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CISA Identifies 4 New Vulnerabilities That Pose Risk to Federal Information Systems
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CISA Identifies 4 New Vulnerabilities That Pose Risk to Federal Information Systems

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has asked federal civilian agencies to remediate four known exploited vulnerabilities in information systems by Dec. 1st.

Publicly disclosed weaknesses in Exiftool remote code execution and Microsoft Win32k, Excel and Exchange Server applications are being exploited by threat actors, CISA said Wednesday.

The agency created a catalog in accordance with its Binding Operational Directive 22-01 to warn government personnel regarding network security risks and direct them to address the flaws within specific deadlines.

CISA on Tuesday published new playbooks meant to help agencies implement a standard set of procedures for responding to information system incidents and vulnerabilities.

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Argonne National Lab Uses AI to Discover COVID-19 Antiviral Drugs
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Argonne National Lab Uses AI to Discover COVID-19 Antiviral Drugs

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) has used artificial intelligence with new computing technology to accelerate COVID-19 research. 

Argonne said Wednesday it searched across small molecules to identify potential drug candidates with the help of new hardware, which reduced the search into minutes. Researchers compute how well an antiviral molecule binds to viral proteins present in the SARS-CoV-2 proteins.

DOE supercomputers, including Argonne’s Theta, process data on the small molecules then produce binding scores that researchers use to train AI algorithms for identifying which molecules have the lowest binding energies.

“With AI, we went from doing one compound per second to 1,000 compounds per second and ultimately to 50,000 compounds per second,” said Hyunseung ​“Harry” Yoo, a computational scientist at Argonne.

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CISA Moves to Standardize Federal Cybersecurity Responses With New Playbooks; Matt Hartman Quoted
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CISA Moves to Standardize Federal Cybersecurity Responses With New Playbooks; Matt Hartman Quoted

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has published a document outlining procedures on how civilian agencies should respond to information system incidents and vulnerabilities. 

CISA said Tuesday it incorporated the private sector’s best practices into the Federal Government Cybersecurity Incident and Vulnerability Response Playbooks.

“This important step, set in motion by President Biden’s Cyber Executive Order, will enable more comprehensive analysis and mitigation of vulnerabilities and incidents across the civilian enterprise. We encourage our public and private sector partners to review the playbooks to take stock of their own vulnerability and incident response practices,” said Matt Hartman, deputy executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA.

The publication builds the Department of Homeland Security’s binding operational directive mandating agencies to undertake remediation measures for known exploited vulnerabilities.

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GAO’s Heather MacLeod: USCG Needs to Address Shore Resiliency Backlog
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GAO’s Heather MacLeod: USCG Needs to Address Shore Resiliency Backlog

Heather MacLeod, the Government Accountability Office’s acting director for homeland security and justice, said the U.S. Coast Guard is not investing enough funds in resiliency, Federal News Network reported Tuesday.

She said USCG’s shore infrastructure has exceeded its expected service life and is causing an expensive backlog of maintenance and recapitalization projects.

Macleod made these statements in response to Vice Adm. Paul Thomas, USCG’s deputy commandant for mission support, during a House hearing.

Thomas told Congress USCG is investing a significant amount in workforce and resiliency from almost $2 billion in shore infrastructure funds the service has received since 2018.

Macleod said USCG’s combined backlog cost for shore infrastructure projects is now over $2.6 billion.

The USCG deputy commandant said his service branch is now conducting resiliency assessments to address the backlog, in preparation for succeeding engineering work.

“When we do recapitalize our infrastructure, we do it to the latest standards for both sea-level rise and flooding, etc. So when we have a chance to build new, we’re building resilient,” Thomas stated.

If you are interested in U.S. climate resiliency, check out GovConWire’s “Climate Resilience: Reducing Risk and Creating Opportunities Fireside Chat” event on Nov. 18,  Thursday.

GAO's Heather MacLeod: USCG Needs to Address Shore Resiliency Backlog

 

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AT&T Government Trusted Internet Service Helps Federal Agencies Meet Cybersecurity Guidelines; Brandon Pearce Quoted
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AT&T Government Trusted Internet Service Helps Federal Agencies Meet Cybersecurity Guidelines; Brandon Pearce Quoted

AT&T has launched Government Trusted Internet, a managed cybersecurity service developed to help federal agencies accelerate their modernization efforts and strengthen security.

AT&T Government Trusted Internet, which integrates with the company’s Managed Trusted Internet Protocol Service, was specifically designed to increase IT infrastructure protection and help government agencies comply with new federal cybersecurity guidelines and mandates, AT&T said Wednesday.

