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Kirstjen Nielsen: Lack of US Election Systems Backup Poses National Security Risk
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Kirstjen Nielsen: Lack of US Election Systems Backup Poses National Security Risk


Kirstjen Nielsen: Lack of US Election Systems Backup Poses National Security Risk
Kirstjen Nielsen

Kirstjen Nielsen, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has said that the lack of a mechanism to audit election results in certain U.S. states poses a “national security concern,” Reuters reported Wednesday.

Nielsen, an inductee into the 2018 Wash100, told the Senate Intelligence Committee that states should use paper ballot backups for electronic voting systems to prevent hackers from tampering with election results.

New Jersey, Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana and South Carolina do not have verifiable paper ballot backup in their voting systems, but some plan to acquire such platforms to support audits.

Eight other states have electoral districts that lack paper backups.

Nielsen appeared before the committee alongside former DHS chief Jeh Johnson to describe DHS’ efforts to boost election systems security following the 2016 presidential election.

Nielsen and Johnson believe high-level Russian leaders were involved in an attempt to interfere with the 2016 election.

The incumbent DHS secretary said the department worked to identify the right state election authorities to contact regarding threat information sharing — a capacity that DHS did not have in 2016.

Nielsen added that more than half of U.S. states sought DHS’ cyber scanning services to identify potential vulnerabilities.

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House Bill Would Establish AI National Security Commission
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House Bill Would Establish AI National Security Commission


House Bill Would Establish AI National Security CommissionRep. Elise Stefanik (R-New York) has introduced a bill that would establish an independent commission to review artificial intelligence technology advancements and identify the country’s AI needs.

The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence Act of 2018 would also require the future group to recommend strategies for the White House and Congress to facilitate AI adoption in the federal government, the House Armed Services Committee said Wednesday.

“AI has already produced many things in use today, including web search, object recognition in photos or videos, prediction models, self-driving cars, and automated robotics,” said Stefanik.

“It is critical to our national security but also to the development of our broader economy that the United States becomes the global leader in further developing this cutting edge technology,” she added.

The commission would provide AI-focused recommendations encompassing competitiveness, technological advantage, cooperation, research investment, workforce and education, international law and data privacy.

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NIST Unveils Draft Guide on ‘Cyber Resilient’ Systems Development
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NIST Unveils Draft Guide on ‘Cyber Resilient’ Systems Development


NIST Unveils Draft Guide on 'Cyber Resilient' Systems DevelopmentThe National Institute of Standards and Technology has published a draft guide on how to achieve cyber resiliency across information technology systems.

NIST said Wednesday the guideline titled “Systems Security Engineering: Cyber Resiliency Considerations for the Engineering of Trustworthy Secure Systems” intends to address cyber resiliency issues relevant to organizations that are developing new IT systems as well as entities that are operating legacy IT platforms.

The document is the first in a series of publications that NIST developed to support the agency’s flagship systems security engineering guideline called “Systems Security Engineering: Considerations for a Multidisciplinary Approach in the Engineering of Trustworthy Secure Systems.”

Cyber resilient systems feature built-in security safeguards in the system architecture and design, NIST noted.

Those platforms demonstrate the capacity to withstand cyber attacks and continue to operate in a compromised state.

The draft guide includes factors that organizations should consider to achieve cyber resiliency with their existing and future IT products, systems and services.

The guideline is also designed to inform investment decisions related to cyber resiliency.

NIST will accept feedback on the draft guide until May 18.

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FedRAMP Issues 3 New Documents on Continuous Monitoring Process
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FedRAMP Issues 3 New Documents on Continuous Monitoring Process


FedRAMP Issues 3 New Documents on Continuous Monitoring ProcessThe Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program has released three new documents to clarify its process for continuously monitoring FedRAMP-authorized cloud service providers.

FedRAMP said Tuesday the new continuous monitoring documents include a draft of the “Automated Vulnerability Risk Adjustment Framework Guidance,” which is intended to help CSPs build and deploy an automated vulnerability risk adjustment tool for weaknesses detected by vulnerability scanners.

