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Robert Silvers: DHS Working on Secure AI Tech Deployment Guidance for Critical Infrastruture Companies
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Robert Silvers: DHS Working on Secure AI Tech Deployment Guidance for Critical Infrastruture Companies

Robert Silvers, under secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security, said DHS is developing guidance to help critical infrastructure operators and owners securely deploy artificial intelligence tools in their operations, Federal News Network reported Wednesday.

“There’s tremendous promise, as you deploy AI to operate the grid — water supply, hospital systems, financial markets — you’re going to want to make sure, though, that that is done in a safe and secure way. That if things fail, it happens safely, not catastrophically, that you have adequate auditing and testing, that you give due consideration to when should certain kinds of decisions be made with a human in the loop, for example,” Silvers, a previous Wash100 awardee, told FNN on the sidelines of a conference Wednesday.

He said DHS is exploring new opportunities to leverage AI technology and is teaming up with AI companies to better understand the emerging technology’s capabilities and limitations.

The DHS official noted that the department sees the need to become one of the “early and aggressive adopters” of AI technology, which he said has been used in network defense activities.

“We should also be at the vanguard of establishing rules for responsible and ethical and safe use for our own programs,” he added.

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NSA, CISA Lead Public-Private Technical Report on Enterprises’ Multifactor Authentication Challenges
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NSA, CISA Lead Public-Private Technical Report on Enterprises’ Multifactor Authentication Challenges

A report led by the National Security Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency suggested that multifactor authentication, or MFA, in organizations must have clearer definitions and security properties in order to protect enterprise systems.

The public-private technical report highlights key challenges and corresponding actions for developers and vendors of MFA and single sign-on, or SSO technologies, NSA said Wednesday.

The study, which was developed through the cross-sector group Enduring Security Framework, tied the increasing multiple use of computers in organizations to identity verification and access management vulnerabilities. Furthermore, lower levels of MFA have become susceptible to phishing attacks and other malicious activity.

The experts urged developers to create secure-by-default SSO and MFA tools for organizations. Identity standards and terminology must also be refined when it comes to enterprise IT systems, they recommended.

RAND Calls on Navy, Marine Corps to Reevaluate Connector Survivability
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RAND Calls on Navy, Marine Corps to Reevaluate Connector Survivability

New research from RAND Corporation‘s National Security Research Division found that the Navy and Marine Corps face a new threat environment that demands them to reevaluate the survivability of their current fleet of surface connectors.

RAND said the U.S. military’s existing fleet of amphibious connectors was designed and developed under different operational concepts and “might not be as survivable when they operate in a contested environment against an evolved adversary.”

The nonprofit research organization recommended that the naval services address the survivability of their current fleet of amphibious craft by developing and formalizing an analytic framework for connector survivability.

According to RAND, the Navy and Marine Corps must also invest in the survivability of the current connector fleet; develop techniques, procedures and associated training to support the new operating concepts; and utilize operational and tactical intelligence for amphibious forces.

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RTX Demos Solid-State Circuit Breaker for Hybrid-Electric Propulsion Systems
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RTX Demos Solid-State Circuit Breaker for Hybrid-Electric Propulsion Systems

RTX has developed and demonstrated a solid-state circuit breaker designed to support all-electric and hybrid-electric propulsion systems in future aerial platforms.

The RTX Technology Research Center has worked with Collins Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney to build the circuit breaker through NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program, the company said Wednesday.

The circuit breaker technology can manage five times the power of the largest circuit breaker onboard existing aircratft, according to the company.

RTX concluded design, altitude and functional testing of the circuit breaker and plans to further develop the technology through flight demonstration and system integration work at Collins Aerospace’s electric power systems lab, called The Grid.

“Without new circuit breakers that can manage higher loads, hybrid-electric aircraft won’t be possible,” said Andreas Roelofs, vice president of research at RTX and director of RTRC.

