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Presidential Advisory Group Calls for Establishment of Software Assurance Task Force
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Presidential Advisory Group Calls for Establishment of Software Assurance Task Force

The National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) has issued a draft report that calls for the White House to form a task force that would help define a public-private initiative focused on key software assurance areas and the software supply chain.

NSTAC, which is composed of industry CEOs advising the president on issues related to the country’s communications infrastructure, said the task force should include workstreams to help carry out the recommendations outlined in the report.

The draft document classifies key findings and recommendations into areas of software assurance, stakeholders and external influencing factors.

For the software assurance aspect, the committee recommends that the U.S. government and industry collaborate on broader adoption of supply chain risk management practices adapted to the modern software ecosystem; improve security and assurance processes for open-source software, and invest in research and development efforts related to software assurance to keep up with advances in computing systems.

The draft document also calls for the government to direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to convene a public-private initiative to enhance harmonization among standards in security assurance.

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President Biden to Nominate Microsoft Vet Kurt DelBene as VA CIO
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President Biden to Nominate Microsoft Vet Kurt DelBene as VA CIO

President Biden intends to nominate Kurt DelBene, a former senior executive at Microsoft, to serve as the Department of Veterans Affairs’ next chief information officer, the White House said Wednesday.

DelBene spent more than two decades at the multinational technology provider in various positions that included executive vice president of corporate strategy, core services engineering and operations and president of the Office division.

He first joined Microsoft in 1992 and briefly left the company in 2014 to serve as a senior adviser to the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, where he supported assessment and implementation efforts associated with the Affordable Care Act enrollment website, Healthcare.gov.

Earlier in his career, DelBene worked as a management consultant at McKinsey and Co. and a software developer and systems engineer at Nokia Bell Labs, formerly AT&T Bell Laboratories. He was also a member of the Defense Innovation Board.

If confirmed by the Senate, DelBene will hold both the positions of VA CIO and the department’s assistant secretary for information and technology.

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SAIC Wins $93M U.S. Navy Contract to Support Tactical Threat Systems; Josh Jackson Quoted
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SAIC Wins $93M U.S. Navy Contract to Support Tactical Threat Systems; Josh Jackson Quoted

Science Applications International Corp has won a potential five-year, $93 million contract to support the U.S. Navy’s Tactical Integrated Threat/Target Training Systems.

 SAIC will compete with selected vendors for task orders under the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide a range of services including research and development, integration, cybersecurity, engineering, testing, upgrades and sustainment for the Navy’s tactical threat systems, the company said Thursday.

“This award gives SAIC an opportunity to win specific task orders under the TTS contract to help verify and validate the system capabilities deployed to our Navy,” said Josh Jackson, senior vice president of SAIC’s Naval Business Unit.

Jackson added that the contract will help SAIC provide enhanced support to current and future Navy missions and capabilities.

Contracted work will support the U.S. Navy’s Adaptive Combat Environment Systems group, located at the Naval Air Station in China Lake, California, and the provided services are expected to improve aircrew survivability and effectiveness.

Additional TTS support includes edge computing, range data collection, data sorting and system performance analysis as well as sustainment and modernization of electronic warfare-related range capabilities to support next-generation technologies. 

The cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price contract work is expected to be completed in September 2026. 

This contract comes one month after SAIC’s $90 million Defense Logistics Agency contract to continue its maintenance, repair and operations support for U.S. military facilities.

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DOE Spearheads International Effort to Support Net Zero Goal; Jennifer Granholm Quoted
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DOE Spearheads International Effort to Support Net Zero Goal; Jennifer Granholm Quoted

The Department of Energy (DOE) will lead an international effort to address climate change and move closer to achieving net-zero emissions.

DOE said Wednesday it will work with other countries to execute the Net Zero World Initiative, which aims to collaboratively develop and implement technology road maps and strategies toward the net-zero goal.

The effort will involve international partners in greenhouse gas reduction efforts across DOE’s national laboratories and application segments of the U.S. government.

DOE seeks to implement key net-zero policies for partners by 2023, invest $10 billion in clean energy projects by 2024 and establish new clean energy jobs by 2025.

Argentina, Nigeria, Egypt, Chile, Ukraine and Indonesia have joined the initiative as initial partners. DOE expects more countries to participate soon.

Net Zero World also partners with businesses, think tanks, academic institutions and other organizations including Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet.

The State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and the Development Finance Corporation will also support Net-Zero World.

The effort also supports the larger Build Back Better initiative, which aims to revitalize the U.S. economy and meet climate goals.

“With Net-Zero World, our partnering nations will harness the power and expertise of the National Laboratories, federal agencies, think tanks, businesses, and universities, to develop tangible clean energy projects that meet their energy needs,” said Jennifer Granholm, secretary of Energy.

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US Government Adds 4 Israeli, Russian, Singaporean Companies to Cyber Blacklist
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US Government Adds 4 Israeli, Russian, Singaporean Companies to Cyber Blacklist

The U.S. government has identified four foreign companies involved in malicious cyber activities that threaten national security. 

Candiru, NSO Group, Computer Security Initiative Consultancy PTE and Positive Technologies have been included in the government’s entity list for malicious cyber activities due to spyware and cyber tool misuse cases, the State Department said Wednesday.

