi’s contracting activities will cover a variety of information technology and cybersecurity services intended to support RCC-E networks, services and systems. Specific responsibilities include virtualization, services desk administration and engineering. The company will also assist with incident response, threat analysis and signature development as well as sensor management and penetration testing.

//
Department of the Air Force Unveils Tool to Advance Responsible Experimentation With Generative AI; Venice Goodwine Quoted
Published on
Department of the Air Force Unveils Tool to Advance Responsible Experimentation With Generative AI; Venice Goodwine Quoted

The Department of the Air Force has launched an experimental bridge that allows service personnel and civilian employees to leverage generative artificial intelligence on the Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network as they continue to explore new industry platforms.

NIPRGPT functions as an AI chatbot that enables users to have human-like conversations to perform correspondence and other tasks within a secure operating environment and is part of the Dark Saber software platform built at the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate in New York, the Air Force said Monday.

The tool offers user feedback opportunities to help establish governing policies and provides the department with an opportunity to advance real-world testing, focusing on resource utilization, computational efficiency and security compliance, among other key metrics.

“Our recent GenAI Roundtables with industry and academia have shown us this is an actively growing field,” said Venice Goodwine, chief information officer at DAF and a 2024 Wash100 awardee.

“Now is the time to give our Airmen and Guardians the flexibility to develop the necessary skills in parallel. There are multiple modernization efforts going on right now across the federal government and within the DAF to get tools in the hands of the workforce. This tool is another one of those efforts,” added Goodwine.

POC - 2024 Air Force Summit

Goodvine will be one of the keynote speakers at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Air Force Summit on July 23. Register here to know about important updates on cutting-edge technology adoption, modernization initiatives and more.

/
Maj. Gen. Steven Butow Named DIU Military Deputy Director
Published on
Maj. Gen. Steven Butow Named DIU Military Deputy Director

Maj. Gen. Steven Butow, commander of the California Air National Guard, will assume the role of military deputy director of the Defense Innovation Unit on June 1.

In this capacity, he will oversee more than 75 servicemembers to drive DIU’s strategic vision to advance innovation in support of the joint force, combatant commands, allies and other partners worldwide, DIU said Monday.

“As a member of the reserve component, Major General Bucky Butow possesses the dual fluency as both an experienced military leader and technologist with significant experience working with the commercial technology sector,” said DIU Director Doug Beck.

Beck added that Butow’s experience in integrating and deploying new commercial technologies and helping lead the Department of Defense’s use of commercial space tech platforms will help build asymmetric advantage for the joint force and allied warfighters.

He will continue to lead the California Air National Guard as he performs a dual-status tour at DIU.

In 2015, Butow joined DIU as the West Coast Military Lead. After a year, he took on the role of space portfolio director at the DOD organization.

His military career included time as commander of the 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Field in California, deputy director of the Joint Search and Rescue Center for U.S. Central Command and chief of personnel recovery for U.S. Air Force Central.

/
GovCon Index Continued Downward Trend Last Week
Published on
GovCon Index Continued Downward Trend Last Week

Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index closed with an average of $4,953.15 last week, a 0.92% decrease that carried GovCon Index into its second consecutive week of losses.

GovCon Index is an aggregate index that offers users a look at real-time stock market data from 30 notable government contracting companies. With this information, individuals can observe the performance of each tracked company and strengthen their understanding of the most notable trends in today’s GovCon market.

Despite last week’s decline, multiple contractors recorded significant growth. Palantir claimed first place last week, rising by 7.52%, and Boeing (+7.11%) also showed success.

GovCon Index finished out the week in negative territory, falling by 0.37% on Friday.

For more information on daily GovCon Index performance, check out last week’s market reports  Click here to view the full list of tracked companies.

/
Cornell University’s Jonathan Lunine Appointed Chief Scientist at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Published on
Cornell University’s Jonathan Lunine Appointed Chief Scientist at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

NASA has named Jonathan Lunine, the David C. Duncan professor in the physical sciences at Cornell University, as chief scientist of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

An astrophysicist and planetary scientist and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Lunine also currently serves as chair of Cornell’s Department of Astronomy, NASA said Thursday.

Lunine has worked with JPL on multiple occasions, including as co-investigator on the Juno mission and the Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa on the Europa Clipper mission, and as guest investigator for the ultraviolet spectrometer on the Voyager 2 Neptune flyby.

In his new role, Lunine will oversee JPL policy and priority formulation, guide JPL-managed NASA missions as well as research and development efforts and facilitate collaboration with various stakeholders.

As part of his JPL posting, Lunine will also serve as planetary science professor at the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences at California Institute of Technology, of which he is an alumnus.

Lunine’s appointment goes into effect on Aug. 16.

1 … 314 315 316 317 318 … 2,656