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Gen. Paul Nakasone: FireEye Helped Expose Foreign Adversary in SolarWinds Incident
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Gen. Paul Nakasone: FireEye Helped Expose Foreign Adversary in SolarWinds Incident

Gen. Paul Nakasone, head of U.S. Cyber Command and a five-time Wash100 Award recipient, said critical data provided by a threat intelligence firm enabled the Department of Defense to immediately act and block adversaries from compromising federal networks and exploiting targets in 2020, Defense News reported Tuesday.

Nakasone, who also serves as director of the National Security Agency, said a tip from FireEye helped expose adversaries linked to a Russian intelligence agency and their role in the SolarWinds incident.

“Partnerships across the U.S government and industry allowed us to uncover the scope and scale of a foreign intelligence operation that leveraged private infrastructure and caused immense private sector harm,” Nakasone said during his speech at a summit Tuesday.

“Instead of decades-long access to the U.S. government, the power of partnerships was able to expose our adversaries before they burrowed into our networks, our data, or our weapon systems,” he added.

Nakasone also discussed the threat posed by ransomware to critical infrastructure.

Supply Chain Cybersecurity: Revelations and Innovations

ExecutiveBiz, sister site of GovConDaily and part of the Executive Mosaic digital media umbrella, will host a virtual event about securing the supply chain on Oct. 26. Visit ExecutiveBiz.com to sign up for the “Supply Chain Cybersecurity: Revelations and Innovations” event.

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Pentagon to Fund 18 Hypersonics Research Projects; Gillian Bussey Quoted
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Pentagon to Fund 18 Hypersonics Research Projects; Gillian Bussey Quoted

Eighteen teams of universities, national laboratories and companies are set to receive $25.5 million in total grants from the Department of Defense (DOD) to conduct applied research on hypersonic systems.

DOD said Tuesday that it selected proposals from members of the University Consortium for Applied Hypersonics (UCAH) to receive the three-year funds in a push to build new vehicles and weapons that travel faster than the speed of sound.

Participants in the DOD-funded studies will come from 29 universities, three research centers within the Department of Energy laboratory network, 15 private organizations and four foreign academic institutions.

“Each project is led by a UCAH university partner, bringing together expertise from across the nation to tackle tough hypersonic problems," said Gillian Bussey, director of the Pentagon's Joint Hypersonics Transition Office (JHTO).

“These projects allow us to move our capabilities to the next rung up the ladder, and also provide a way to engage students in hypersonic research and connect with industry and the national labs, building the workforce we will need in the future.”

Texas A&M University’s Engineering Experiment Station manages the consortium under a potential five-year, $100 million contract awarded in 2020.

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Alka Patel Steps Down as DOD’s AI Ethics Policy Chief
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Alka Patel Steps Down as DOD’s AI Ethics Policy Chief

Alka Patel has departed her role as head of artificial intelligence ethics policy at the Department of Defense's Joint Artificial Intelliigence Center (JAIC) after 20 months in the job.

“My efforts focused across workforce, acquisition, policy, and international dialogues, having a chance to work with industry, partners and allies,” Patel wrote in a LinkedIn post.

DOD appointed her to the position in early 2020 to help the JAIC implement department-wide “Responsible AI” initiatives with the goal to ensure that the Pentagon's AI-based systems comply with ethical standards.

She previously worked as research intern at the Montreal AI Ethics Institute and executive director of the PwC-sponsored Risk and Regulatory Services Innovation Center at Carnegie Mellon University.

In her farewell message, Patel noted that she will move from Washington, D.C., to her hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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GAO Offers Recommendations to Help Agencies Protect Federal Research From Foreign Influence
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GAO Offers Recommendations to Help Agencies Protect Federal Research From Foreign Influence

The Government Accountability Office has recommended that federal agencies ensure that their conflicts of interest policies address non-financial COI and come up with written procedures to address cases in which researchers failed to divulge required information to help protect U.S. research programs from foreign influence.

GAO assessed the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, NASA and the departments of Defense (DOD) and Energy (DOE) for its December 2020 report and found that only three have agency-wide COI policies.

Although NSF, NIH and NASA have agency-wide COI policies in place, those policies do not address non-financial interests.

