/
National Security Commission on AI to Disband in October; Robert Work Quoted
Published on
National Security Commission on AI to Disband in October; Robert Work Quoted

The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence will officially dissolve on Oct. 1 after three years of helping Congress and the White House gain insight into possible approaches to advance AI and machine learning development.

NSCAI said Thursday it produced a total of five reports that recommend strategies to apply AI in defense and national security missions since the formation of the group in 2018.

According to the independent body, over 19 of its recommendations were featured in the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021 and more others are being considered in the fiscal 2022 defense policy bill and other non-defense science and technology bills.

“We are hopeful that the departments, agencies, the administration, industry and academia will continue this important conversation,” said Robert Work, vice chair of NSCAI and a two-time Wash100 Award recipient.

The government will archive all commission reports, press releases and podcasts on the CyberCemetery website hosted by University of North Texas Libraries.

/
Dell Awarded CTS-2 Contract to Expand NNSA Computing Capacity
Published on
Dell Awarded CTS-2 Contract to Expand NNSA Computing Capacity

Dell Technologies has been awarded a subcontract for $40 million to deliver expanded computing capacity for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.

Under the second Commodity Technology Systems contract (CTS-2), funded by the NNSA’s Advanced Simulation and Computing program, Dell will deliver over 40 petaflops of expanded computing capacity to the agency’s Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National Laboratories to support NNSA’s nuclear deterrent mission.

Thuc Hoang, director of the NNSA’s ASC program said, “The CTS-2 systems will serve the NNSA stockpile management and production modernization programs, along with other mission-critical efforts underpinning our stockpile stewardship program.”

The NNSA’s ASC program develops and produces advanced modeling and simulation capabilities that ensure the reliability and protection of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile.

The contracted computing systems will be deployed in scalable units (SUs) and are expected to increase NNSA’s overall computing capacity by approximately three to four times, enabling higher quality 2D and 3D simulations and allowing for more complex parameter studies.

These SU building blocks, which represent approximately 1.5 petaflops each of computing power, will replace the ASC’s current commodity systems, sourced by the 2015 CTS-1 contract, which are nearing retirement. 

The new hardware will work in tandem with existing Tri-Laboratory Operating System Software (TOSS) to build the foundation for the common ASC user simulation environment.

The SUs delivered under CTS-2 will be powered by Intel Xeon scalable processors (Sapphire Rapids) and Dell EMC PowerEdge servers. Initial deliveries are expected to begin in mid-2022 and will continue through 2025. 

/
Leidos Partners With SANS Institute to Enhance Offerings at CyberEDGE Academy, Address Cybersecurity Talent Gap
Published on
Leidos Partners With SANS Institute to Enhance Offerings at CyberEDGE Academy, Address Cybersecurity Talent Gap

Leidos has announced the federal IT and engineering service provider will partner with the SANS Institute to deliver cybersecurity training and certifications for the Leidos CyberEDGE Academy, a program developed in response to the nation’s talent gap in the cybersecurity sector.

The company’s CyberEDGE Academy, which is open to Leidos employees and qualifying external candidates, has successfully completed three cohort programs with over 50 graduates and has plans for future expansion.

Jason McCarthy, vice president of Leidos’ Homeland Security Solutions sector, said, "As we continue to address the cybersecurity workforce shortage facing organizations and agencies including DOD and DHS, the entire cyber community needs to work together to upskill, reskill and in general, protect and defend citizens, assets and information."

McCarthy also noted that the company’s strong partnerships with the SANS Institute and universities will position Leidos to address these shortages and contribute to building a capable cyber workforce.

The Dean of Leidos’ CyberEDGE Academy, James Beamon, commented, “SANS is a pioneer in cyber leadership and training, and Leidos looks forward to continuing our efforts to close the cybersecurity talent gap and ensure these highly trained professionals embark on meaningful cyber careers where they can bring their talent to bear in a national security environment."

Utilizing the SANS SEC:275 Foundations course platform to educate students in key areas such as Linux, programming, networking and foundational computing, the CyberEDGE Academy enables students to earn several industry certifications, including the GIAC Foundational Cybersecurity Technologies Certification.

