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NSA, CISA Issue Recommendation to Strengthen Security of Coding Environments
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NSA, CISA Issue Recommendation to Strengthen Security of Coding Environments

The National Security Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency jointly released an information sheet recommending security best practices for organizations with Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery coding platforms.

The guidance was published amid potential threats from malicious cyber actors to compromise CI/CD pipelines, which are key to executing development, security and operations strategies, NSA said Wednesday.

Top risks in CI/CD pipelines include insecure codes, poisoned pipeline execution, misconfigured systems, the use of third-party services and exposure of security keys and secrets.

NSA and CISA urge organizations to implement a zero trust approach to detect threats and use NSA-recommended cryptographic algorithms to boost protection of data, secrets, keys and application programming interfaces.

Long-term credentials should be avoided in software authentication, but if it must be maintained, administrators should protect and manage all keys associated with them. Ephemeral credentials should also be used in cloud environments, the agencies stated.

The full document is available on the NSA website.

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DHS Amends Acquisition Regulation to Boost Protection of Controlled Unclassified Information
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DHS Amends Acquisition Regulation to Boost Protection of Controlled Unclassified Information

The Department of Homeland Security revised its acquisition regulation to enhance the protection and privacy of controlled unclassified information, and improve security incident reporting to the agency.

The rule, which takes effect on July 21, aims to refine standard procedures for responding to DHS contractors that encounter incidents with the agency’s sensitive data.

The Homeland Security Acquisition Regulation was amended to ensure security measures are in place for contractor or subcontractor employees who will access CUI. It contains requirements and processes for handling in-house or third-party information systems that will be used to collect or transmit CUI.

New HSAR language also includes mandates for contractors to have notification and credit monitoring services for individuals who may be affected by information system incidents because of their Personally Identifiable Information or Sensitive PII.

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Army Requests Proposals for Virtual Learning Environment 2.0 Contract
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Army Requests Proposals for Virtual Learning Environment 2.0 Contract

The Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command has begun seeking proposals for a single-award indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to develop a virtual learning environment for the service branch’s digital information learning systems.

A notice posted Monday on SAM.gov states that the Army Virtual Learning Environment 2.0 contract will create and implement training and education products in support of the Training and Doctrine Command Army Distributed Learning Program.

AVLE 2.0 will use gaming engines, virtual reality goggles, augmented reality, 3D modeling and simulations and other modalities to build interactivity levels of instructional multimedia.

The contract will have a one-year base performance period with four option years.

Responses to the request for proposals are due July 26.

DOE & Sweden Forge Alliance to Advance Energy R&D Efforts
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DOE & Sweden Forge Alliance to Advance Energy R&D Efforts

The United States via the Department of Energy and the government of Sweden have entered into a joint implementation agreement to strengthen scientific cooperation and research in the energy sector.

Building upon a collaboration that the two nations initiated in 2006, the new agreement seeks to facilitate joint research projects, promote scientist exchanges and enable the sharing of research facilities, DOE said Wednesday.

Focus areas will include scientific computing, high energy physics, nuclear physics, fusion, basic energy sciences as well as biological and environmental research.

Commenting on the partnership, Swedish Minister for Education and Research Mats Persson highlighted the importance of addressing the growing demand for clean and green energy.

The joint agreement was signed during a ceremony attended by Persson, the U.S. ambassador to Sweden, the deputy president of Sweden’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology and DOE’s Office of Science director.

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CBO: Federal Deficits to Reach 10% of GDP by 2053
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CBO: Federal Deficits to Reach 10% of GDP by 2053

The Congressional Budget Office projects the total federal deficits to drop from 5.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2023 to 5 percent by 2027 and then increase steadily over the next three decades, hitting 10 percent of GDP by 2053.

CBO said Wednesday it expects federal debt held by the public to rise from 98 percent of GDP by the end of 2023 to 107 percent of GDP by 2029 and 181 percent by 2053.

According to the agency, such rising debt could impact economic growth, increase interest payments to foreign debt holders and pose major risks to the economic and fiscal outlook.

CBO noted that revenues are projected to decline from 19.6 percent of GDP in 2022 to 18.4 percent in 2023 and then climb to 19.1 percent of GDP in 2053.

The report projects federal spending to grow from 24 percent of GDP in 2023 to 29 percent of GDP in 2053.

CBO said large primary deficits and rising interest rates cause net outlays for interest to triple in relation to GDP over the next 30 years.

According to the report, spending on Social Security and major health programs significantly increases federal outlays over the next three decades.

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DOD Awards Magellan Federal Potential $300M Contract for Financial Counseling Services; Anna Sever Quoted
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DOD Awards Magellan Federal Potential $300M Contract for Financial Counseling Services; Anna Sever Quoted

Magellan Health’s federal subsidiary has won a potential five-year, $300 million contract award from a Department of Defense office for veteran and active warfighter financial management services.

