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CISA Selects Cloudflare to Provide Registry, Authoritative DNS Services for .gov TLD; Matthew Prince Quoted
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CISA Selects Cloudflare to Provide Registry, Authoritative DNS Services for .gov TLD; Matthew Prince Quoted

Cloudflare has won a contract from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to deliver registry and authoritative domain name system support to the .gov top level domain.

Under the $7.2 million award, Cloudflare is expected to provide managed name servers for the .gov zone as well as authoritative DNS hosting for .gov domain names, the San Francisco, California-based company announced on Friday.

“The Internet has made the United States government more accessible for constituents than ever before, whether they’re applying for a passport, learning health and safety recommendations for their communities or reaching out to a representative,” said Cloudflare Co-Founder and CEO Matthew Prince.

“Having a reliable and secure DNS for government agencies is critical to instill trust in all .gov activity, and working with us to achieve this is a testament to the reliability and security of the Cloudflare network,” he added.

Cloudflare’s responsibilities under the award align with CISA’s aims to minimize the attack surface of .gov-related infrastructure and federal agencies, automate sensitive areas of DNS security management, set DNS records that increase the difficulty of impersonating the government in email by default and improve visibility to enhance the detection and prevention of select DNS ecosystem problems rather than reacting to them.

DNS is seen as a crucial Internet service that is fundamental to the security of applications that sit on top of it and instrumental in driving traffic to .gov domain websites.

CISA selected Cloudflare to provide widely available DNS services necessary for boosting resilience and simplifying security operations for .gov domain users. These services are expected to streamline CISA’s process of delivering .gov domains to federal organizations at no cost.

The security organization first adopted Cloudflare in 2021 to supply a protective DNS resolver product for all federal civilian executive branch agencies.

In December of last year, Cloudflare attained FedRAMP moderate authorization. The software is currently available on the FedRAMP marketplace and is being utilized by more than 40 federal agencies.

OSTP to Implement Scientific Integrity Framework Across Federal Agencies
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OSTP to Implement Scientific Integrity Framework Across Federal Agencies

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has published a first-of-its-kind scientific integrity framework to strengthen the ethical foundation of government science.

The Framework for Federal Scientific Integrity Policy and Practice was created to ensure that the government provides the American public with transparent, accurate information free of political bias.

The roadmap includes a model policy that federal agencies can adopt and a set of tools for continuous assessments and improvements. It also authorizes the establishment of the National Science and Technology Council Subcommittee on Scientific Integrity, which will lead implementation and evaluate government departments’ progress.

OSTP is also requiring the appointment of a scientific integrity official in all agencies, and a chief science officer in branches that provide research funding or conduct or manage such projects.

The framework is based on the January 2022 report, “Protecting the Integrity of Government Science,” which was released by a committee of the White House National Science and Technology Council.

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NOAA Seeks Potential Sources to Support DOC Cybersecurity Operations
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NOAA Seeks Potential Sources to Support DOC Cybersecurity Operations

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued a sources sought notice to support the joint operations of its Cyber Security Center and the Department of Commerce’s Enterprise Security Operations Center.

Through the potential partnership, NOAA aims to integrate, correlate and enhance security information systems used by NOAA and its partners as well as numerous other DOC bureaus, the department said in the notice earlier this week.

To fortify the current functions of NCSC and ESOC, NOAA seeks to boost their security information and event management system as well as security orchestration, automation, and response platform, through potential services, according to the notice published on Thursday.

The NCSC and ESOC run five support groups, including the NOAA Security Operations Center, Infrastructure Support, Enterprise Security Services, DOC Enterprise Security Operations and DOC ESOC Engineering Services. They were established to provide round-the-clock monitoring, analysis, detection, event correlation and response to computer-based threats.

Respondents may submit their capabilities statement to NOAA until Jan. 26.

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NASA Discovers Exoplanet Using Northrop Grumman-Built James Webb Space Telescope; Mark Clampin Quoted
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NASA Discovers Exoplanet Using Northrop Grumman-Built James Webb Space Telescope; Mark Clampin Quoted

Researchers at NASA have validated the existence of a planet orbiting another star using the Northrop Grumman-developed James Webb Space Telescope.

The exoplanet marks NASA’s first such discovery made using the Webb telescope and measures at about 99 percent of Earth’s diameter, the agency said on Thursday.

