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Pentagon Launches University Consortium for Cybersecurity; Heidi Shyu Quoted
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Pentagon Launches University Consortium for Cybersecurity; Heidi Shyu Quoted

The Department of Defense has launched a new consortium aimed at creating two-way communications between agency leaders and the academe to discuss cybersecurity issues, DOD News reported Monday.

Senior cyber leaders across the Pentagon and congressional representatives marked the launch of the DOD University Consortium for Cybersecurity at a recent kickoff event at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington.

Under the new effort, National Defense University’s College of Information and Cyberspace will serve as UC2’s coordination center while the Center for Secure and Dependable Systems at the University of Idaho will act as the group’s support center.

During the kickoff, Heidi Shyu, DOD undersecretary for research and engineering, explained at the event the importance of UC2 in connecting the department with community colleges, historically Black academic institutions and research universities.

“Diversity of ideas will create the best innovation,” Shyu, a former Wash100 Award winner, noted.

The consortium was mandated into existence under the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.

Pentagon Launches University Consortium for Cybersecurity; Heidi Shyu Quoted

Shyu is scheduled to deliver an opening keynote address at the Potomac Officers Club’s 8th Annual Defense Research and Development Summit on Jan. 19 to give her insight and perspective into DOD R&D priorities.

Visit PotomacOfficersClub.com to learn more and discuss the department’s current innovation priorities, technology advancements and general strategy to stay ahead of the curve in the evolving defense sector.

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Iron Bow Names Former Cisco Exec Sean Robertson VP of Sales Operations; Rene LaVigne Quoted
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Iron Bow Names Former Cisco Exec Sean Robertson VP of Sales Operations; Rene LaVigne Quoted

Sean Robertson has been named senior vice president of sales operations at Iron Bow Technologies, an information technology solutions provider.

The Herndon, Virginia-based company reported Tuesday that Robertson will assist in intensifying the deployment of technological advances to public sector, commercial and healthcare markets.

Rene LaVigne, Iron Bow President and CEO and a Wash100 winner, stressed that Robertson’s skill with delivering technological advances such as big data, analytics, Internet of Things, and cloud solutions to customers will be an asset to the company.

Previously, Robertson worked at Cisco for 11 years, most recently as vice president of defense operations. There, he saw the organization’s U.S. Defense product and services business grow 50% year over year.

Robertson led Cisco’s Federal Law Enforcement Region, in collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to protect the U.S. from threats such as cyber attacks.

Additionally, he worked as a mentor in Cisco’s Early in Career network, which offers guidance and career development for those in their first three years with the company.

With prior roles at Kapow Technologies, Oracle and CA Technologies, Robertson has spent over 25 years total in the U.S. Federal market.

Robertson’s addition to the Iron Bow team follows the Nov. 2021 appointment of Larry Frazier as director of sales strategy. Frazier was also a former executive at Cisco.

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MFGS Taps David Wray to Manage Public Sector Intel Accounts; William Bacci Quoted
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MFGS Taps David Wray to Manage Public Sector Intel Accounts; William Bacci Quoted

David Wray, a software and information technology industry veteran, has been named strategic program manager for MFGS, Inc.

In his new role, Wray will be responsible for managing MFGS’ public sector and government agency accounts, with a particular focus on intelligence community accounts, the McLean, Virginia-based Micro Focus Government Solutions Master Supplier said.

William Bacci, vice president of MFGS’ DOD and Intel Sales and Engineering divisions, called Wray’s appointment a “huge win” for the IT services company and its federal customers.

“He brings with him an inordinate amount – 40 years – of technical expertise that will optimize solution implementation efficiency and support organizational resiliency for our government clients,” Bacci said of the new strategic program manager.

Wray’s extensive career includes his previous post as chief technology officer for Micro Focus Government Solutions.

He also served as chief technologist for Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s public sector software business, where he headed business development efforts for the company’s civilian, state and local clients in the public sector, until HPE’s $8.8 billion sale of its software business unit to Micro Focus in 2017.

He also notably co-founded IT consulting firm iQuest Solutions in 1996 and led the company through its successful sale to a larger subsidiary.

Additionally, Wray has held multiple positions spanning engineering, analytics and consulting in support of public sector customers for companies such as ICOR Partners, Boeing and Logical Software Solutions.

He commented that he looks forward to joining MFGS during a significant time in the company’s growth trajectory.

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Sheriff Bob Mosier Named Virginia Public Safety & Homeland Security Secretary
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Sheriff Bob Mosier Named Virginia Public Safety & Homeland Security Secretary

Virginia Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin has appointed Sheriff Robert “Bob” Mosier to serve as the state’s next secretary of public safety and homeland security.

