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New Air Force Directorate to Oversee ‘Monumental’ Effort to Deploy Minuteman III Successor
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New Air Force Directorate to Oversee ‘Monumental’ Effort to Deploy Minuteman III Successor

The Air Force Global Strike Command has established the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Modernization Directorate, which will work to oversee the retirement of the LGM-30G Minuteman III ICBM and the deployment of the LGM-35A Sentinel.

AFGSC said Wednesday that the new directorate, also known as AFGSC/A10, will be led by Brig. Gen. Colin Connor, formerly the deputy director for nuclear and homeland defense operations at the Joint Staff.

Commenting on Connor’s appointment, AFGSC commander Gen. Thomas Bussiere said, “I have absolute confidence that he and the entire A10 team will prepare the command for one of the most critical upgrades to our nation’s deterrence capabilities in history.”

The ICBM overhaul will involve the replacement of all the components of the previous weapon system, with work taking place across multiple states over the next two decades.

Connor described the project as “a monumental one for the United States.”

“I am honored to be part of the team that shapes the ICBM enterprise for the future nuclear community,” he added.

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John Sherman: DOD Could Make Initial Moves on Follow-On JWCC Cloud Contract in 2024
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John Sherman: DOD Could Make Initial Moves on Follow-On JWCC Cloud Contract in 2024

John Sherman, chief information officer of the Department of Defense and a two-time Wash100 awardee, said the DOD is considering plans to begin work on the second iteration of the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract vehicle, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday.

“We are, in calendar year of 2024, going to start looking at the follow-on contract for JWCC,” Sherman said at a conference on Wednesday.

“When we announced JWCC, it’s a three-year base with two option years, and we’re already into the one-year base of this. And we’ve said all along, in ‘24, that timeframe, we’re going to start looking at what comes next,” he added.

The CIO noted that the DOD has not yet set a timeline for the release of request for information for JWCC 2.0 but was committed to adopting a multicloud, multi-vendor approach.

Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft and Oracle won positions on the JWCC contract in December 2022.

According to Sherman, the Pentagon has awarded nearly 40 task orders valued at approximately $270 million across top secret, unclassified and secret classifications.

John Giamatteo Named BlackBerry CEO
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John Giamatteo Named BlackBerry CEO

John Giamatteo, formerly president of BlackBerry’s cybersecurity business unit, has been elevated to chief executive officer of the company.

In his new role, Giamatteo succeeds Dick Lynch, who served as interim CEO since Nov. 4 and will now serve as Board chair, BlackBerry announced Monday. Giamatteo will also serve as a member of BlackBerry’s Board of Directors.

Giamatteo’s appointment aligns with BlackBerry’s strategic reorganization efforts, through which the company’s Internet of Things and cybersecurity businesses will operate as separate business units.

“I am honored and excited to lead the next phase of BlackBerry’s evolution as its CEO,” said Giamatteo. “BlackBerry’s IoT and Cybersecurity businesses have market-leading technology, exceptional teams and large market opportunities. The Board and I are fully aligned on the next steps needed to unlock the value within BlackBerry, and work on this effort will proceed at full speed.”

In his previous role, Giamatteo was responsible for enhancing the company’s product portfolio and go-to-market strategy. Prior to joining BlackBerry, he served as president and chief revenue officer at McAfee.

“We are delighted to appoint John to the role of CEO for what will be a transformative period in BlackBerry’s history, as we work to fully separate our two core business units to drive enhanced shareholder value,” commented Mike Daniels, chair of the BlackBerry Board’s Compensation, Nomination and Governance Committee.

Daniels added that with Giamatteo’s “deep industry experience” and strong track record of success, the new CEO is well positioned to lead BlackBerry in this period of “critical transformation” for the company.

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TEFCA Network Now Ready for Secure Health Data Exchange
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TEFCA Network Now Ready for Secure Health Data Exchange

A nationwide health data exchange network governed by the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement, or TEFCA, is now operational and ready to conduct secure sharing of electronic health information among eligible members.

Epic Nexus, eHealth Exchange, Health Gorilla, KONZA and MedAllies have been designated Qualified Health Information Networks, or QHINs, tasked with supporting patient data exchange under the TEFCA policies and technical requirements, the Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday.

The QHINs will provide shared services and governance to forward messages, queries and responses across networks securely for eligible participants.

“Designating these first QHINs is just the beginning,” said Mariann Yeager, CEO of The Sequoia Project. “Now, we hope to see the rapid expansion of TEFCA exchange as these pioneering networks roll-out the benefits of TEFCA to their customers and members, while additional QHINs continue to onboard.”

The Sequoia Project serves as the recognized coordinating entity for TEFCA under a contract with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, supporting the data exchange framework’s development and implementation in compliance with the 21st Century Cures Act.

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CISA Goes Live With Secure Cloud Business Applications Google Workspace, Seeks External Feedback
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CISA Goes Live With Secure Cloud Business Applications Google Workspace, Seeks External Feedback

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a request for comment on its proposed configuration baselines for the Secure Cloud Business Applications, or SCuBA, Google Workspace, a.k.a. GWS, for federal agencies.

The secure configuration baselines were unveiled alongside an assessment tool called ScubaGoggles, which aims to help agencies procure GWS environments for IT defense upgrades, CISA said Tuesday.

The draft GWS baselines were developed from lessons learned from the SCuBA Microsoft 365 baselines. The new recommendations were designed in collaboration with Google in the hopes of strengthening sensitive data protection and reducing misconfigurations.

The baselines are customized for nine GWS services, such Google Chat, Calendar, Drive and Docs, Classroom, Meet, Gmail and Groups for Business. They are also applicable to Google sites and common controls.

