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NSA Celebrates First Anniversary of Cyber Collaboration Center
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NSA Celebrates First Anniversary of Cyber Collaboration Center

The National Security Agency this month celebrated the first anniversary of its Cybersecurity Collaboration Center, which fosters government-industry information exchanges to identify and address foreign threats.

The Cybersecurity Collaboration Center has delivered insights that have helped NSA detect adversaries and protect networks and infrastructure from these threats, the agency said Wednesday.

The center’s partner base has grown from 10 to more than 100 within a year, with work that resulted in vulnerability disclosures, product certifications, a domain name service pilot program and five threat-informed papers.

“The only way to mitigate the threat is to communicate and collaborate in real-time to drive outcomes,” said Morgan Adamski, collaboration center chief for NSA.

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MDA Seeks IT, Cyber Management Services for CIO Operations
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MDA Seeks IT, Cyber Management Services for CIO Operations

The Missile Defense Agency is soliciting information technology and cybersecurity management services in support of MDA’s Office of the Chief Information Officer.

MDA said Tuesday in a SAM notice it launched the solicitation as part of the Technical, Engineering, Advisory and Management Support-Next or TEAMS-Next procurement.

The future contractor would perform IT/CM assistance and advisory services for the agency’s CIO office.

Interested parties may submit proposals through Jan. 31, 2022, after registering a proposal manager, who may access needed training on the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment solicitation module. Companies interested in serving as subcontractors must submit a proposal separate from that of their intended prime contractor.

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NIST-Supported Paper Details Theoretical Cognitive 6G Network
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NIST-Supported Paper Details Theoretical Cognitive 6G Network

Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and various international organizations published a paper in October proposing a new cognitive network that is 500 times faster than 5G.

The paper presented a theoretical 6G network that could send data at any time and place with their semantic meaning intact, as well as adjust according to each user’s demands, NIST said Wednesday.

The “6G Cognitive Information Theory: A Mailbox Perspective” paper explained that a 6G network must use intelligent applications and artificial intelligence technologies to become distributed, proactive and cognitive.

According to the document, a different study shows that technologies enabling 6G for mobile communications would enter the market as early as 2023 and the network itself will emerge in 2030.

2022 NDAA Measure Directs DHS to Report on Supply Chain Vulnerabilities; Sen. Rob Portman Quoted
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2022 NDAA Measure Directs DHS to Report on Supply Chain Vulnerabilities; Sen. Rob Portman Quoted

A provision in the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2022 directs the Department of Homeland Security to conduct research and development into supply chain vulnerabilities that threaten national and economic security.

The Domains Critical to Homeland Security Act requires DHS to submit a report in December 2022 to identify critical domains and determine whether their disruption would pose a threat to homeland security in the future, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said Tuesday.

The bill also requires the DHS secretary to submit an annual report to Congress detailing actions taken by the federal government to address weaknesses identified in critical domain supply chains.

The authors of the bill cited shortages of essential supplies amid the COVID-19 pandemic as one of the immediate concerns facing the U.S. supply chain.

“Between shortages of medical supplies and semiconductors, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed how offshoring of our manufacturing base has weakened our homeland security and this bipartisan legislation will direct DHS to address it,” said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio.

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., said that taking actions to increase the production of critical supplies in the U.S. would also result in the creation of job opportunities for Americans.

President Joe Biden on Monday signed into law the FY 2022 NDAA, which authorizes $770 billion in defense spending, a 5 percent increase from the previous defense policy measure enacted in FY 2021.

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AWS Senior Practice Manager Aaron Burciaga: How To Build Responsible AI & Resilience
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AWS Senior Practice Manager Aaron Burciaga: How To Build Responsible AI & Resilience

Aaron Burciaga, senior practice manager with Amazon Web Services (AWS), recently released the third part in his series on How To Build Responsible AI for Forbes.

In the latest entry, Burciaga focused on resilience and the importance of and provided a guide on how federal contractors need to understand the risks involved, plan their responses and utilize forecast value added (FVA) metrics to create “effects tuning.”

“Artificial intelligence is now an integral component of the processes and systems that drive our organizations,” said Burciaga. “As AI practitioners, we must be intentional about developing, deploying and managing responsible AI — minimizing risk and removing bias while working toward our objectives.”

In addition, he provided a breakdown of resilience and how AI practitioners must adapt to situations and recover quickly as well as engineer conditions to explore the full solution space and account for the effects of local constraints

“Risk and resilience planning is nothing new — we’re simply modernizing it to fit the AI world,” Burciaga added. “At the end of the day, the main questions you need to ask to build a resilient AI system are: Do you understand the risk? Do you have a response plan for the risk? How are you tuning your plan over time to adjust for effects, anticipated or not? Be wise.”

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State Department Appoints Rina Amiri, Stephenie Foster as Senior Officials; Secretary Antony Blinken Quoted
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State Department Appoints Rina Amiri, Stephenie Foster as Senior Officials; Secretary Antony Blinken Quoted

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a 2021 Wash100 Award winner, announced on Wednesday that the State Department has appointed Stephenie Foster and Rina Amiri as senior offices to support the civil rights of Afghan women and girls.