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James Shappell on Implementing Prevention, Assistance & Response Program at DOD Joint Bases
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James Shappell on Implementing Prevention, Assistance & Response Program at DOD Joint Bases

James Shappell, director of the DOD Insider Threat Management and Analysis Center at the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, discussed at a recent symposium how DITMAC works to mitigate and prevent insider threats at the installation level through the Prevention, Assistance and Response program, DVIDS reported Wednesday.

Under the PAR program, DITMAC hires, trains and assigns PAR coordinators to Department of Defense joint bases in an effort to help civilian leaders and commanders understand and counter insider risks.

“Our PAR program is designed to give commanders the right amount of detail and information so they can make informed, risk-based decisions on how they should best move forward to support their personnel,” Shappell said at the event.

He went on to explicate DCSA’s efforts to mitigate risks from trusted insiders across the enterprise, including initiatives to meet its personnel security mission.

“We run 95% of the background investigations for the federal government and we adjudicate the security clearances for the Department of Defense,” Shappell said. “Then we run Continuous Vetting for the Department of Defense and a large population of non-DOD entities. So, from a personal security perspective, the gatekeepers at DCSA have a great opportunity to lead the charge on stopping people from getting in the front door.”

The DSCA official also raised the agency’s Center for Development of Security Excellence and how it helps promote security education training and awareness.

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AWS’ Ash Thankey Reflects on Career Background & Leadership Approach
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AWS’ Ash Thankey Reflects on Career Background & Leadership Approach

Ash Thankey currently serves as director of national security at Amazon Web Services, where he oversees human systems, cyber, signals intelligence and defense intelligence units within the company’s U.S. business. Prior to joining AWS, Thankey held roles at Oracle and Adobe.

In a recent interview with the Potomac Officers Club, Thankey shared his career inspirations, discussed his strengths as a leader and highlighted his accomplishments.

He describes his approach to leadership in this excerpt from the interview:

“My management style centers around empathy, embodying the principles of a servant leader. I’m committed to clearing the path for my team’s success by stepping back and allowing them to thrive. Sometimes this means recognizing that success isn’t attainable. In those moments, it’s paramount to offer reassurance to our team members and convey that it’s acceptable to face setbacks. In fact, these losses can serve as profound sources of learning, eventually contributing to more substantial victories down the line. At Amazon, the philosophy of embracing failure is central because it empowers individuals to take calculated risks.”

For more of Thankey’s insights, read the full Executive Spotlight interview on the Potomac Officers Club website.

Interested in participating in your own Executive Spotlight interview? This exciting brand-building opportunity is available exclusively for Potomac Officers Club members. Click here to view our membership options and discover which one is right for you.

Mattermost’s Barry Duplantis on ChatOps Use & JADC2 Impact
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Mattermost’s Barry Duplantis on ChatOps Use & JADC2 Impact

ChatOps tools have huge potential to enhance decision-making at the edge, according to Barry Duplantis, vice president and general manager of Mattermost’s North America public sector arm.

These technologies enable constant connection between mission teams and decision makers using flexible, scalable command and control communication tools, and Mattermost’s ChatOps platform was shown to be beneficial in the Air Mobility Command’s recent Mobility Guardian 2023 exercise, the company said in a case study report.

During the readiness exercise, 3,000 U.S. and Allied Forces personnel were deployed, with detachments from the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France and Japan, allowing over 15,000 U.S. and global forces to participate concurrently in exercises throughout the Indo-Pacific region.

“The Mobility Guardian 2023 exercise demonstrates the critical value of ChatOps in supporting mission operations and enabling teams to move at the speed of the mission,” Duplantis stated.

Mobility Guardian exercises are generally unscripted to challenge forces to think and act quickly in difficult operational environments. This year, the exercise utilized Mattermost’s ChatOps tool to support the use of asynchronous communication channels and collaboration platforms.