The agency will wait for feedback until Jan. 12. At the same time, it is also inviting government departments to participate in the validation and enhancement of the recommended starting points.

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Energy Department Debuts Office of Critical & Emerging Technology
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Energy Department Debuts Office of Critical & Emerging Technology

The Department of Energy has launched a new office to ensure that investments in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, semiconductors, biotechnology and other critical and emerging technologies — or CET — leverage DOE’s expertise and assets and that such capabilities help address energy, science and security challenges.

Helena Fu, most recently senior adviser to the under secretary for science and innovation, will lead the newly established Office of Critical and Emerging Technology as director, DOE said Tuesday.

Fu will also serve as chief artificial intelligence officer at DOE and will be responsible for coordinating the department’s use of AI, drive innovation and manage risks associated with AI adoption.

“Our new Office of Critical and Emerging Technology will leverage DOE’s world-class scientists and technical capabilities in the interest of American security and competitiveness,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

The new DOE office will report to the under secretary for science and innovation and will help promote the department’s expertise in CET, coordinate DOE equities in CET across diverse program portfolios and establish partnerships with industry and academia to drive breakthroughs and accelerate integration of technologies into the U.S. commercial sector.

NASA Provides Updates on Commercial Space Station Development
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NASA Provides Updates on Commercial Space Station Development

Axiom Space, Blue Origin and Voyager Space are making progress with the design and development of their commercial space stations as NASA prepares to transition from the International Space Station to a private orbital laboratory.

Angela Hart, manager of the Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, said the agency has reviewed the specific hardware and processes of the stations and will move forward to multiple comprehensive design reviews in 2024.

Axiom Space is on track to launch and attach its first module, dubbed Axiom Hab One, to the ISS in 2026. The company is under contract with NASA to develop additional modules for Axiom Station, which will separate from the ISS when it retires in 2031.

Blue Origin has completed tests for a window system and a structural demonstration of Orbital Reef. The structural test used a prototype of Orbital Reef’s main module, called the Core, to demonstrate the manufacturing processes needed to build the station’s final pressurized modules.

Meanwhile, Voyager Space’s Exploration Segment has concluded a system definition review and initiated an optical link demonstration and alternative urine processor demonstration for Starlab. Voyager Space has also partnered with Airbus and Northrop Grumman to support the Starlab development.

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NSA Unveils Report on Mitigating Software-Defined Networking Controller Security Risks
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NSA Unveils Report on Mitigating Software-Defined Networking Controller Security Risks

The National Security Agency has released a new report outlining recommendations for mitigating security risks associated with software-defined networking controllers, also known as SDNCs.

NSA said Tuesday SDNCs work as a centralized network management server to control access to applications, making them a high-priority target for cyberthreat actors looking to gain control of an entire network environment.

“Although convenient for network administrators, they can become a single point of failure and a high priority target for malicious cyber actors if not secured properly,” said Ryan Larson, technical director for system threats and vulnerability analysis at NSA.

To reduce vulnerability to compromise, the agency recommended that organizations control access to the SDNC management interface, prevent viewing of sensitive information in network traffic, protect critical data at rest and only allow the authorized SDN controller to configure network devices.

Organizations must also restrict unauthorized or unauthenticated network devices from joining the SDN environment and control access to SDNC application programming interfaces.

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GAO Calls on Agencies to Fully Implement Federal Requirements for AI Use Cases
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GAO Calls on Agencies to Fully Implement Federal Requirements for AI Use Cases

The Government Accountability Office found that some government agencies that presented use cases for artificial intelligence have not met key requirements for implementing the technology.

The government watchdog on Tuesday released a new report presenting 35 recommendations to enable agencies to properly implement and manage AI despite its risks.

The study was conducted among 23 government departments, excluding the Department of Defense, which was subjected to a different AI readiness evaluation. Twenty of them had approximately 1,200 existing and planned AI use cases, while three agencies said they could not pinpoint areas that may be solved by the technology.

NASA submitted more than 300 AI use cases, followed by the Department of Commerce with 285. Requirement implementation has led to the establishment of standards and facilities such as the General Services Administration’s AI Center of Excellence.

However, the report also showed important actions pending in some agencies. For instance, the Office of Management and Budget has not created guidelines for AI use and acquisition. The Office of Science and Technology Policy also lacked specific designation of agencies expected to meet specific AI requirements.

Among GAO’s recommendations were aligning data with guidance when it comes to AI use case inventories and complying with federal law and policy such as developing methodology for annual inventory updates.

The Potomac Officers Club will hold its fifth annual Artificial Intelligence Summit on March 21, 2024. Join federal officials and industry experts as they discuss AI advancements, risks and challenges. Register now!

POC - 5th Annual Artificial Intelligence Summit
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DOJ Releases Guidelines on Material Cyber Incident Delay Determinations
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DOJ Releases Guidelines on Material Cyber Incident Delay Determinations

The Department of Justice has issued guidelines detailing the process companies may use to ask DOJ to delay disclosures of material cybersecurity incidents required by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

DOJ said Tuesday a company may delay disclosing the cyber incident in Item 1.05 of Form 8-K if the U.S. Attorney General determines that such a move would pose a risk to public safety or national security.

In July, SEC implemented rules directing public companies to divulge material cybersecurity incidents and report annually material information on cybersecurity strategy, risk management and governance.

According to the DOJ guidelines, when a registrant thinks that a disclosure may pose a risk to national security or public safety, the organization should immediately contact the FBI in accordance with the bureau’s reporting instructions.

The document also outlines procedures for U.S. government agencies to follow when an exception to the general disclosure requirement might apply.

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