Over the academy’s six month training period, students receive the education, skills and certifications necessary to secure jobs in a range of critical cybersecurity areas including cloud security engineering, cyber defense analysis, cyber threat intelligence analysis and cyber program management.

/
DLA Extends Avon ESAPI Body Armor Contract; Paul McDonald Quoted
Published on
DLA Extends Avon ESAPI Body Armor Contract; Paul McDonald Quoted

The Defense Logistics Agency will be exercising the first of two one-year extension options under the DLA Enhanced Small Arms Protective Inserts body armor contract with U.K.-based Avon Protection Systems to supply body armor plates from its ballistic protection business, Ceradyne.

The company said Friday the initial option extends the contract to September 2022 and activates a minimum order value of $19 million for the option year.

“This contract extension demonstrates our ongoing position as a leading supplier of body armor to the U.S. armed forces, as well as underpinning our FY22 body armor revenue expectations,” said Paul McDonald, CEO of Avon Protection.

Additionally, McDonald commented that he is pleased with Avon’s progress since December to address product approval delays.

With first article testing underway and progressing as the company has anticipated, formal approval for the DLA ESAPI body armor products is expected to be received during the first quarter of 2022, and initial shipments are to be expected in the second quarter.

Additionally, exercising the extension option will trigger a consequent $3 million of contingent consideration payable to 3M under the terms of Avon’s acquisition of Ceradyne, bringing the total contingent consideration payable to $7 million.  

//
DHS, NIST List Goals for Cyber Best Practices
Published on
DHS, NIST List Goals for Cyber Best Practices

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) have jointly classified cybersecurity practices into nine categories as bases for cyber performance goals.

The nine categories each have specific objectives with regard to how secure control systems are operated and deployed, NIST said Thursday. The two agencies expect these goals to help organizations adopt effective cyber practices and controls.

This partnership aligns with President Biden’s memorandum that aims to foster cybersecurity improvement across critical infrastructure control systems.

The nine category-based goals are:

  • Architecture and Design
  • Configuration and Change Management
  • Continuous Monitoring and Vulnerability Management
  • Incident Response and Recovery
  • Physical Security
  • Risk Management and Cybersecurity Governance
  • Supply Chain Risk Management
  • System and Data Integrity, Availability and Confidentiality
  • Training and Awareness

 

DHS, NIST List Goals for Cyber Best Practices

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released a preliminary list of the goals earlier.

If you are interested in learning more about the current landscape of cybersecurity, check out ExecutiveBiz's event titled “Supply Chain Cybersecurity: Revelations and Innovations” on Oct. 26th.

/
DLA Transfers Hardware Supply Chain to Domain-Specific Units
Published on
DLA Transfers Hardware Supply Chain to Domain-Specific Units

The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is transferring an industrial hardware supply chain from its troop support unit to divisions respective of battlefield domains, DOD News reported Thursday.

DLA Aviation and DLA Land and Maritime will receive responsibility over more than 900,000 items including bolts, nuts and seals, as the agency seeks to support the missions of other government entities.

The agency expects to complete the transfer on Sept. 30th, which would be a year earlier than originally planned.

“Although customers shouldn’t notice much difference, they’ll now be able to get answers to all their questions on industrial hardware from one source depending on which type of system is involved,” said John Bray from DLA's human resources unit.

//
DHS Kicks Off ‘Cooling Solutions’ Competition to Boost Climate Resilience; Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Quoted
Published on
DHS Kicks Off ‘Cooling Solutions’ Competition to Boost Climate Resilience; Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Quoted

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has launched a series of competitions intended to bolster the nation’s climate resilience and advance the development of innovations that address climate change risks. 

The DHS said Thursday that its science and technology directorate and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will lead the first series of competitions focused on inventions that counter heat-related illnesses and death. 

The “Cooling Solutions Challenge,” which will offer a total prize of $195,000, is aimed at helping the DHS strengthen equity in disaster preparedness and response initiatives of the agency in underserved groups.  

“Through this competition, DHS will increase access to tools that help communities increase their resilience and address the existential threat of climate change,” said Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of Homeland Security and 2021 Wash100 Award winner. 

