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CISA, FBI Issue Cybersecurity Advisory Against CL0P Ransomware Gang Following MOVEit Attack
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CISA, FBI Issue Cybersecurity Advisory Against CL0P Ransomware Gang Following MOVEit Attack

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI have jointly published recommendations to protect organizations against potential attacks by a group called CL0P Ransomware Gang.

CISA announced Wednesday that its new cybersecurity advisory is meant to warn and guide companies and other institutions after Internet-facing web applications were infected with malware traced from the cybercriminals.

The CL0P Ransomware Gang reportedly exploited a vulnerability in a structured query language in MOVEit, a managed file transfer platform developed by Progress Software. Beginning last month, the group infected web applications that used MOVEit and stole data from their underlying databases.

CISA and FBI urged organizations to conduct an inventory that identifies their authorized and unauthorized devices and software. The agencies also reminded that administrator privileges and access should be limited and granted only when necessary.

Software and applications should always be patched and updated to the latest version, and vulnerability assessments should be performed regularly, according to the advisory. The agencies stressed that firewalls, routers and other network infrastructure devices should be strengthened with security configurations and monitored habitually.

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Mark Borkowski to Retire as CBP Chief Acquisition Officer
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Mark Borkowski to Retire as CBP Chief Acquisition Officer

Mark Borkowski, chief acquisition officer and assistant commissioner of the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection, will retire on June 30 after more than four decades of federal service, Federal News Network reported Wednesday.

In an email to CBP personnel, he recalled the establishment of the acquisition office 13 years ago, including the development of governance structures and acquisition competencies.

“I have been thinking about retiring for the last several years — but the volatility we have been experiencing (most notably, the COVID pandemic), made me think it was better to stick around for the sake of stability. Now that we are coming to post-pandemic equilibrium, this is a good time for me to leave,” Borkowski wrote in the email obtained by FNN.

Borkowski has led the office of acquisition at CBP since June 2016. Prior to this role, he was assistant commissioner for the office of technology innovation and acquisition. He also served as executive director of the Secure Border Initiative and head of mission support at headquarters for CBP’s Border Patrol.

Prior to CBP, he held the positions of program executive for the Robotic Lunar Exploration Program at NASA’s exploration systems mission directorate and coordinator for the space agency’s Exploration Transportation Strategic Roadmap.

Borkowski is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel who served for more than two decades within the service branch.

Gen. Charles Brown Says Multiyear Missile Purchases Key to Stabilize Demand Signal
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Gen. Charles Brown Says Multiyear Missile Purchases Key to Stabilize Demand Signal

Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown, chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, said the Department of Defense needs to communicate a steady demand signal to help the defense industrial base keep up with the U.S. military’s demand for missiles, munitions and spare parts, DefenseNews reported Thursday.

Brown said the Air Force is proposing multiyear procurements of Raytheon Technologies‘ AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile and Lockheed Martin‘s Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range and Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile to establish a steady flow of weapons production.

The Air Force has the authority to make multiyear purchases for weapons under the fiscal year National Defense Authorization Act.

In its budget proposal for FY 2024, the Air Force wants to roughly double its overall missile spending to $4.7 billion from $2.3 billion in the previous year.

“We’ve got to look at multiyear procurements so that it helps give a predictable demand signal to industry,” Brown said.

“And it’s not just the prime [contractors], it’s all the subs below them so they actually have supply chains laid in, they’re [set up with the proper facilities], they have the workforce, and it’s not a little bit up and down and unpredictability,” he added.

In late May, Brown received nomination from President Biden to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

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Akima Selects Maria Karisik as GM of Cloud Lake Technology Subsidiary
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Akima Selects Maria Karisik as GM of Cloud Lake Technology Subsidiary

Maria Karisik has been appointed as general manager of Akima subsidiary Cloud Lake Technology, bringing more than 25 years of leadership experience to the company.

In her new role, Karisik will drive the delivery of information and operational technology offerings to steer Cloud Lake Technology’s public sector customers toward mission success, the Herndon, Virginia-based organization announced on Wednesday.

“Maria has vast technology expertise and proven experience leading teams that solve complex problems for a wide-range of government customers. Our mission-critical IT business is well-positioned for future growth under her leadership,” said Akima Emerging Markets Group President Barry Smallwood.

Throughout her career, Karisik has assisted a variety of federal clients with high-level technology projects. In her most recent position as vice president of solutions and service delivery at Foxhole Technology, she oversaw cybersecurity and agile software development contracts for both federal civilian and defense customers and led organic and new business growth initiatives.

Previously, Karisik served as director of federal civilian cyber operations at Jacobs, where she was responsible for a portfolio of cybersecurity contracts worth over $100 million.

Earlier, she was a partner for Blue Canopy Group, a woman-owned small business. She joined the company in 2003 as one of its first employees and stayed until it was acquired by Jacobs in 2017.

Alongside her role at Cloud Lake Technology, Karisik will take up the general manager post at fellow Akima subsidiary North Edge Technology.

Akima has recently made multiple executive leadership changes. In February, the organization selected Ross Berkoff as general manager of its RiverTech subsidiary, and a month earlier, Robin Dewar joined Akima as vice president of business development.

White House Launches Website for Biden’s Invest in America Agenda
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White House Launches Website for Biden’s Invest in America Agenda

The White House has launched a new website that shows how the Biden administration is attempting to mobilize public and private sector investments across U.S. states and territories sparked by the Investing in America Agenda.

Invest.gov maps ongoing infrastructure projects funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and private sector investments in areas of batteries and electric vehicles, clean energy, semiconductors and biotechnology and biomanufacturing.