Under the contract, Magellan Federal will assist military families by offering financial literacy education and organization resources through the Personal Financial Counselors program, the Frisco, Texas-based company said Thursday.

Anna Sever, president of Magellan Federal, said the company is sympathetic to the burdens that financial stress can place on service members, thus affecting their ability to complete their important missions.

“We believe in supporting the whole-person wellbeing of our service members and that includes addressing financial wellness. Our goal is to help reduce the risk of financial challenges to enhance individual performance and total force mission readiness,” Sever commented.

Made up of more than 370 counselors across the world, the PFC program works with members of the military and their families to establish and maintain plans and goals that will ensure financial stability. Their advisory services are applicable to people in a wide range of income levels and tax brackets.

The DOD Office of Financial Readiness contract has a one-year base period worth an estimated $60 million, with four additional option years. Magellan will deploy the PFC to over 270 military and civilian locations. They will make financial counseling and education available to members of all five major service branches (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force), as well as members of the National Guard and Reserve, veterans and their immediate family.

In February, the company landed a six-month, $10 million bridge contract from the Defense Health Agency to support the Department of Defense’s Recovery Coordination initiative, which aids service members who have sustained major injuries or illnesses.

Sever was appointed president of Magellan Federal in January.

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NREL Study: US on Track to Install 1.2M Public Chargers by 2030
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NREL Study: US on Track to Install 1.2M Public Chargers by 2030

The U.S. could keep pace with the increasing demand for electric vehicles by installing a network of 1.2 million public chargers by the end of the decade, according to a study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

The 2030 National Charging Network study expects the U.S. to have approximately 1 million Level 2 charging ports that could be accessed by the public to meet their needs on a daily basis, the White House said Tuesday.

The development of a publicly accessible charging infrastructure by 2030 will require a cumulative investment of between $31 billion and $55 billion, according to the report.

NREL worked with the Department of Energy’s vehicle technologies office and the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation on the study.

The White House said nearly $24 billion has been committed to the development of public charging infrastructure through the end of the decade, enabling the Biden administration to reach its goal of having 500,000 public chargers in place.

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GMU Links with DOD Cyber Crime Center to Address Challenges in Vulnerability Disclosure Program
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GMU Links with DOD Cyber Crime Center to Address Challenges in Vulnerability Disclosure Program

The Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center partnered with George Mason University to help address challenges in the full-scale launch of its Vulnerability Disclosure Program.

The collaboration was made possible through the National Security Innovation Network Capstone program, which is comprised of entrepreneurs and student technologists with innovations that are potentially beneficial to the DOD, the defense agency said Tuesday.

VDP began in 2016 as a pilot program with the Defense Industrial Base and was was designed to cast a wider net of protection for the DOD Information Network. Although the pilot proved successful, it faced scalability obstacles such as a larger workforce to meet higher demand for services.

A team from George Mason University Information Systems and Operations Management analyzed the lessons learned from the program and made recommendations to help resolve its labor-intensive challenges. Among the suggested solutions was the creation of a cloud-based portal to support DIB companies going through the VDP onboarding phase.

After eight weeks, the recommendations led to a 50-hour reduction in labor hours spent on the program, as well as a decline in onboarding processing time from eight hours to one hour per company. VDP expanded its DIB companies from 50 to 1,000 for the same operational budget.

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GSA Begins Market Research for Post-Quantum Cryptography
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GSA Begins Market Research for Post-Quantum Cryptography

The General Services Administration has released a request for information on vendors that could provide post-quantum cryptography products and services.

GSA has asked several questions regarding PQC-related tools and services that companies offer and risks and impacts to organizations’ information technology systems as they support federal, state, local and tribal entities, according to a notice published Tuesday.

The agency wants information on the changes and updates made by companies to address an Office of Management and Budget memorandum regarding the migration to PQC.

Interested stakeholders can also share the additions and changes they have implemented to comply with a 2021 cybersecurity executive order and national security memos issued in 2022 in relation to PQC.

Responses to the RFI are due July 11.

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Report: US Eyes New Restrictions on AI Chip Exports to Geopolitical Rivals
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Report: US Eyes New Restrictions on AI Chip Exports to Geopolitical Rivals

The U.S. Department of Commerce could introduce new restrictions by July that would prohibit the shipment of chips used in artificial intelligence applications to customers in China and other geopolitical rivals in response to concerns that adversaries could use such AI chips in weapons development and cyber hacking campaigns, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Sources said the restriction on AI chips developed by NVIDIA, Advanced Micro Devices and other manufacturers would be part of the final rules meant to codify the export controls on advanced semiconductors announced by the Commerce Department in October.

According to individuals familiar with the matter, the Biden administration is also considering imposing a restriction on the leasing of cloud computing services to Chinese AI firms, which have used such approaches to circumvent export control measures on advanced chips.

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