“Webb is bringing us closer and closer to a new understanding of Earth-like worlds outside our solar system, and the mission is only just getting started,” said Mark Clampin, Astrophysics Division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

“These first observational results from an Earth-size, rocky planet open the door to many future possibilities for studying rocky planet atmospheres with Webb,” Clampin emphasized.

Classified as LHS 475 b, the exoplanet was a target of interest from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. It is located in the constellation Octans, which is 41 light-years away, and orbits its star in just two Earth-days.

Data from the observatory indicates that the LHS 475 b is a terrestrial planet that is warmer than Earth by a few hundred degrees. The team is still working to confirm its atmospheric composition.

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Col. Eric Felt Says Commercial Space Platforms Key to Maintaining U.S. Technological Edge
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Col. Eric Felt Says Commercial Space Platforms Key to Maintaining U.S. Technological Edge

Col. Eric Felt, director of space architecture and integration at the U.S. Space Force, said investments in high-priority technologies and commercially available platforms are instrumental to maintaining the U.S. technological leadership in the space domain, SpaceNews reported Wednesday.

“What’s so exciting to the Space Force and the space acquisition community about all this commercial innovation is that we can use it to maintain our technology lead, and deter conflict with our competitors,” Felt said.

Speaking at the National Defense Industrial Association’s “State of the Space Industrial Base” webinar, Felt said there are available space systems that are capable of delivering capabilities to meet warfighting needs.

Frank Calvelli, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition and integration, also sees the importance of speeding up the acquisition of more commercial technologies to boost the U.S. space capabilities, according to Felt.

“His formula for going faster in acquisition starts with smaller systems, and that includes buying more commercial systems,” Felt said.

Felt also noted that the Department of Defense’s investment strategy can have a significant effect on the space industry, adding that it can either be “super helpful” or “super harmful” to the industrial base.

2023 Space Acquisition Forum

Calvelli is set to share his thoughts on how to transform space acquisition to outpace U.S. competitors at GovCon Wire’s 2023 Space Acquisition Forum on Jan. 18. Click here to register.

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NIH Splits CIO, Center for IT Director Roles
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NIH Splits CIO, Center for IT Director Roles

The National Institutes of Health has separated the roles of the chief information officer and director of the Center for Information Technology following Andrea Norris’ retirement in December. She served for more than a decade in the dual-hatted role, Federal News Network reported Thursday.

Ivor D’Souza, director of information systems at the National Library of Medicine, serves as acting CIT director. Dennis Papula, deputy CIO at the NIH, serves as CIO on an interim basis.

“With Ms. Norris’ departure, we have the opportunity to reevaluate the technology leadership needs of the NIH. We view the roles of the CIT director and OCIO director as distinct,” a spokesperson for NIH told FNN in an email. 

“The director of CIT needs to focus on the unique needs of NIH’s research and clinical enterprise. And we hope to find an individual who can help the NIH institutes and centers advance their scientific goals,” the spokesperson added.

NIH has begun accepting applications for the CIT director position and the job opening will close on March 7. The agency has not yet published a job vacancy for the CIO role.

The spokesperson noted that the CIO post will focus more on security standards and compliance and that the NIH is looking for a leader with experience managing IT functions.

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House Bill to Form Civilian Group of Cyber, Digital Experts
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House Bill to Form Civilian Group of Cyber, Digital Experts

A bipartisan pair of House lawmakers has introduced legislation to establish a civilian organization that will work to address the digital and cybersecurity needs of federal government agencies.

The bill, introduced by Reps. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, and Robin Kelly, D-Ill., would require the General Services Administration to manage and assign a group of individuals, called the National Digital Reserve Corps, to agencies that request support, Gonzales’ office said Wednesday.

It would allow reservists to work on digital and cybersecurity projects, digital education and training and technology development for the federal government for 30 days per calendar year over a three-year period.

The legislation would also provide the reservists the opportunity to obtain training and education and receive security clearances.

“The National Digital Reserve Corps strives to fill that void with civilian industry experts working in service to our federal government and our national security. This will bring the ingenuity and expertise of the private sector to our federal government to bolster our nation’s cybersecurity defense,” Gonzales said.

