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LogicMonitor Partners With AWS for Streamlined VMware Migrations
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LogicMonitor Partners With AWS for Streamlined VMware Migrations

LogicMonitor announced it has partnered with Amazon Web Services in its service offering of an accelerated, cost-effective and secure migration of customer VMware workloads to the AWS cloud environment. The LogicMonitor hybrid migration platform, itself already AWS-powered, also provides real-time on-premises and cloud environment awareness for operational continuity, the software-as-a-service company said Tuesday.

It added that its platform optimizes automated performance and streamlines workflows through the integration of additional tools, such as ServiceNow and PagerDuty.

IT Operations’ Observability Need

Will Corkery, LogicMonitor chief revenue officer, noted the “seamless visibility” that customers need in navigating hybrid environments in complex data center transformations aimed at making informed decisions and mitigating risks. “Through this collaboration with AWS, we’re empowering organizations to streamline their VMware migrations with confidence—optimizing performance, reducing costs and unlocking the next level of observability that modern IT operations demand,” said the LogicMonitor executive.

The collaboration adds to LogicMonitor’s earlier designation as a member of the AWS Partner Network with a demonstrated AWS Cloud operations competency in end-to-end cloud operations.

Alan Braun, AWS managing director of technology partnerships, pointed out that “observability is key” for organizations rapidly transitioning to the AWS cloud environment. “Bringing together AWS’s advanced cloud services with LogicMonitor’s observability expertise is another way customers can make a seamless transition to the cloud, and speed up the modernization of their IT workloads,” the AWS executive pointed out.

In January, the Santa Barbara, California-based LogicMonitor also entered into a strategic partnership with OpenAI that led to the joint development of Edwin AI, which is designed to combine advanced reasoning and deep observability in artificial intelligence applications in IT operations.

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Air Force Seeks Software Contractor for Advanced Simulation
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Air Force Seeks Software Contractor for Advanced Simulation

The U.S. Air Force is soliciting proposals for the software development and integration requirements in the Implementation of Advanced Government Simulation Architectures, or IAGSC. The contract covers incorporating Department of Defense systems to the Air Force Sustainment Center’s Software Development Directorate Experimentation Division, according to a USAF post in SAM.gov Monday.

Cybersecurity & Software Testing Tasks

Other deliverables of the selected contractor include cybersecurity implementation throughout the software development and integration process, as well as software testing and modeling and simulation capability verification.    

In addition, the contract calls for integrating intelligence community data into software capability for threat detection. It also requires administrative and systems engineering support for all simulation architecture activities, including security services for files and facilities.

Earlier Sole Source Contract Award  

The deadline for the submission of offers is on April 5. The IAGSC requirement of the Air Force has been fulfilled earlier through a sole source acquisition contract award to ensure services continuity, according to the SAM.gov post. 

A DOD report in early March announced that Modern Technology Solutions Inc. has secured a potential $48.5 million cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity USAF contract to support IAGSC. The company’s work extends up to March 17, 2027, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

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ITI Suggests 72-Hour Window for Contractors’ Cyber Incident Reporting
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ITI Suggests 72-Hour Window for Contractors’ Cyber Incident Reporting

The global tech trade association Information Technology Industry Council has recommended that government contractors be given a 72-hour reporting window and a significance threshold on cybersecurity incidents involving controlled unclassified information, or CUI. Policymakers should adopt consistent requirements and strategic assessments on the government’s CUI guardrails, ITI said Monday.

The reporting timeframe is one of ITI’s suggestions following a Federal Register announcement on a request for public comments on proposed amendments to the Federal Acquisition Regulation on contractor compliance obligations in safeguarding CUI. The Department of Defense, NASA and the General Services Administration initiated the public comments solicitation.

Consistency Measures in CUI Management

ITI’s other recommendations on the FAR amendments include certification processes alignment across all federal agencies to ensure consistent CUI management and establishing reasonable cutoff levels for contractor liability risk.

The trade group also suggested in the 10-page comments it submitted that FAR should centralize reporting for shared services to prevent overclassification. In addition, it recommended the standardization of CUI management training to prevent inconsistencies between agencies. 

Actionable Reports Needed

Leopold Wildenauer, ITI director of cybersecurity and supply chain policy, described as “fragmented and duplicative” the current cyber incident reporting policies, and noted that policymakers need to focus on aligning them across federal agencies.