“Sheriff Mosier will play an important role in keeping our communities safe. We will get to work on this key priority by fully funding and raising pay for our law enforcement officers,” Youngkin said in a statement published Monday.

Mosier, a native Virginian, brings to the role over three decades of experience in federal, local and county government and international law enforcement. He previously served as deputy sheriff and commander of special operations, patrol division and criminal investigations division in Fauquier County, Virginia.

In January 2016, he officially assumed responsibilities as the 60th sheriff of the Fauquier County, leading the county sheriff’s office through the law enforcement accreditation process and advancing the adoption of new technologies in law enforcement efforts.

Mosier previously served as a senior representative for a Department of Defense law enforcement program. He worked at Obsidian Solutions Group as senior associate for law enforcement operations in support of DOD.

He also served in the State Department as deputy senior executive police adviser, GS-15, for the Iraq bureau of international narcotics and law enforcement affairs and as director of investigations with the International Justice Mission.

“Bob shares my vision for innovating how our law enforcement officers build trust and engage in their communities they serve by building bridges with local leaders to reduce crime and keep Virginians safe,” Youngkin noted.

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Sharon Woods Highlights System Integrators’ Role in DISA’s Hosting, Cloud Computing Efforts
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Sharon Woods Highlights System Integrators’ Role in DISA’s Hosting, Cloud Computing Efforts

Sharon Woods, director of the hosting and compute center at the Defense Information Systems Agency, said systems integrators will continue to play a key role in DISA’s hosting and computing journey, particularly in cloud adoption efforts, because of their experience and technical capabilities, Federal News Network reported Monday.

“We have limited resources within the department, and we are working very hard to continue to help our workforce acquire new skills, but the system integrators bring a level of talent and capability to the table that we can never replicate,” Woods said.

She noted that these integrators will form partnerships with cloud service providers rather than be at the forefront of the cloud deployment initiative.

“This is where I think there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. But I think that system integrators play a critical, critical role in making sure that we’re able to implement and adopt hosting and compute on the kind of scale that is necessary for the department,” she noted.

Woods’ remarks come after some industry stakeholders raised concerns over a statement in DISA’s strategic plan regarding the possible elimination of integrators and third party resellers as the agency works to create a multivendor procurement vehicle for the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability program to directly acquire services from commercial cloud vendors.

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CISA’s Jen Easterly Warns of Log4j Vulnerability’s Long-Term Risks
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CISA’s Jen Easterly Warns of Log4j Vulnerability’s Long-Term Risks

Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said that although there has been no major cyberattacks linked to a flaw in the Log4j software code so far, the vulnerability could pose long-term risks to large and small organizations and networks used to operate critical infrastructure, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

“The scale and potential impact of this makes it incredibly serious,” Easterly said of the Log4j problem, which records activity in applications and computer networks.

She said the Log4j flaw had resulted in “widespread criminal activity” that included the installation on vulnerable devices of botnet code or software used for cryptocurrency mining.

CISA created a public catalog of products known to contain the vulnerability and Easterly said more than 2,800 cases of problems linked to Log4j in various commercial offerings have been submitted for inclusion in the catalog.

In December, Easterly announced that CISA added the Log4j flaw to its “catalog of known exploited vulnerabilities” to incite federal civilian agencies and partners to immediately patch or remediate the issue. 

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GSA Issues Interim Rule on Transfer of DotGov Domain Program to CISA
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GSA Issues Interim Rule on Transfer of DotGov Domain Program to CISA

The General Services Administration has released an interim rule to facilitate and complete the transfer of the DotGov Domain Program’s management, operation and ownership from GSA to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in accordance with the provisions of the DOTGOV Act of 2020.

The rule takes effect Monday, Jan. 10th, and applies to all newly released, renewed and already in operation .gov domains, according to a Federal Register notice published Monday. 

GSA’s office of governmentwide policy has supported for over two decades the .gov domain, which is considered a critical infrastructure and is key to the integrity and availability of thousands of online services that millions of users depend on. 

“Since the .gov domain underpins communication with and within these institutions, cybersecurity significance of all aspects of .gov’s administration has been increasing rapidly,” according to the notice. 

In October 2019, senators proposed the DOTGOV Act of 2020 that requires GSA to hand over the DotGov program to the Department of Homeland Security’s CISA as part of efforts to expand cybersecurity support and broaden the domain’s usage among public entities. The transfer of the .gov top-level domain to CISA started in April 2021.