“In the absence of agency-wide COI policies and definitions for non-financial interests, researchers may not fully understand what they need to report on their grant proposals, leaving agencies with incomplete information to assess the risk of foreign influence,” the GAO report reads.

The congressional watchdog found that the agencies were collaborating with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) on initiatives to safeguard federally funded research initiatives.

As of September, OSTP is developing guidance to protect federal research programs from foreign influence and is expected to issue the document in November.

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Veritas Technologies Names Carlyle Group’s Frank Finelli to Public Sector Advisory Board
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Veritas Technologies Names Carlyle Group’s Frank Finelli to Public Sector Advisory Board

Veritas Technologies, an industry leader in enterprise data protection, announced on Tuesday that Frank Finelli, managing director of the Carlyle Group and a previous Wash100 Award recipient, has been appointed to the company’s Public Sector Advisory Board.

The board consists of renowned public sector experts focused on solving the unique and complex challenges of government organizations who demand guaranteed and simplified recoverability in the face of the heightened global threat landscape.

Finelli has served as the managing director for the Carlyle Group since 1998 and is responsible for the company’s investments in the defense and aerospace sector. Over his tenure, he has led numerous acquisitions and developed Carlyle’s cross-portfolio purchasing and functional initiatives.

Prior to joining the Carlyle Group, Finelli served as a legislative assistant for then-Senator Dan Coats (R-IN). In addition, he was a special assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the first Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) in 1997.

He also worked for the Vice-Chairman in restructuring the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC). Finelli retired as an Army Lieutenant Colonel and also was an associate professor of Economics at the U.S. Military Academy from 1986 to 1989.

Along with Finelli, Veritas Technologies named former CIO of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Karen Evans, retired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Nancy Norton, also a previous Wash100 Award winner, and Dr. Barry West, founder and CEO of West Wing Advisory Services to the board of advisors for the company.

The advisory board will work closely with Veritas executives to prioritize and guide Veritas’ direction on strategic business opportunities and go-to-market, route-to-market, customer and operational strategies for the public sector. It will also help strengthen the company’s position in the cyber ecosystem.

“The significant Veritas public sector customer base will benefit greatly from the breadth and depth of public sector experience this elite group of leaders brings to the table,” said Kevin Youngquist, vice president of U.S. public sector sales at Veritas.

“I’m very excited for the strategic advice and guidance they will provide to help us ensure closer alignment with public sector customer cybersecurity and data protection needs,” Youngquist added.

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Navy Test-Flies Kratos-made Subsonic Aerial Target; Don Blottenberger Quoted
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Navy Test-Flies Kratos-made Subsonic Aerial Target; Don Blottenberger Quoted

The U.S. Navy tested a new subsonic aerial target last month with the USS Barry destroyer at the Japan-based Pacific Missile Range Facility, Detachment-Far East.

The BQM-177A target underwent back-to-back test flights from Sept. 9th to 10th as the Navy seeks to achieve the technology's full operational capability this year, Naval Air Systems Command said Monday. Kratos Defense and Security Solutions produced the target.

BQM-177 is designed to simulate anti-ship cruise missiles flying at subsonic speeds from land, air, surface or underwater locations. 

“We learned a lot from these events and to scale this capability in the future to other surface ships we now know how to move forward,” said Don Blottenberger, program manager of the Navy's aerial target program office known as PMA-208.

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Air Combat Command Concludes Design Certification Test of B61-12 Nuclear Bomb; Lt. Col. Daniel Jackson Quoted
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Air Combat Command Concludes Design Certification Test of B61-12 Nuclear Bomb; Lt. Col. Daniel Jackson Quoted

Air Combat Command (ACC) and its maintenance partners have completed the final flight test exercise required to certify the B61-12 bomb‘s nuclear design.

A pair of F-35A units dropped B61-12 joint test assemblies during the aircraft’s first full weapon system demonstration, ACC said Monday.

Pilots dropped the JTAs at Tonopah Test Range while observing operationally realistic flight envelopes. The test’s completion concludes the B61-12 design’s on-aircraft testing and has produced data for further analyses by the departments of Defense (DOD) and Energy (DOE).

“The B61 series weapons are tactical gravity nuclear weapons that can be used on dual-capable aircraft like the F-15E and F-16C/D,” said Lt. Col. Daniel Jackson, division chief of strategic deterrence and nuclear integration at ACC’s headquarters.