“The shift to telework and increased cyber threats have created urgency for federal agencies to enhance the security of their IT infrastructure,” said Brandon Pearce, assistant vice president of product marketing management at AT&T.

Developed in response to the new Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) 3.0 guidelines and the Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity, AT&T Government Trusted Internet implements zero trust and delivers threat analysis monitoring capabilities through AT&T’s Security Operations Center and its global Alien Labs Open Threat Exchange while meeting strict federal agency security requirements. 

Pearce added, “AT&T Government Trusted Internet helps federal employees to efficiently connect to remote agency networks and cloud environments in a highly secure manner while continually managing risks.”

The new service is now available to U.S. federal agencies and features software-defined wide area networking technology, fiber connectivity and improved security capabilities through a single provider.

Chris Kissel, research director for International Data Corporation, noted, “What I see as compelling about AT&T Government Trusted Internet is it considers all of the possible use cases including remote workers and the practical implementation of Zero Trust.”

AT&T Government Trusted Internet meets requirements outlined in the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s TIC 3.0 remote user use case, which was finalized and released in October 2021 and provides guidance on how network and multi-boundary security should be applied in regards to remote users.

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SGT CEO Tina Dolph Joins Hope For The Warriors Board of Directors
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SGT CEO Tina Dolph Joins Hope For The Warriors Board of Directors

Tina Dolph, president and CEO of Siemens Government Technologies and three-time Wash100 Award winner, has joined the Hope For The Warriors board of directors.

Hope For The Warriors is a national nonprofit organization, founded by military families in 2006, that offers a range of sports, recreation, peer engagement and community programs focused on supporting the health, wellness and transition of veterans and military service members.

“While our post 9/11 military community and their families have sacrificed so much on our behalf, I’m incredibly fortunate to be a part of an organization committed to ensuring those sacrifices aren’t forgotten, and, help is available when it’s needed the most,” Dolph commented.

Dolph joins the board following her year of service on the Hope For The Warriors board council, and she added that she is humbled by the “life-changing” impacts the nonprofit organization has on its veterans and their family members.

Robin Kelleher, Hope For The Warriors co-founder and president said, “The board and organization is excited for Tina’s continued and expanded commitment to Hope For The Warriors and the military families that we continue to serve.”

Dolph was appointed president and CEO of SGT in 2018, following an 18-year tenure with Lockheed Martin, where she served in multiple senior executive roles including vice president of PAE global support operations and director of business strategy and business operations.

Currently, Dolph serves as a board member for Valiant Integrated Services, and she was also recently added to the board of directors for the National Defense University Foundation.

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CGI Secures Spot on GSA ASTRO Contract; Stephanie Mango Quoted
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CGI Secures Spot on GSA ASTRO Contract; Stephanie Mango Quoted

CGI has been selected for a spot on the General Services Administration’s multiple-award indefinite-delivery, indefinite quantity ASTRO contract.

Under the ten-year contract, which has an unlimited ceiling value, CGI will compete for task orders covering a range of services focused on the development, integration, operation, maintenance and support of various platforms including manned, unmanned and optionally manned systems and robotics, the company said Wednesday.

Stephanie Mango, president of CGI’s federal arm, said the company leveraged its extensive experience in software development, space software systems and systems integration work to secure the ASTRO contract.

Mango added, “With our space work long established in Europe, we’re just beginning to build our presence here in North America, and we’re thrilled to bring our proven track record and solutions to the U.S. federal government market.”

Additionally, CGI Federal’s vice president of consulting services, Mike Pullen said the company’s “40-plus year track record of supporting the space industry and serving the federal government” will help CGI to deliver innovative products and services under the contract. 

GSA’s ASTRO contract vehicle is managed by the agency’s Federal Systems Integration and Management Center and sponsored by the Department of Defense.

The ASTRO contract win continues CGI Federal’s partnership with the GSA, following the company’s recent win of a GSA contract to develop a catalog data management application for the agency as part of its modernization efforts.

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Rep. Glenn Thompson Seeks to Regulate Cryptocurrencies With New Measure
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Rep. Glenn Thompson Seeks to Regulate Cryptocurrencies With New Measure

Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, intends to propose a bill that would regulate Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies by establishing clear federal jurisdictions, Bloomberg Law reported Wednesday.

“We have an opportunity and a responsibility to be leaders in the digital assets space to protect consumers, foster innovation, and reduce regulatory burdens,” said Thompson.