“By granting contractors a 72-hour reporting window and establishing a significance threshold, the government can ensure that incident reports are both actionable and meaningful,” Wildenauer stressed.

To support the development of cybersecurity incident reporting policies, ITI has formulated and released two templates:  Policy Principles for Security Incident Reporting in the U.S. and Global Policy Principles for Cybersecurity Incident Reporting.

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DARPA Publishes Scoring System for AI Cyber Challenge Final Round
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DARPA Publishes Scoring System for AI Cyber Challenge Final Round

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has published the scoring system for the final leg of a competition to build an artificial intelligence-powered system that could safeguard the nation’s critical infrastructure. The AI Cyber Challenge, or AIxCC, final competition will assess competing systems on their ability to find and fix intentionally introduced synthetic and real world vulnerabilities, the agency said Wednesday. 

Mission to Protect CI Systems

The competition recognizes the threat malicious actors from around the world pose to systems Americans rely on every day. From bridges and highways to hospitals, the systems are vulnerable to cyberattacks. 

“Cyberthreats to critical infrastructure are broad and unrelenting,” commented Andrew Carney, program manager for the AI Cyber Challenge. “We’re looking for breakthrough systems that can give software defenders an edge when it comes to outpacing adversaries.”

AIxCC Details 

The final competition will have four rounds culminating at DEF CON 33, which will take place in Las Vegas in August. Only the final round will be scored. The first three rounds will be unscored exhibitions of proposed cyber reasoning systems. 

During the final round, each CRS will showcase how it identifies and patches vulnerabilities in software critical to industry, national security and the public.

“Now, we’re raising the bar and putting the top systems to the test against a broader and more complex range of challenges, with the goal of developing systems that the public and private sectors can use immediately to secure critical code,” added Carney.

Seven teams that advanced during the semifinal round held in August 2024 will participate in the final competition. 

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DCSA Unveils 5-Year Strategic Plan
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DCSA Unveils 5-Year Strategic Plan

The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency has released an updated strategic plan that will serve as its roadmap for the next five years as a provider of integrated security services in alignment with national and Department of Defense priorities.

3 Strategic Priorities

DCSA said Tuesday the 2025–2030 Strategic Plan outlines the agency’s three strategic priorities.

Those priorities are moving the agency to full performance and integration in each mission, anticipating and preparing DCSA for the future by equipping the agency to confront an evolving threat landscape in 2040 and raising the level of understanding and recognition of DCSA as the premier provider of integrated security services for the federal government with external stakeholders.

Each of the three priorities comes with specific objectives.

To move DCSA to full performance, objectives include meeting mission requirements, fostering an elite workforce, formalizing integration and improving agency decision-making.

“With a focus on quality and efficiency, we will expand our capabilities and capacity, streamline our processes, integrate cutting-edge technologies, and build greater agility to adapt and scale in times of national need,” DCSA Director David Cattler said in his opening letter in the document.

“Through this evolution, we will be true to our vision as the nation’s premier provider of integrated security services for the Federal Government,” Cattler added.

Underpinned by DOD, National Priorities

Building on the 2022–2027 Strategic Plan, the updated document is underpinned by DOD and national priorities focusing on restoring trust through effective stewardship of taxpayer dollars; achieving strength through direct support to the defense industrial base; and reestablishing deterrence through lethality, accountability, meritocracy, standards and readiness.

The new strategy also details DCSA’s mission areas, including personnel security, industrial security, counterintelligence and insider threat, security training, and field operations.

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DIU Awards 3 Contracts for AI-Powered Financial & Project Management Tools
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DIU Awards 3 Contracts for AI-Powered Financial & Project Management Tools

The Defense Innovation Unit has awarded contracts to three commercial artificial intelligence providers to develop prototypes for advanced AI tools designed to streamline budget execution and project management.

DIU said Tuesday it selected CORAS, GovSignals and Pryzm Dynamics to develop the AI-powered platforms as part of the agency’s Enterprise Workflow and Reporting Platform, or eWARP, project, launched in February.

Utilizing AI to Streamline DIU Operations 

The project is in response to the current issues experienced in integrating technologies into the Department of Defense. Existing systems don’t have the necessary integration and transparency for tracking milestones, managing contracts and monitoring performance.

