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CISA, FBI Warn of Destructive Malware Used to Target Organizations in Ukraine
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CISA, FBI Warn of Destructive Malware Used to Target Organizations in Ukraine

The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency have released a joint advisory offering guidance on how U.S. organizations can detect and safeguard networks against WhisperGate and HermeticWiper malware used to launch attacks on organizations in Ukraine.

Organizations should assess and strengthen their cybersecurity posture against these destructive malware that could impact the availability of critical data and assets, CISA said Saturday.

The FBI and CISA have called on organizations to implement multifactor authentication; establish antivirus and antimalware programs to carry out regular scans; update software; filter network traffic; and enable strong spam filters to stop phishing emails from reaching end users, among other measures.

“In the wake of continued denial of service and destructive malware attacks affecting Ukraine and other countries in the region, CISA has been working hand-in-hand with our partners to identify and rapidly share information about malware that could threaten the operations of critical infrastructure here in the U.S.,” said Jen Easterly, director of CISA and a 2022 Wash100 Award winner.

Easterly added that the FBI, international computer emergency readiness team partners and public and private sector partners at the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative are working together to help organizations reduce their risks of cyberthreats.

CISA said it integrated into the updated Shields Up webpage new resources and additional recommendations for CEOs and corporate leaders to protect critical assets and set up a technical guidance webpage to provide information on cyberthreats facing Ukraine.

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Lockheed Receives Order for Australian Super Hornet Aircraft Missile Integration
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Lockheed Receives Order for Australian Super Hornet Aircraft Missile Integration

The U.S. Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin a $49.3 million order to integrate and test the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile systems on the Australian air force’s Super Hornet fighter aircraft.

LRASM integration and testing services for the Australian F/A-18 E/F fleet are expected to conclude in March 2026, the Department of Defense said Friday.

Lockheed designed the system with a penetrator, a blast fragmentation warhead and a communications suite that works to help military operators detect and engage target ships.

Australia requested to procure up to 200 AGM-158C LRASMs from the U.S. government as part of a $990 million foreign military sales deal the State Department approved in February 2020.

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The Open Group CTO Andras Szakal: A Possible Route for Managing Societal and Technological ‘Megatrends’
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The Open Group CTO Andras Szakal: A Possible Route for Managing Societal and Technological ‘Megatrends’

Andras Szakal, chief technology officer at The Open Group, has shared his thoughts on recent “megatrends” in global work life and technology and what he foresees as their impacts on one another.

In an article for the Global Banking & Finance Review, Szakal traces the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on attitudes toward the workplace as well as identifies the digital transformations needed to keep pace with such evolutions.

Szakal notes that when necessary changes occurred because of the pandemic, they were in line with shifts that were already happening in terms of technological and medical innovations.

“Even just five years ago many of the strategies we used to mitigate [the pandemic’s] damage – from remote working to rapid vaccine and therapeutics development – would not have been possible in the same way,” Szakal writes.

The executive also discusses how mass-career-changes – which he dubs “the great resignation” – from in-person, hospitality-based jobs to digitally rooted ones will (and perhaps have already begun to) usher in an implementation of artificial intelligence and automated technologies in place of these vacating workers.

Szakal attributes this to data that shows that it is “the nature of the work, and not just their ability to get a job, as their main motivating factor” to switch career paths.

In addition to AI, he cites quantum computing and augmented reality as other technologies that are evolving at an ideal rate to meet the ever-growing and mutating needs of humans.

In the end, Szakal turns to technology architecture as a way to allow separate aspects of society that have grown increasingly codependent to cross-pollinate and communicate effectively.

“Without a holistic architecture to structure that communication, the end result will be chaos,” Szakal writes, continuing, “In order to grow and adapt through the next waves of change, which blur any distinction between technological and business pressure, that kind of thinking will need to be elevated to encompass a bigger, clearer picture where continuous digital transformation is core to the strategy.”

He also says he believes a software by his company the Open Group called the TOGAF Standard offers a winning platform for exercising a functional digital architecture.

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Deltek Distinguished as One of Forbes’ Best Employers in 2022; CEO Mike Corkery Quoted
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Deltek Distinguished as One of Forbes’ Best Employers in 2022; CEO Mike Corkery Quoted

Software and information services company Deltek has been recognized among Forbes’ list of America’s Best Employers in 2022.