Thompson’s legislation would allow the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to register and regulate digital commodities as a new type of entity and would provide incentives, such as working with a single regulator. The measure would also set federal requirements and conditions, including public reporting of trading data and prohibiting abusive trading practices.

The Securities and Exchange Commission would continue to monitor organizations that raise funds and come up with a digital commodity project to ensure that entities comply with securities laws, according to the report.

Thompson said he expects the draft text of the measure to help seek insights from lawmakers, regulators and other stakeholders “to ensure we advance the best possible framework as American innovators build the next generation of digital infrastructure.”

POC - Digital Currency and National Security Forum

On Jan. 27, the Potomac Officers Club is bringing together distinguished government and industry leaders to offer the GovCon community an insight into the national security aspect of digital currencies. POC’s Digital Currency and National Security forum will feature National Cyber Director Chris Inglis and Juan Zarate, global co-managing partner and chief strategy officer at K2 Integrity, as keynote speakers.

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BigBear.ai Names Samuel Gordy, Jeffry Dyer, Claire Morse to Senior Leadership Roles; GovCon Expert Reggie Brothers Quoted
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BigBear.ai Names Samuel Gordy, Jeffry Dyer, Claire Morse to Senior Leadership Roles; GovCon Expert Reggie Brothers Quoted

BigBear.ai, a leading provider of artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud-based big data analytics and cyber engineering solutions, announced on Wednesday that Samuel Gordy has been appointed the company’s new chief operating officer and federal president, effective Nov. 1st. 

As COO and President of Federal business, Gordy will oversee BigBear.ai’s day-to-day business operations and will design, build, manage, and scale the organization to facilitate BigBear.ai’s evolution to the next stage of successful and profitable growth in the federal division.

In addition, Jeffry Dyer has been named BigBear.ai’s president of Commercial business as of Nov. 1st, and Claire Morse also assumed the role of chief human resources officer back in Oct. 

“We are thrilled to welcome Sam, Jeff and Claire to BigBear.ai and look forward to working with them as we bring our operationalized AI solutions and decision support technology to more organizations in both public and commercial markets,” said Reggie Brothers, CEO of BigBear.ai and 2021 Wash100 Award recipient. 

Jeffry Dyer will assume the responsibility for all aspects of BigBear.ai’s growing business in the commercial sector as the president of Commercial business for the company, which includes oversight of the P&L and leadership of sales, marketing, and product development functions. 

Claire Morse joins the company from Salient CRGT and will drive strategic human resources initiatives across BigBear.ai’s Federal and Commercial divisions with a critical focus on integration, strategy and the direction of human resources-related functions, as the chief human resources officer for the company. 

“As we continue to execute our growth strategy and prepare to emerge as a publicly-traded company later this year, we are focused on attracting and retaining top-notch talent with the skills and expertise to accelerate our progress and ensure we enter the public market on strong footing,” said GovCon Expert Reggie Brothers. 

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Reagan Institute’s Task Force Calls for Modernization of Defense Production Act; Marillyn Hewson Quoted
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Reagan Institute’s Task Force Calls for Modernization of Defense Production Act; Marillyn Hewson Quoted

A Reagan Institute task force has released a report outlining four recommendations to revitalize U.S. manufacturing competitiveness and secure critical supply chains.

These recommendations from the Task Force on National Security and U.S. Manufacturing Competitiveness are modernizing the Defense Production Act for the 21st Century, scaling up workforce development programs, establishing a public-private capability to support investments in domestic manufacturing sectors critical to national security and forming a new global forum to facilitate coordination on geoeconomic issues, the Reagan Institute said Tuesday.

“The economic and national security threat from China cannot be ignored,” said Marillyn Hewson, co-chair of the task force and former chairman, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin.

“There is bipartisan support to take action, and this report identifies steps that we can take to strengthen and leverage investments in infrastructure, facilities, technology, and most importantly, people,” added Hewson, a six-time Wash100 Award winner. She co-chairs the task force with David McCormick, CEO of Bridgewater Associates and a former undersecretary of the Treasury for international affairs.

According to the report, updating the Defense Production Act will enable holistic measures for critical production facilities, including directed project financing, targeted visa approvals for STEM talent, investments in workforce training and automatic fast-tracking of permits.

The task force offered the recommendations after identifying six challenges to reinvigorating the country’s manufacturing competitiveness, including technical skills gap, unsatisfactory productivity gains and inadequate capital investment in manufacturing.

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