To address these challenges, the agency aims to enhance the efficiency of its program and financial management tasks by optimizing its operations and minimizing the need to perform manual tasks. Furthermore, the project aims to boost leadership visibility and financial reporting.

The three companies chosen to proceed to the prototyping phase of the eWARP project will develop different AI-powered platforms. CORAS will focus on creating a centralized system with AI-driven, configurable no-code components for integrating financial tracking, milestone oversight and vendor management into a single financial management tool.

GovSignals will work with Unstructured to develop an intuitive platform designed to process diverse data formats, support different enterprise personas, enhance data-sharing and adapt to dynamic mission requirements. Pryzm Dynamics will develop an AI-enabled centralized platform to enhance financial, contract and project management while facilitating collaboration and providing project status updates.

Jaime Fitzgibbon, AI program manager and contractor, said, “The goal of this project is to transform insight gathering from manual spreadsheet drudgery into an intelligent, responsive system. By harnessing AI and large language models, we’re deploying a solution that not only accelerates the discovery of insights but also establishes accountability through automated precision.”

Register now to attend the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 AI Summit on March 20 and learn from some of the most esteemed AI experts in the industry.

DIU Awards 3 Contracts for AI-Powered Financial & Project Management Tools
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Nicholas Chaillan: DOD Should Enable DIB Innovation Through Commercial Tech Adoption
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Nicholas Chaillan: DOD Should Enable DIB Innovation Through Commercial Tech Adoption

Nicolas Chaillan, founder and CEO of Ask Sage, said the Department of Defense should promote innovation in the defense industrial base, or DIB, by advancing the adoption of proven commercial technologies such as generative artificial intelligence tools.

In a commentary published Tuesday in Federal News Network, Chaillan wrote that Federal Acquisition Regulations 12 directs agencies to buy commercially available products instead of building their own platforms.

“Beyond regulatory requirements, DoD and the nation benefit when the commercial partners are incentivized to advance technology innovation, and DoD stays true to its mission to invest in these efforts while continuing to strengthen public-private collaboration,” he noted.

Disincentivizing Defense Startups Impacts Innovation

In this piece, the chief executive cited concerns associated with the department’s adoption of NIPRGPT, a generative AI platform launched by the Air Force in June 2024.

“Advancing NIPRGPT offers an instructive test case on how building in-house when proven commercial options are available can disincentivize the defense industrial base from investing in the technologies, processes and manpower required to bring innovation to market,” Chaillan wrote.

“Defense startups with proven generative AI products lose first-mover advantage when they invest significant financial and human resources in technologies the DoD needs (and communicates they need), only to get burned when an agency opts to build rather than buy,” he added.

According to the former Air Force chief software officer, advancing the use of an inferior in-house platform could set back the adoption of the entire technology and drive users to use ‘shadow AI’ tools that operate outside secure networks.

“Government employees using unauthorized AI applications may unintentionally share or upload confidential information, increasing the damage that data leaks or breaches would do,” Chaillan noted.

Chaillan will be part of a panel discussion at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Digital Transformation Summit on April 24. Hear his insights and other experts’ views on modernization in the defense field. Register now to save your spot!

POC - 2025 Digital Transformation Summit
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NCCoE Seeks Input on Draft Guidance for 5G Cybersecurity
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NCCoE Seeks Input on Draft Guidance for 5G Cybersecurity

The National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence within the National Institute of Standards and Technology is soliciting public comments on a draft of its initial recommendations providing guidance on securing 5G networks. 

NCCoE is developing the 5G Cybersecurity Practice Guide in collaboration with communications and cybersecurity partners, NIST said Tuesday. The deadline for submitting comments on the guidance draft is on April 15.

The center’s initial recommendations are contained in a 10-page draft executive summary with two key proposed guidance based on the center’s observations using NIST’s testbed on current 5G standards and cybersecurity practices. 

Communication systems developer COMSovereign is one of the institute’s 5G cybersecurity guide-setting partners under a 2021 cooperative research and development agreement.

Cloud Technology Stacks’ Design

The first recommendation in the draft guide focuses on integrating cybersecurity and privacy principles in 5G systems’ cloud technology stacks. One approach the draft cited is the inclusion of trustworthy design elements to help ensure configuration integrity in the stacks’ hardware, firmware and software. Such safeguards in support infrastructure will help ensure 5G networks’ protection against advanced cyberattacks, according to the NCCoE document.     