“We desire a peaceful, stable, and secure Afghanistan, where all Afghans can live and thrive in political, economic, and social inclusivity. Special Envoy Amiri will work closely with me toward that goal,” said Secretary Blinken. 

Blinken appointed Rina Amiri as special envoy for Afghan women and human rights. Amiri will report directly to Blinken. She served during the Obama administration as senior adviser to the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and also served as a member of the United Nations’ Special Representative of the Secretary General’s political team in Afghanistan.

Stephenie Foster was also appointed the State Department’s new senior advisor for women and girls issues. She will lead the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE) committee. Her focus will be centered on relocating Afghans that were evacuated from the country. 

“Stephenie’s diverse public and private sector experiences, including at the Department, and her passion for advancing women and girls’ safety and equality will help advance CARE’s around-the-clock relocation and resettlement efforts on behalf of our Afghan allies and their families,” Blinken said in a statement.

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Congressional Members Have Proposed 35 Crypto Policy-Related Bills
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Congressional Members Have Proposed 35 Crypto Policy-Related Bills

Lawmakers have proposed 35 bills focused on blockchain and cryptocurrency policy in Congress in 2021, Forbes reported Monday.

Congressional members put forward three types of legislation that centered on the regulation of cryptocurrencies, central bank digital currency and applications of blockchain technology.

One of those measures is a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill with cryptocurrency tax provisions. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law in November will direct cryptocurrency exchanges to notify the Internal Revenue Service of crypto transactions through the 1099-B form.

Another bill to pass the House in 2021 was the Eliminate Barriers To Innovation Act, which is currently in the Senate Banking Committee. The legislation would establish a Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission Working Group on Digital Assets that would shed light on differences in blockchain tokens between the two agencies.

Lawmakers also introduced two bills to address the use of cryptocurrency in ransomware and cyberattacks like the Colonial Pipeline hack and those are the Ransom Disclosure Act proposed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and the Sanctions and Stop Ransomware Act of 2021 introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

Reps. French Hill, R-Ark., and Bill Foster, D-Ill., co-sponsored the Central Bank Digital Currency Study Act of 2021, which would require the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System to carry out a study on CBDCs based on a Bank for International Settlements survey.

POC - Digital Currency and National Security Forum

The Potomac Officers Club will hold its Digital Currency and National Security Forum on Jan. 27. Sign up for the virtual event to hear from government and industry leaders as they talk about the implications, risks, opportunities and challenges that digital currencies pose to the future of the U.S. economy and national security.

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CISA Warns of Cyberthreats Facing Critical Manufacturing Sector
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CISA Warns of Cyberthreats Facing Critical Manufacturing Sector

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has warned that the critical manufacturing sector faces the risk of cyberattacks during the COVID-19 pandemic, The Hill reported Wednesday.

An insights report from CISA has listed three potential operational vulnerabilities in industrial control systems and these are expanded cyberattack surfaces, unauthorized access in online and physical platforms and reduced network segmentation and securitization.

According to the report, the shift to robotic process automation to address pandemic-related disruption can introduce new security risks and the lack of cyber professionals can impact organizations’ ability to fight and respond to cyberthreats.

“If current trends hold, attacks against manufacturing sector infrastructure will continue to increase,” the report states.

CISA said organizations should take a multifaceted, long-term approach to mitigating cyber risks. Cybersecurity teams within companies, for instance, should invest in training initiatives to enable security analysts to remotely monitor manufacturing environments.

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Fort Myer to Repair George Washington Parkway Under $161M Design-Build Contract
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Fort Myer to Repair George Washington Parkway Under $161M Design-Build Contract

Fort Myer Construction Corp. has won a $161 million contract for the first major repair of the 25-mile George Washington Parkway in Northern Virginia in nearly six decades, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.

Under the National Park Services contract, Fort Myer will design changes to 7.6 miles of road on the northern part of the parkway before a two-year construction work starting in 2025.

Planned changes to the busy route include new asphalt, rebuilt traffic safety features, improved storm drainage, redesigned interchange and enhanced entrance and exit lanes.

According to Park Services officials, the contract will help extend the parkway’s lifespan and improve the driving experience for commuters using the affected roads.

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Marine Corps Relying on New Robot for Remote Underwater Explosive Disposal
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Marine Corps Relying on New Robot for Remote Underwater Explosive Disposal

The U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command has been deploying since September a new box-shaped robot that enables the remote identification and neutralization of underwater explosives in depths of up to 1,000 feet, National Defense Magazine reported Tuesday.

The Strategic Robotic Systems Fusion-designed robot is the first of the service branch’s Littoral Explosive Ordnance Neutralization Family of Systems that are aimed at supporting the Marines’ underwater operations.

Master Sgt. Matthew Jackson from the 1st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company shared that the system features high-definition video capabilities, an articulator arm, sound navigation technologies and sonar sensors that would allow Marines to detonate threats from a safe distance.

Jackson noted that training for robot operations would require only around four days, shorter than the seven-week courses for in-person threat neutralization missions.

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