The draft guide is meant to support CSPs’ efforts to maintain or boost security as well as lessen the level of effort for scanner-related risk reductions.

FedRAMP also responded to requests from cloud companies that want to scan samples of system components rather than the entire system with a document titled “Guide for Determining Eligibility and Requirements for the Use of Sampling for Vulnerability Scans.”

CSPs can use the document as a guide on evaluating representative system components rather than scanning all components.

The third document named “Vulnerability Scanning Requirements” provides a known vulnerability severity scoring framework that supports the creation and use of an automated, Common Vulnerability Scoring System-based risk adjustment tool for vulnerabilities identified by vulnerability scanning systems.

The new documents add to a set of guides that FedRAMP issued in Jan. 31 to streamline and optimize the continuous monitoring process.

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Michael Griffin: Directed Energy Weapon Systems Needed Amid Superpower Competition
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Michael Griffin: Directed Energy Weapon Systems Needed Amid Superpower Competition


Michael Griffin: Directed Energy Weapon Systems Needed Amid Superpower Competition
Michael Griffin

Michael Griffin, defense undersecretary for research and engineering, has said the U.S. government and industry should advance the development of directed energy weapons amid the emergence of superpower competition with countries such as Russia and China, DoD News reported Wednesday.

“We have to have the technological leverage,” Griffin said Wednesday at the 2018 Directed Energy Summit in Washington.

“That realization was responsible for the creation of my office, to elevate the role of technology maturation and deployment and I believe it is responsible for the renewed interest in directed energy weapons,” he added.

He said maritime, ground, space and air domains are the four venues where directed energy weapon systems can be applied and such venues should require the warfighting tactics, logistics requirements, manpower support and basing strategies to be different.

“I would urge us not to think that one size fits all,” noted Griffin, a 2018 Wash100 recipient.

“I would urge us to keep a lot of arrows in our quiver as we go forward figuring out how we’re going to translate directed energy technologies into warfighting systems that are going to defend this country and our allies.”

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Gen. John Hyten: DoD Leadership Understands Need for Faster Space Procurement Process
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Gen. John Hyten: DoD Leadership Understands Need for Faster Space Procurement Process


Gen. John Hyten: DoD Leadership Understands Need for Faster Space Procurement Process
John Hyten

Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, told SpaceNews in an interview posted Wednesday he believes Defense Department leaders such as Michael Griffin, defense undersecretary for research and engineering, and Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan understand the need to accelerate the space procurement process.

Hyten and Griffin are both 2018 Wash100 recipients.

Hyten said he thinks the U.S. military should aim for space launch costs below $100 million and develop satellites within three to five years in order to keep its competitive edge in space.

The military should pursue the development of smaller satellites that could be replaced immediately in the event of an attack and introduce changes to the procurement of ground-based terminals and computers used to control satellites, he noted.

“We have to get to modular spacecraft where we can take existing government or commercial buses and integrate new payloads,” he added.

Hyten said he has initiated talks with Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and head of the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, about the need to address issues with the requirements definition process that appears to slow down the deployment of new systems.

Selva “is now putting mandates on the bureaucracy to go fast… The key is to focus on capabilities,” Hyten added.

DoD to Get $654.6B Under $1.3T Omnibus Spending Bill
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DoD to Get $654.6B Under $1.3T Omnibus Spending Bill


DoD to Get $654.6B Under $1.3T Omnibus Spending BillCongressional leaders have introduced an omnibus bill that would authorize $1.3 trillion to fund government operations through the end of fiscal 2018, Defense News reported Thursday.

The omnibus package would allocate $654.6 billion in funds for the Defense Department, including a base budget of $589.5 billion and overseas contingency operations funds worth $65.2 billion.

The defense appropriations bill would earmark $137.7 billion in funds for military personnel and pay, including a 2.4 percent salary increase for warfighters.

The proposed legislation would authorize $238 billion for operation and maintenance accounts, $89.2 billion for research and development of defense technology platforms and $34.4 billion for defense health and military family programs.

DoD’s equipment procurement initiatives would get $144.3 billion in funds under the proposed bill, according to the measure’s summary.