The first two companies, both from Israel, were found the be involved in spyware attacks that targeted embassy personnel, government officials and other individuals.

The other two are linked to tools that cyber actors can use to illegally access information systems and threaten national security. Computer Security Initiative Consultancy PTE operates from Singapore and Positive Technologies is headquartered in Russia.

The government does not plan to take action against the companies’ corresponding nations.

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CISA Directs Civilian Agencies to Address Known Exploited Vulnerabilities in Federal Systems; Jen Easterly Quoted
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CISA Directs Civilian Agencies to Address Known Exploited Vulnerabilities in Federal Systems; Jen Easterly Quoted

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued a binding operational directive (BOD) ordering federal civilian agencies to patch software and hardware vulnerabilities open to exploit.

The BOD 22-01 includes a list of known network weaknesses posing risks to the federal information systems enterprise and outlines vulnerability management procedures that agency leaders need to review and complete within 60 days, CISA said.

Federal civilian officials are directed to create internal validation and enforcement policies to ensure compliance with the directive and layout tracking and reporting requirements to monitor the progress of their cyber mitigation efforts.

“The directive lays out clear requirements for federal civilian agencies to take immediate action to improve their vulnerability management practices and dramatically reduce their exposure to cyberattacks,” said CISA Director Jen Easterly.

Agencies were given six months to remediate vulnerabilities made public before 2021 and two weeks to address all other vulnerabilities identified on their networks.

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Denice Ross Named US Chief Data Scientist
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Denice Ross Named US Chief Data Scientist

Denice Ross, a public interest technology expert, has joined the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) as U.S. chief data scientist, FedScoop reported Wednesday.

“The mission of the U.S. Chief Data Scientist is to responsibly unleash the power of data to benefit all Americans,” Ross wrote in a blog post published Wednesday. “I’m eager to get started and look forward to collaborating with data innovators already working inside of Federal government and at the State, Tribal, and local level.”

Prior to joining the White House, she served as a senior fellow at the National Conference on Citizenship and as a fellow at the Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation.

Ross served as data strategy lead and public interest technology fellow at think tank New America. She is a former Presidential Innovation Fellow who worked at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as a senior adviser. She also held data leadership roles during her time at the City of New Orleans.

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NASA Explores Potential Imaging Sensor Sources for ‘Landsat Next’ Mission
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NASA Explores Potential Imaging Sensor Sources for ‘Landsat Next’ Mission

NASA has issued a request for information to identify potential industry sources of imaging sensor technology for future Earth observation satellites under the Landsat program.

A notice posted on SAM.gov says interested vendors, including underserved businesses, can submit capability statements for the Landsat Next Instrument Study through Nov. 17.

Specifically, the agency is interested in an imaging system that can measure up to 25 wavelengths of light and generate image and instrument ancillary data.

NASA intends for the Landsat Next observatory to process image reconstruction information from spacecraft and instrument ancillaries for eventual processing in-ground infrastructure.

The agency seeks input from the private sector to help inform the project design phase and expects to launch the mission sometime in 2029.

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INSA Urges US to Designate Space Systems as Critical Infrastructure; Larry Hanauer Quoted
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INSA Urges US to Designate Space Systems as Critical Infrastructure; Larry Hanauer Quoted

The Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) has released a white paper calling for the designation of space systems as a U.S. critical infrastructure sector to help drive collaboration between public and private sectors and information sharing on threats and other vulnerabilities facing space assets and the space sector.

“Space-related capabilities have become essential to both national security and economic security, yet countries like Russia and China – which have advanced offensive cyber capabilities and anti-satellite weapons – have the potential to take them offline,” Larry Hanauer, vice president for policy at INSA, said in a statement published Tuesday.

“Designating the space sector as part of the nation’s critical infrastructure would make it easier for government organizations, the military, and commercial space companies to share information on threats and vulnerabilities and thereby enhance the space sector’s resilience,” Hanauer added.

The INSA white paper outlined the potential benefits of the designation, such as accelerating the development of best practices and technologies for ensuring resilience and safety, enabling the U.S. to form a national-level office of primary responsibility with oversight and resources to advance interagency efforts and identifying a baseline assessment of threats to space assets.

The organization noted that the designation would also help facilitate several types of collaboration. These include broad sharing of space-related data and region-specific expertise, greater awareness of threats and corrective action and analysis and case studies for the broader community.

Space Acquisition Forum

GovCon Wire will hold its Space Acquisition Forum on Jan. 19. Click here to register for the virtual forum to hear from defense officials as they share their insights on military acquisition reform and modernization efforts.

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Bipartisan Bill Would Make FedRAMP Permanent
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Bipartisan Bill Would Make FedRAMP Permanent

Four members of Congress have introduced a bill that would make the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) a permanent cloud computing initiative in the government.

The Federal Secure Cloud Improvement and Jobs Act would allocate $20 million to fund operations of the program, which began in 2011 and helped agencies gain access to certified cloud information technology offerings, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said Tuesday.

The legislation also calls for the formation of a Federal Secure Cloud Advisory Committee to facilitate coordination between cloud providers and federal agencies.

More than 200 providers of cloud services to the federal sector are certified under FedRAMP and 36 percent of the vendors come from the small business community, according to the committee.

Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich.; Josh Hawley, R-Mo.; Steve Daines, R-Mont.; and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., are the sponsors of the proposed bill.

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