The website provides the public access to information about the approximate level of investments in their communities.

According to the site, private companies have so far committed $479 billion in total investments since President Biden took office.

The semiconductors and electronics sector secured the most private contributions with $214 billion in total investments, followed by the EV and batteries market with $137 billion, the clean energy technology manufacturing industry with $84 billion and the biomanufacturing space with $19 billion.

NOAA Data & Environmental Satellite Unit to Receive $80M Funding from Inflation Reduction Act
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NOAA Data & Environmental Satellite Unit to Receive $80M Funding from Inflation Reduction Act

The National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will receive a total of $80.5 million in funding for climate research and resilience.

NESDIS announced Tuesday that it will use the grant under the Inflation Reduction Act to foster collaborations with industrial sectors as well as state and local governments.

The agency plans to allocate $74.1 million to engage with industry representatives, understand their data needs and develop new collaborative strategies to address climate change. The funds will also be used to design climate risk models for different sectors and expand their access to climate information.

The remaining $6.4 million will be invested in projects to solve climate data gaps faced by underserved communities, as well as bolstering the expertise of regional agencies tasked with providing local climate information. It will also be spent on artificial intelligence tools to improve data assimilation at NOAA.

The funding is part of the IRA’s five-year, $3.3 billion pledge to NOAA to accelerate climate research, modeling, and information dissemination.

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IARPA Sets Proposers’ Day for Anonymous Real-Time Speech Program
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IARPA Sets Proposers’ Day for Anonymous Real-Time Speech Program

The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity is set to host a proposers’ day on June 27 to discuss with industry its new program to develop novel methods and systems to anonymize conversational speech recorded by electronic devices.

A SAM.gov notice posted Monday states that the Anonymous Real-Time Speech program aims to prevent smartphones and other appliances and gadgets that have microphones to listen for speech signals from invading an individual’s privacy by modifying spontaneous speech in real-time.

ARTS has been designed to develop new software-based systems that can transform recorded speech in a format that sounds natural and understandable.

According to the notice, IARPA seeks to create new capabilities to counter threats to users’ privacy, such as automated classification of dynamic traits and speaker identification software.

Interested parties may register for the proposers’ day by June 22.

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Purdue Applied Research Institute Unveils Facility for Hypersonic Flight Research
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Purdue Applied Research Institute Unveils Facility for Hypersonic Flight Research

Purdue University’s applied research arm has unveiled a new facility that will house the university’s hypersonic aircraft evaluation and testing efforts.

The Purdue Applied Research Institute has invested $41 million in the development of the 65,000-square-foot Hypersonics and Applied Research Facility that contains the only Mach 8 quiet wind tunnel and a hypersonic pulse reflected shock/expansion tunnel, Purdue said Tuesday.

Both tunnels will offer controlled environments for recreating different scenarios and replicating unique engine conditions for extremely high-speed propulsion.

In addition to the tunnels, the new facility also includes the Hypersonics Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center, which will focus on the development of new materials and manufacturing processes.

“Through facilities such as HARF, we will help solve some of the most challenging and relevant problems in the field of high-speed flight while also building the future workforce,” said Mark Lewis, CEO of PARI.

2023 Hypersonics Forum

ExecutiveBiz will host its 2023 Hypersonics Forum on August 15 to discuss with military leaders and industry experts on challenges, strategies and priorities steering hypersonic weapon development in the U.S. Click here to register and hear from keynote speaker James Weber, principal director for hypersonics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.

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GAO: Congress Should Establish Long-Term Plan to Address Fiscal Sustainability
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GAO: Congress Should Establish Long-Term Plan to Address Fiscal Sustainability

The Government Accountability Office has called on Congress to develop a long-term fiscal plan that incorporates fiscal targets and rules and consider alternative approaches that better connect decisions about the debt ceiling to decisions related to revenue and spending to help address the federal government’s unsustainable fiscal future.

Debt held by the public is expected to increase from approximately 97 percent of gross domestic product in fiscal year 2022 to 106 percent of GDP within a decade and continue to climb at an increasing pace, GAO said in a report published Tuesday.

“We project that this ratio could reach more than 219 percent of GDP by 2051, absent any changes in revenue and spending policies,” the GAO report reads.

The congressional watchdog noted that delays in suspending or increasing the borrowing limit pose additional risks to the fiscal outlook.

President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a bipartisan measure to suspend the debt ceiling through January 2025, preventing a default on U.S. obligations.

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US, Israel Agencies Issue Joint Guide to Prevent Remote Access Software Exploitation
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US, Israel Agencies Issue Joint Guide to Prevent Remote Access Software Exploitation

The National Security Agency and several other government entities in the U.S. and Israel issued a cybersecurity information sheet to warn the public about the exploitation of remote access software by cyber actors.

NSA on Tuesday released the guidance, which lists best practices to prevent or mitigate the often-undetectable attacks.

The information sheet, entitled “Guide to Securing Remote Access Software,” was co-authored by the FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center and the Israel National Cyber Directorate.

Cyber actors are using legitimate remote access systems as a threat vector to hack and even control organizations’ systems and resources, the agencies stated. After accessing victims’ systems, the actors manage to go undetected in regular network activities.

To prepare for such malicious schemes, the guide urges network administrators and defenders to set up a security baseline of their normal software and network activities. They should also consider the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Cybersecurity Framework in establishing a risk management strategy.

The document makes other recommendations specific to managed service providers, software-as-a-service customers, IT administrators and developers of remote access technologies.

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