The legislation’s equipment acquisition section includes $23.8 billion for the procurement of 14 Navy ships; $10.2 billion for 90 F-35 fighter jets; $9.5 billion for the Missile Defense Agency; $1.8 billion for the purchase of 24 F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft; $1.4 billion for three Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles; $1.1 billion for the acquisition of 56 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters; and $1.1 billion to support upgrades of 85 Abrams tanks.

The omnibus bill would set aside $47.8 billion for the Department of Homeland Security, $4 billion to address the opioid crisis, $21 billion for infrastructure projects and $2.3 billion for school safety efforts.

House and Senate lawmakers need to pass the spending package before the current continuing resolution expires Friday in order to avert a government shutdown.

 

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Report: White House Asks Saudi Arabia to Boost Weapons Procurement
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Report: White House Asks Saudi Arabia to Boost Weapons Procurement


Report: White House Asks Saudi Arabia to Boost Weapons ProcurementPresident Donald Trump has called on Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to procure more U.S.-built weapons systems to help generate more U.S. jobs, CNBC reported Wednesday.

Memos of proposed foreign military sales deals from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency and State Department show that Saudi Arabia plans to purchase 153 M1A1/A2 Abrams battle tanks and related equipment from the U.S. government with General Dynamics’ land systems business as the principal contractor for the proposed $1.15 billion deal.

The Middle Eastern country intends to purchase CH-47F Chinook helicopters, missile warning systems and machine guns under a $3.51 billion transaction that lists Boeing and Honeywell as prime contractors.

Lockheed Martin and Raytheon will serve as principal contractors in a proposed $15 billion deal that calls for the delivery of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system launchers and interceptor missiles to Saudi Arabia.

Saudi also proposed to buy $11.25 billion worth of four multi-mission surface combatant ships and related weapon systems from the U.S. government, the report noted.

The report added that the U.S. has recorded $54 billion in FMS deals with Saudi Arabia in the past nine months.

Richard Spencer: Navy Eyes Option for Over 10 Virginia-Class Submarines Under Multiyear Contract
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Richard Spencer: Navy Eyes Option for Over 10 Virginia-Class Submarines Under Multiyear Contract


Richard Spencer: Navy Eyes Option for Over 10 Virginia-Class Submarines Under Multiyear Contract
Richard Spencer

Navy Secretary Richard Spencer has said the service is in talks with industry over an option that would allow the purchase of at least 10 Block V Virginia-class submarines through a multiyear procurement contract, Inside Defense reported Wednesday.

Spencer, a 2018 Wash100 recipient, told House Armed Services Committee members Tuesday that such an option depends on the availability of resources.

Hondo Geurts, Navy acquisition executive, said the military branch has already received a proposal from General Dynamics’ Electric Boat subsidiary and that it has the capacity to pursue three submarines annually in future fiscal years.

“As we negotiate this upcoming multiyear, we will look at putting the options in for submarines,” Geurts told lawmakers.

General Dynamics announced in January that it would invest up to $2 billion into its shipyards to meet the Navy’s shipbuilding requirements.

 

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Public Health Vet Robert Redfield to Become CDC Director
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Public Health Vet Robert Redfield to Become CDC Director


Public Health Vet Robert Redfield to Become CDC Director
Robert Redfield

The Department of Health and Human Services has chosen Robert Redfield, a more than 30-year public health veteran, to serve as the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and administrator of CDC’s Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

He served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps for two decades and as the founding director of the retroviral research department within the U.S. military’s HIV Research Program, HHS said Wednesday.

After his military service, Redfield established the University of Maryland’s Institute of Human Virology with William Blattner and Robert C. Gallo.

Redfield previously worked as chief of infectious diseases and vice chair of medicine at the UMD School of Medicine.

He was a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS from 2005 to 2009 and chaired the International Subcommittee from 2006 to 2009.

He also served on the National Institutes of Health’s AIDS Research Advisory Council and Fogarty International Center Advisory Board, as well as on the Food and Drug Administration‘s Advisory Anti-Infective Agent Committee.

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