The final list is comprised of 500 American companies with between 1,000 and 5,000 employees and the results were determined via the polling of 60,000 individuals from organizations in a range of industries, the company said on February 17th.

Deltek President and CEO Mike Corkery, also a two-time Wash100 Award winner, expressed pride in the team’s distinction and gave credit to the staff for meeting the challenges of 2021 and serving customers’ needs.

“We have a very special culture at Deltek. We’ve been able to come together and close out another record-bre

aking year, while continuing to grow and develop our employees,” Corkery continued.

Voters for the Forbes list were asked to anonymously evaluate their company based on criteria such as diversity,

equity and inclusion and working conditions. They were also polled regarding the employer’s development opportunities, compensation and overall likelihood to recommend working there.

Deltek Distinguished as One of Forbes’ Best Employers in 2022; CEO Mike Corkery Quoted

Surveys were distributed and handled by market and consumer data organizer Statista. Deltek specializes in programs that assist customers in project management and development and their services attempt to increase productivity and revenue.

The company’s GovWin IQ platform tracks federal government contract spending and recently released their findings for the 2021 fiscal year, reporting a total of $629 billion in contract transactions.

Deltek also published a report based on GovWin IQ findings in December 2021 that looked ahead to 2022 and identified several potential business development trends and how they might affect government contract allocation.

Treasury Imposes Blocking Sanctions on Russia’s Top Financial Institutions; Janet Yellen Quoted
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Treasury Imposes Blocking Sanctions on Russia’s Top Financial Institutions; Janet Yellen Quoted

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has announced additional economic sanctions on Russia’s financial institutions and expanded debt and equity prohibitions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Treasury’s office of foreign assets control imposed blocking sanctions on Russia’s two largest banks – Sberbank and VTB – and three major financial institutions – Otkritie, Novikom and Sovcom – to further restrict Russia’s critical economic sector from utilizing the U.S. dollar, securing investments and accessing global markets, the department said Thursday.

“Our actions, taken in coordination with partners and allies, will degrade Russia’s ability to project power and threaten the peace and stability of Europe. We are united in our efforts to hold Russia accountable for its further invasion of Ukraine while mitigating impacts to Americans and our partners,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

OFAC also broadened equity and debt restrictions against 13 major state-owned and private entities to limit Russia’s ability to fund its invasion of Ukraine and other priorities.

The Treasury is also imposing sanctions on additional Russian elites and their family members that have ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government.

“If necessary, we are prepared to impose further costs on Russia in response to its egregious actions,” added Yellen.

U.S. President Biden on Tuesday announced the first tranche of economic sanctions as part of efforts to cut off Russia’s access to international financing in light of its actions in Ukraine.

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White House Unveils 2022 Plans to Strengthen Supply Chains, Manufacturing
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White House Unveils 2022 Plans to Strengthen Supply Chains, Manufacturing

The White House has announced several actions it plans to carry out in 2022 to further build up domestic manufacturing, supply chains and workforce.

The Biden administration grouped the measures into two major actions and these are putting the U.S. economy on a course toward long-term resilience across critical supply chains and institutionalizing supply chain resilience throughout the federal government.

To institutionalize supply chain resilience, specific actions include fully establishing the Defense Production Act Investment Program to build and broaden the health resources industrial base; bolstering U.S. manufacturing of critical goods through new reforms under the Buy American Act; and strengthening clean energy manufacturing through the implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

In February 2021, President Biden signed an executive order to strengthen the resilience of U.S. supply chains. In accordance with the EO, the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Commerce, Energy, Agriculture, Health and Human Services and Transportation published reports that identify challenges in critical supply chains and offer recommendations to address such challenges.

DOD’s report, for instance, provided an assessment of four focus areas: kinetic capabilities; energy storage and batteries; castings and forgings; and microelectronics. It also offered recommendations to grow the defense industrial base, including building domestic production capacity; updating acquisition policies; and engaging with partners and allies.

The White House said it also issued a capstone report providing an overview of the actions carried out over the past year to address supply chain vulnerabilities.

Federal Acquisition Modernization Bill Signed Into Law; Rep. Joe Neguse Quoted
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Federal Acquisition Modernization Bill Signed Into Law; Rep. Joe Neguse Quoted

President Biden on Tuesday signed into law a bill that seeks to identify and promote best practices and modernize acquisition and procurement processes in the federal government.