The second recommendation in the center’s draft guidance calls for enabling cybersecurity and privacy capabilities specified under the 3rd Generation Partnership Project established in 1998 for 3G mobile standards development. Regardless of variations in their technical implementation, all 5G networks have many cybersecurity and privacy protection features available to users, NIST noted.  

The institute said NCCoE is documenting a second NIST Cybersecurity Practice Guide Volume B for additional 5G guidance. A white paper series is also in the pipeline for further details on 5G cybersecurity and privacy capabilities, NIST added.

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DARPA Invites Small Businesses to Join Colorado ‘Spark Tank’ Event
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DARPA Invites Small Businesses to Join Colorado ‘Spark Tank’ Event

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is calling on small businesses, startups and other interested parties to participate in the Microsystems Technology Office Spark Tank, which will be held on July 24 and 25 in Aurora, Colorado.

The event provides an opportunity for organizations working on transformative advances in microsystems to engage with MTO leadership and program managers, DARPA said Tuesday.

Briefing Industry on DARPA’s Mission Priorities

MTO Spark Tank will provide insights into the office’s mission priorities, such as developing dual-use design technologies to bolster national security and disrupting current ecosystems by using differentiated microsystem manufacturing tools and strategies. It will also host one-on-one meetings with MTO program managers to explore research alignment and collaboration opportunities. In addition, the event will make it easier for first-time proposers to work with DARPA.

According to MTO Director Whitney Mason, the government will engage with new and non-traditional performers through the upcoming event and advance ideas that could “transform our microsystem-powered world.” She added that MTO Spark will serve as a venue “for fresh perspectives and groundbreaking concepts.”

Potential Funding for Short-Term Exploratory Projects

During the event, MTO will allow select participants to propose their concepts directly to program managers for potential funding of up to $400,000 for short-term exploratory efforts. The initiative intends to accelerate the evolution of innovative ideas into future DARPA programs.

For the project, MTO seeks revolutionary ideas that align with its core technical interests, such as unconventional computing to improve processing capabilities and developing electronic microsystems that integrate biological principles for superior sensing and computation capabilities.

Registration for MTO Spark Tank will commence on April 10 and will run until June 30.

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Bipartisan Congressional Group Introduces Bill to Protect Nuclear Assets
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Bipartisan Congressional Group Introduces Bill to Protect Nuclear Assets

A bipartisan group composed of U.S. Representatives Susie Lee, D-NV, Mark Amodei, R-NV, Seth Moulton, D-MA, and Chuck Fleischmann, R-TN, has introduced bicameral legislation aimed at strengthening the security of nuclear assets and facilities.

Congresswoman Lee said Tuesday the Nuclear Ecosystem Drone Defense, or NEDD, Act is intended to enhance the protection of the National Nuclear Security Administration and other nuclear assets and facilities under the Department of Energy against unmanned aerial systems.

Core Provisions of the NEDD Act

The bipartisan legislation aims to address the current lack of security measures for nuclear facilities against drones. It is meant to empower DOE to develop and deploy systems capable of defending the assets and facilities from drones. The NEDD Act would also authorize the department to safeguard a wider array of nuclear assets, including facilities and vehicles used for nuclear weapons. Furthermore, it enables the DOE to procure advanced UAS technology for enhancing counter-UAS systems.

“Unauthorized drones pose a serious threat to America’s nuclear resources related to national security, including at the Nevada National Security Site where we maintain America’s nuclear weapons ecosystem,” said Lee. “Our bipartisan NEDD Act bill will give the Department of Energy the tools it needs to defend all its nuclear and national security assets from unauthorized enemy drones,” she added.

“At present, the Department of Energy lacks the authority to intercept these drones and investigate their origins and intentions, allowing them to freely gather sensitive data for malign purposes,” said Amodei. “This bill empowers us to counter these threats in real-time and ensure they are not equipped to undermine our national security,” he added.

“As Chairman of Energy and Water Appropriations and Co-Chair of the Nuclear Security Working Group, it is my priority to ensure that our entire nuclear enterprise is protected throughout all stages of production,” said Fleischmann.

“Our adversaries should not be able to fly a drone over anywhere in this country that makes part of a nuclear weapon,” remarked Moulton.

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