Duplantis noted the anticipated impact of ChatOps tools on the Department of Defense’s broader Joint All-Domain Command and Control initiative, which aims to revolutionize joint operations for an information advantage.

“As the DOD progresses on its JADC2 initiatives, I’m confident we’ll see increased reliance on ChatOps across branches as they collaborate to enhance decision quality at the edge,” he said.

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Virtru’s Shannon Vaughn Claims Military Missions Should Implement Data-Centric Cybersecurity
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Virtru’s Shannon Vaughn Claims Military Missions Should Implement Data-Centric Cybersecurity

Data-centric cybersecurity and automated classification can help the U.S. military achieve battlespace dominance due to their ability to protect information regardless of its location or users, Shannon Vaughn, general manager of Virtru Federal and U.S. Army Reserve officer, wrote in an article in C4ISRNET.

In his opinion piece, Vaughn talks about the emergence of data dominance as one of the most critical elements of military missions, and how non-conventional cyber defense is the ideal approach moving forward.

To implement a data-centric approach, the military must classify and tag their information according to level of sensitivity. Effective tagging and classification can be leveraged by mission teams to control the access and use of their information, giving them built-in security controls instead of device-based protection, according to Vaughn.

Mission teams should utilize a combination of attribute-based access control, or ABAC, and automated classification and tagging to streamline and expedite the process. Vaughn recommended ABAC that is enabled by the Trust Data Format standard, which features military-grade encryption and is approved by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

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3 Agencies Propose Rule for Cyber Contractual Requirements for Unclassified Federal Info Systems
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3 Agencies Propose Rule for Cyber Contractual Requirements for Unclassified Federal Info Systems

The General Services Administration, NASA and the Department of Defense are seeking feedback on a proposed rule that intends to standardize cybersecurity contractual requirements for unclassified federal information systems as part of the implementation of a section within the 2021 cybersecurity executive order.

The proposed rule outlines cybersecurity procedures, policies and requirements for contractor services to build, implement, maintain or operate a FIS, including policies for using cloud and non-cloud computing services, according to a Federal Register notice published Tuesday.

“This rule underscores that compliance with these requirements is material to eligibility and payment under Government contracts,” the notice reads.

The proposed policy, which was introduced as an amendment to the Federal Acquisition Regulation, will apply to the acquisition of commercial products and services.

For FIS using non-cloud computing services, the proposed regulation details requirements for records management and government access, assessments, specification of additional security and privacy controls and cyber supply chain risk management, among others.

Comments on the proposed rule are due Dec. 4.

OPM Notifies Agencies of Plan to Implement Continuous Vetting for Non-Sensitive Public Trust Population
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OPM Notifies Agencies of Plan to Implement Continuous Vetting for Non-Sensitive Public Trust Population

The Office of Personnel Management has issued a memorandum informing federal agencies of its plan to replace periodic reinvestigations with continuous vetting for non-sensitive public trust positions.

Full enrollment of the non-sensitive public trust population into CV is expected to kick off in fiscal year 2024, according to the memo signed Tuesday by OPM Director Kiran Ahuja.

In accordance with a 2017 executive order, CV will apply to non-sensitive positions that are designated at high and moderate risk levels, including federal employees in the competitive service, personnel in the excepted service, personnel at federal contractors and non-appropriated fund employees at the Department of Defense, according to an overview of the policy.

Federal News Network reported the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency started a pilot program in June to gather lessons learned before kicking off broader personnel enrollment into CV procedures.

OPM is calling agencies to start considering how they will implement CV for the non-sensitive public trust population and collaborate with their authorized investigative service providers as they work on implementation plans.

“Until agencies begin enrollment of their non-sensitive public trust populations into continuous vetting, they must continue to initiate reinvestigations for individuals occupying these positions in accordance with existing policy and established protocol,” the memo reads.

OPM said doing so will enable agencies to prevent any delays in mobility for government employees or applicants and achieve compliance with regulatory requirements.

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