Reps. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., and Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., introduced the Promoting Rigorous and Innovative Cost Efficiencies for Federal Procurement and Acquisitions Act in the House, the White House said Tuesday.

The PRICE ACT “is about spurring growth for our Main Street economies. It’s about supporting all entrepreneurs, minority-owned businesses, and startups, not just big business,” Neguse said in a statement published Wednesday.

The PRICE Act seeks to modernize the federal contracting process to expand access of small businesses to federal contracts and encourage government agencies to work and partner with such businesses.

“Small businesses are at the heart of the Second District, but far too often federal contracts are often out of reach for our small business owners. By expanding this access and incentivizing more federal contracts with small businesses, the PRICE Act will empower our small business owners to continue giving back to their community and hiring more workers,” Neguse added.

Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich.; Joni Ernst, R-Iowa; Tom Carper, D-Del.; and Susan Collins, R-Maine, advanced the PRICE Act in the upper chamber.

Senators Urge OSTP to Create Public Access Policy for Federally Funded Research Articles
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Senators Urge OSTP to Create Public Access Policy for Federally Funded Research Articles

Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Ed Markey, D-Mass., have urged the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy to develop a comprehensive governmentwide policy that would make data from federally funded studies available to the public.

The two lawmakers told Alondra Nelson, acting director of OSTP, in a letter Wednesday that granting free access and re-use rights for federally sponsored research, such as publications regarding COVID-19 and cancer, could support public health initiatives throughout the country.

Wyden and Markey said the implementation of a national open-access policy would help researchers to quickly gather data for their projects and bring studies to a wider audience.

“We ask that you work quickly and aggressively to make this goal a reality, ensuring that the hard-earned tax dollars of everyday Americans are being invested in American communities and to update and strengthen current federal public access policies and to prioritize equity, sustainability, and strategic technological development,” the senators said in their missive to Nelson.

They pointed out that some libraries and other members of the scientific community cannot afford to access results published on paid journal subscriptions while some researchers lack the funds to join their publishers’ open-access programs.

The letter comes after OSTP’s report to Congress on the implementation of the public-access efforts across federal departments and agencies as laid down in a 2013 office memorandum.

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DOD Taps MP Materials for Rare Earth Plant Construction Project
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DOD Taps MP Materials for Rare Earth Plant Construction Project

The Department of Defense has awarded MP Materials a $35 million contract to establish a facility for processing heavy rare earth elements on the company’s Mountain Pass mining site in California.

DOD said Tuesday the public-private partnership envisions a first-of-its-kind plant equipped with domestic technologies that would extract, separate and integrate HREE products into military and commercial applications.

“The primary applications for HREEs include permanent magnets used in products ranging from electric motors in electric vehicles – to the energy generators within wind turbines,” said Deborah Rosenblum, acting defense undersecretary for industrial base policy.

To date, the department has poured more than $100 million into efforts aimed at growing the country’s rare earth sector.

“This effort will enable new domestic industrial capacity, to improve supply chain resilience and to operationalize the policies in Executive Order 14017 on America’s Supply Chains,” said Andrew Hunter, acting defense undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment.

As part of the agreement, MP will aim to identify approaches to match the production costs of similar elements sold in the global market within a five-year period.

One future customer for the HREE processing services is automotive manufacturing company General Motors, which signed an agreement with MP in December for the supply of rare earth materials and magnets to help power electric motors.

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CISA Releases Advisory on Iran-Based Cyber Threat
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CISA Releases Advisory on Iran-Based Cyber Threat

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and its partners advise organizations to implement protective measures against an advanced persistent threat from Iran’s government.

The MuddyWater APT group — also known as Earth Vetala, Seedworm, MERCURY, Static Kitten and TEMP.Zagros — has performed malicious cyber acts to government and commercial entities across defense, telecommunications, oil and local sectors, CISA said Thursday.

MuddyWater operates as a subordinate component of Iran’s intelligence and security ministry, which has received the APT group’s support through broad cyber campaigns since approximately 2018, according to CISA.

CISA, the FBI, U.S. Cyber Command and the U.K.’s national cybersecurity center have observed the group’s activity in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

These agencies, as well as the National Security Agency, recommend organizations inspect for compromise indicators, employ antivirus tools, patch all systems, apply multi-factor authentication and train employees to recognize phishing attempts.

CISA used Mitre’s Adversarial Tactics, Techniques and Common Knowledge or ATT&CK framework to develop the advisory.

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