US DOD, Japan MOD Sign Bilateral Agreements to Foster Technology R&D, Secure Supply Chain
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US DOD, Japan MOD Sign Bilateral Agreements to Foster Technology R&D, Secure Supply Chain

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Japanese Minister of Defense Hamada Yasukazu sealed two bilateral agreements to collaborate on technology research and defense supply chains.

The Department of Defense announced that the two officials signed a memorandum of understanding for research, development, test and evaluation projects, and a security of supply arrangement on Wednesday.

The legally binding RDT&E MOU is geared toward keeping the alliance ahead of technological advancements, it and also revises the Project for Cooperative Research MOU according to current standards of practice, laws and policies.

On the other hand, the non-binding SOSA provides the two agencies with a streamlined mechanism to mutually make urgent requests for industrial resources in the event of supply chain disruptions.

“To support U.S. forces and enhance Alliance cooperation towards these ends, the United States and Japan must focus our efforts to collaborate on sharpening the competitive edge of the Alliance to meet future force requirements and sustained logistics. This is a consequential moment for Japan and the U.S.-Japan Alliance as we embark on new forms of cooperation together,” said Austin, a two-time recipient of the Wash100 award.

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Space Force Set to Launch New NSSL Mission On SpaceX Rocket; Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy Quoted
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Space Force Set to Launch New NSSL Mission On SpaceX Rocket; Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy Quoted

The U.S. Space Force will launch its National Security Space Launch-67 mission using a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on January 14 at 5:00 p.m.

Scheduled to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center, the mission consists of two co-manifested satellites designed to transmit military communications data and bring payloads to space, the Space Systems Command announced on Friday.

“This is a complex mission and truly represents what Assured Access to Space is about, and is why we’re so enthusiastic about this upcoming launch — our second Falcon Heavy in just months,” said Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, program executive officer for SSC’s Assured Access to Space organization.

“The teamwork I’ve seen preparing for this launch has just been exceptional. We’ve worked side-by-side with SpaceX to ensure all boxes are checked,” he emphasized.

As the launch’s forward spacecraft, SSC’s Continuous Broadcast Augmenting SATCOM will enter geosynchronous orbit to deliver communications relay capabilities that will aid the service’s senior leadership and combatant commanders. It is intended to augment existing military satellite communication capabilities and steadily broadcast military data using space-based satellite relay links.

Also included in the launch is the Long Duration Propulsive ESPA spacecraft, which will be used to quickly place various payloads into orbit, providing key data meant to inform and shape later Space Force initiatives. It carries two SSC payloads, catcher and WASSAT, as well as two Space Rapid Capabilities Office operational prototype payloads for enhanced situational awareness and an operational prototype crypto/interface encryption payload to ensure secure space-to-ground communications stability.

This mission serves as the first launch for the NSSL initiative this year and the first SpaceX launch from the NSSL Phase 2 contract. It marks the fifth SpaceX Falcon Heavy mission overall and the rocket’s second NSSL mission.

In conducting this launch, the Space Force will harness the SpaceX-developed booster reusability capability, which allows the service to reuse side boosters from an earlier USSF mission.

A backup opportunity is scheduled for January 15 at 5:56 p.m.

Space Force Set to Launch New NSSL Mission On SpaceX Rocket; Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy Quoted

GovCon Wire will be hosting its Space Acquisition Forum on Jan. 18, which will connect government officials and industry experts to consider the challenges, technologies and best practices shaping space acquisition today. To learn more and register to attend, please visit GovCon Wire’s events page.

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AFWERX, Army Award 300+ Small Business Contracts in Multiservice Contracting Sprint
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AFWERX, Army Award 300+ Small Business Contracts in Multiservice Contracting Sprint

AFWERX, the innovation arm of the Air Force Research Laboratory, has partnered with a pair of U.S. Army organizations to conduct a multiservice contracting sprint for small businesses developing technologies for potential military applications.

During the inaugural multiservice contracting sprint, more than 300 small businesses secured Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I contracts, worth over $20 million in total, AFRL said Thursday.

The program, held from Oct. 24 to Nov. 4, 2022, was a collaborative effort between AFWERX and Army Futures Command and Army Contracting Command.

Army Applications Laboratory supported about 80 military and civilian contracting professionals from 21 states during the discovery and idea formulation process.

“Contracting sprints are just one activity wherein we can work effectively and efficiently as multiservice partners to get after common objectives, share knowledge and systematically implement continuous improvements,” said John McCanney, AFWERX contracting sprints lead.

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