Under the interim rule, GSA will remove all requirements within part 102-173 of title 41, Code of Federal Regulations, that apply to any state, local, territorial or federal government entity with regard to the registration and operation of a .gov internet domain. Under the law, CISA should come up with a new set of requirements for the operation and registration of .gov domains in consultation with the director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Comments on the interim rule are due March 11th.

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Antony Blinken: US, Japan to Sign Host Nation Support Framework, Defense R&D Agreement
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Antony Blinken: US, Japan to Sign Host Nation Support Framework, Defense R&D Agreement

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. and Japan will sign a five-year framework to support U.S. military presence in the East Asian country and another pact to pursue research and development work on new defense technologies, Defense News reported Friday.

“We’re launching a new research and development agreement that will make it easier for our scientists, for our engineers, and program managers to collaborate on emerging defense-related issues – from countering hypersonic threats to advancing space-based capabilities,” Blinken, a 2021 Wash100 Award winner, said Thursday at the 2022 U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee Meeting.

He noted that the five-year will invest resources to further expand military interoperability and readiness amid challenges posed by near-peer competitors such as Russia and China.

Under the hosting agreement, Japan will support U.S. military forces in the country by spending about $1.82 billion on an annual basis. The U.S. has approximately 55,000 soldiers in Japan.

Defense Secretary and 2021 Wash100 Award recipient Lloyd Austin joined Blinken during the virtual meeting and noted that the two countries are carrying out “bold steps” to enhance their alliance and readiness and strengthen integrated deterrence. He also mentioned plans to establish a framework for the coming year.

“This framework will include, first, enhancing alliance capabilities across all domains; also, evolving our roles and missions to reflect Japan’s growing ability to contribute to regional peace and stability; and optimizing our alliance force posture to strengthen deterrence,” Austin added.

Blinken and Austin met with their Japanese counterparts, Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa and Defense Minister Kishi Nobuo, during the meeting.

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Alice Hill Nominated FEMA Deputy Administrator for Resilience
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Alice Hill Nominated FEMA Deputy Administrator for Resilience

President Biden intends to nominate Alice Hill, former senior director of resilience policy on the National Security Council staff, to be deputy administrator for resilience at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the White House said Friday.

Hill is the David M. Rubenstein senior fellow for energy and environment at New York-based policy think tank Council on Foreign Relations.

Her previous work in the government also includes service as special assistant to former President Barack Obama and senior counselor at the Department of Homeland Security, where she helped the DHS leadership plan strategies to address climate impacts and biological and chemical threats.

In a September 2021 interview with Government Matters, Hill said she believes federal agencies should factor climate risk in their decision-making process and explore approaches to ensuring federal investments are resilient to the impacts of changing weather patterns.

Alice Hill Nominated FEMA Deputy Administrator for Resilience

If you’re interested in climate change discussions, check out an upcoming virtual fireside chat session to be hosted by ExecutiveGov’s sister site GovCon Wire. The event will feature Kevin Welsh, executive director of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Environment and Energy.

Register now to join the “FAA: Climate Change Priorities Fireside Chat” on Jan. 26.

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VTG to Modernize Combat System Under Naval Sea Systems Task Order; CEO John Hassoun Quoted
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VTG to Modernize Combat System Under Naval Sea Systems Task Order; CEO John Hassoun Quoted

VTG has received a $20 million task order from the U.S. Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command to modernize the Aegis Combat System.

The force modernization and digital transformation provider announced Monday that under the Technical Insertion 16 contract, VTG will provide engineering, technical services and materials required to resolve obsolescence, reliability and maintainability issues for the combat system.

John Hassoun, VTG president and CEO, said that being awarded the task order represents “an important milestone” for the VTG team and has created an additional opportunity for the Chantilly, Virginia-based company to support the Navy.

The task order was awarded by the Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme Division, which is a field activity of the Naval Sea Systems Command. VTG’s responsibilities will also include delivering logistics support services to the Air Dominance Department in-service engineering agent mission, as well as production and rework, testing, evaluation and life cycle support functions.

The company initially won a seat on the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity TI16 contract in April 2021. The TI16 program is the Navy’s enterprise combat system modernization strategy which aims to introduce advanced technologies and open architecture designs into the surface fleet. The program supports cruisers and destroyers, aircraft carriers and amphibious ships.

The alignment of VTG and the Navy was recently seen in the company’s appointment of retired Navy Rear Admiral Jim Shannon to executive vice president of government relations on Jan. 6. His hiring is expected to position the company’s technological offerings to best serve the defense market.

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