Interested participants can submit proposals for the two-stage challenge until Dec. 7th.

/
DARPA Program Aims to Create System Design-Level Cybersecurity Approaches
Published on
DARPA Program Aims to Create System Design-Level Cybersecurity Approaches

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has launched a program that aims to help developers understand emergent behavior in computers to prevent cyber attackers from generating malicious and unintended computations using already embedded features of critical systems.

DARPA is seeking interested proposers for the Hardening Development Toolchains Against Emergent Execution Engines initiative to study theories and approaches and develop tools for mitigating emergent software behaviors throughout the software development phase where they are usually overlooked, the agency said Wednesday.

The HARDEN effort seeks to address the current process of system designers unknowingly enabling emergent behaviors because of their focus on ensuring a software can perform its task, taking away time to consider what unexpected conduct it could exhibit.

Aside from theory analysis and tool development, participants will explore methods to disrupt the exploit execution engine located at the design level that causes a system to act awry and apply such ideas to concrete technological use cases of integrated software.

“We want to ensure we’re creating models that will be of actual use to critical defense systems,” said Sergey Bratus, a program manager in DARPA’s Information Innovation Office.

The agency plans to discuss the program with potential offerors at a virtual meeting scheduled for Thursday.

DARPA Program Aims to Create System Design-Level Cybersecurity Approaches

ExecutiveBiz, sister site of ExecutiveGov, will host a forum about supply chain cybersecurity. Visit the EBiz Events page to register for this timely forum and view other upcoming events for the GovCon community.

/
Army Seeks to Encourage Troops to Trust AI Through Project Ridgway; Col. Dan Kearney Quoted
Published on
Army Seeks to Encourage Troops to Trust AI Through Project Ridgway; Col. Dan Kearney Quoted

The U.S. Army has launched a training program that seeks to encourage soldiers to use and develop artificial intelligence tools to gain military advantage on the battlefield, Defense One reported Wednesday.

Through Project Ridgway, the Army wants commanders and service members to recognize the importance of digital data and how it could be put to use to improve survivability in future conflicts.

“We have to put the force in a position so that when artificial intelligence efforts are thrust upon us, we are in a position to go ahead and employ them immediately,” said Col. Dan Kearney, XVIII Airborne Corps plans officer and head of Project Ridgway.

“You want leaders to trust that the algorithm is going to go ahead and extrapolate from the right data sets to go ahead and come out with this recommendation. And if commanders don’t trust it, they won’t use it, and they’ll second-guess it, and it will slow down the kill chain,” Kearney added.

Kearney said the program will have two lines of effort and the first intends to “create a culture of innovation that respects data as a strategic asset” through large-scale, voluntary training on the role of data in AI and other emerging technologies. The project’s second line of effort will involve service members who want to build up skills in data management and app development. 

This effort will include a four-month training via the software coding bootcamp Galvanize, six-month training through Joint Special Operations Command’s Gap program and applied data science training through Coursera. The other two lines of effort will deal with data governance and data infrastructure elements such as cloud and data storage technologies.

//
Andrew Cox: USSF to Give Industry Overview of Force Design Process
Published on
Andrew Cox: USSF to Give Industry Overview of Force Design Process

Andrew Cox, director of the U.S. Space Force's Space Warfighting Analysis Center (SWAC), said that SWAC plans to discuss its digital approach to the force design process with potential industry partners at an Oct. 27th classified business event, C4ISRNET reported Friday. 

Cox noted that he would offer attendees to the business fair an overview of the models of emerging threats and how the service branch intends to confront targets in the next decade.

A special notice posted on SAM.gov says the event is intended to help the private sector gain insight into SWAC's force design and model-based systems engineering (MBSE) approaches. 

The center applies the MBSE method to the branch's missile warning and tracking mission areas, but the notice states that the upcoming event is not related to any acquisition program.

USSF will share the process with industry five months after Gen. John Raymond, chief of space operations at USSF and a 2021 Wash100 Award recipient, outlined the branch's digital service vision.

1 … 996 997 998 999 1,000 … 2,626