“Adding ‘nuclear capable’ to a 5th-Gen fighter that already brings several conventional-level capabilities to the table adds strategic-level implication to this jet,” Jackson added.

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Former Jacobs Exec Vernon Saunders Joins SAIC as SVP, National Intelligence
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Former Jacobs Exec Vernon Saunders Joins SAIC as SVP, National Intelligence

SAIC has named two-time Wash100 Award winner Vernon Saunders as the senior vice president of national intelligence.

Saunders is a certified Project Management Professional with over two decades of experience in information technology and business management and over six years of service in the U.S. Air Force. 

Throughout his career, Saunders has obtained deep expertise in shaping strategies, building and leading global high-performance teams and executing technology initiatives for private and public sector organizations.

Prior to his new role with SAIC, Saunders served as general manager of data & mission IT at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ technical solutions division for over two years.

His previous experience also includes 14 years at Verizon’s Federal Network Systems, which Jacobs acquired in 2014. During his 5 years at Jacobs following the acquisition, Saunders rose from FNS’ deputy general manager to vice president and general manager. 

Currently, Saunders serves as a board member for the non-profit social service organization, Northern Virginia Urban League.

Saunders received his B.S. in Electronics from Norfolk State University and his MBA from Averett University. Additionally, Saunders holds a masters certificate in federal government contracting from Villanova University.

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IARPA Selects 8 Teams to Develop Portable Power Systems for Intell Community Missions; Dawson Cagle Quoted
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IARPA Selects 8 Teams to Develop Portable Power Systems for Intell Community Missions; Dawson Cagle Quoted

The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) has awarded separate contracts to eight teams to develop systems for supplying power to electronic platforms that can support the intelligence community's demanding missions.

The Robust Energy Sources for Intelligence Logistics In Extreme, Novel and Challenging Environments initiative is seeking power sources for vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aircraft and unattended devices, IARPA said Monday.

Research teams for the effort will be led by Rutgers University, Saft America, Teledyne Scientific and Imaging, Conamix, SRI International, II-VI Aerospace & Defense, Solid Power and CAMX Power.

The U.S. Army's Command, Control, Communication, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center will test and evaluate the resulting systems.

“Most people assume that they can recharge the batteries in their electronics wherever they go,” said Dawson Cagle, a program manager at IARPA. “The goal of the RESILIENCE program is to assure maximum power source reliability in extreme conditions where recharging is not possible."

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AT&T’s FirstNet Selected to Provide U.S. Air Force With First Responder Communications Platform; Lance Spencer Quoted
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AT&T’s FirstNet Selected to Provide U.S. Air Force With First Responder Communications Platform; Lance Spencer Quoted

The U.S. Air Force has tapped AT&T to provide its FirstNet broadband communications platform to enhance communications for public safety personnel and first responders at 15 bases across the country, with the possibility for future expansion.

FirstNet, a platform built through a public-private partnership with the First Responder Network Authority and AT&T, will support secure interoperable voice, data and video communications with priority and preemption for on- and off-base first responders, AT&T said Tuesday. 

Additionally, the network will feature a dedicated lane of connectivity for the Air Force’s military and public safety community for faster, more reliable access to mission-critical information and improved collaboration capabilities in response to safety threats. 

“We aim to be the network provider of choice as the Air Force moves more deliberately toward consuming advanced communications capabilities,” said Lance Spencer, client executive vice president of defense at AT&T Public Sector and FirstNet.

“It’s an honor to deliver FirstNet to support base personnel and first responders to help ensure the safety of each base and its surrounding community,” Spencer continued.

The Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC) and AT&T have struck an agreement that will deliver FirstNet services for 21 years, which covers the remainder of the public-private partnership between AT&T and the U.S. government.

Under the agreement, the U.S. Air Force will have access to a dedicated fleet of over 100 land-based and airborne portable cell sites for ensured connectivity in critical response efforts during significant events.

FirstNet operates across the LTE – Band 14 spectrum and the platform’s core has been upgraded to enable 5G connectivity, providing the Air Force with increased network capacity, high throughput speeds and 5G-powered edge computing capabilities. 

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