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16 Dec 22. Global: Joint crackdown on booter services unlikely to mitigate persistent DDoS threat. Law enforcement agencies in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland the UK and the US shut down around 50 of the most popular booter service sites in a co-ordinated crackdown on the online infrastructure of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. According to Europol’s press release on 15 December, the seized internet domains previously allowed threat actors to pay for DDoS attacks against websites and connected devices. This substantially lowered the technical and financial barriers for DDoS campaigns. One of the closed booter services facilitated over 30 million attacks. The crackdown, known as Operation Power Off, is the latest international joint action against DDoS-for-hire websites. The seizure of some of the largest booter sites will cause notable disruption to DDoS-for-hire services. However, the DDoS threat will persist, as evidenced by Microsoft’s latest warning of a new cross-platform botnet designed to launch DDoS attacks against private Minecraft servers. As the individuals running these sites are still at large, they are likely to resume operations using new internet domains in the coming weeks. (Source: Sibylline)
15 Dec 22. Raytheon Technologies demonstrates FlexLink Adaptive Connectivity Solution in support of U.S. Army’s Project Convergence.
Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX) successfully demonstrated solutions needed to connect defense networks and simplify U.S. Army command and control systems during the Army’s Project Convergence exercise.
Key among those technologies was FlexLink, an open-system radio technology developed by the company’s Collins Aerospace business that’s designed to connect multiple air and ground platforms.
During the exercise, FlexLink was installed on U.S. Army UH-60M helicopters and was able to establish a joint command and control network at distances exceeding 200 nautical miles. The demonstration was key to validating the Army’s Project Convergence concept, which is the service’s contribution to the Defense Department’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control initiative.
The FlexLink solution is the first open systems radio prototype to be integrated onto U.S. Army platforms. The demonstration bridged four joint service and coalition networks, all operating at different security levels using a multi-level security cross domain solution to allow for integrated, connected communication across the battlespace.
“We demonstrated that our ready-now open systems radio can be integrated with existing platforms,” said Phil Jasper, president of Mission Systems for Collins Aerospace. “Providing resilient communications across networks is key for reducing decision-making time and supporting effective operations in any highly contested environment.”
FlexLink Adaptive Connectivity Solution for communication, navigation and surveillance delivers resilient network connectivity and assured positioning, navigation and timing to connect the battlespace. The system is able to operate across a variety of U.S. Department of Defense communication networks, from advanced tactical datalinks to legacy narrowband line-of-sight, both wideband and narrowband SATCOM, high-frequency, commercial mesh networking waveforms, as well as emerging directional line-of-sight resilient capabilities. FlexLink was designed using modular, open systems architecture to allow capabilities to be added or updated quickly and cost effectively.
Three Raytheon Technologies businesses, Collins Aerospace, Raytheon Intelligence & Space, and Raytheon Missiles & Defense were selected to participate in the Project Convergence 22 Technology Gateway at Yuma Proving Ground. The businesses demonstrated a variety of capabilities including intelligent gateway technologies, zero-trust cybersecurity solutions, and the upgraded Multi-Functional Lightweight Command Launch Unit.
(Source: PR Newswire)
15 Dec 22. Cloud-friendly Air Force has eyes on Pentagon’s JWCC contract. The U.S. Department of the Air Force is committed to cloud computing and migration, and in the near future could become “a cloud-first place,” according to Chief Technology Officer Jay Bonci.
The investment in cloud at the department, which includes the Air and Space forces, stems from a need to be durable, adaptable and always connected, Bonci told C4ISRNET during a livestreamed event Dec. 14. The forces are among the most spread out, with systems stretching to the stars and bases dotting the U.S., Europe and Asia.
“In the beginning, it was about cost, right? It was about shutting down data centers. I think you heard years and years ago the talk of, ‘Oh, we’re going to reduce the number of data centers,’ which is still a laudable goal,” he said. That, though, is no longer the driving force: “For us, we have to think about cloud as being a part of a resilience baseline, and to change the message from a cost-saving-type message to one of agility and resilience.”
The Air Force a few years ago launched Cloud One, a platform that provides access to apps and information and broader connectivity using virtual assets from big-name players including Amazon and Microsoft. Science Applications International Corporation now holds the contract, worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Bonci considers Cloud One a big win as well as a foundation for future endeavors.
“Cloud One has been principally focused on a PaaS baseline, so platform as a service, with a heavy focus on refactoring apps to take advantage of PaaS. And in so doing, it has cleaned up a lot of technical debt,” he said. “Undoubtedly, Cloud One has been a huge success, but it’s going to have to continue to look at how it gets more and more and more customers.”
Cloud One’s successor, Cloud One Next, or C1N, was teased by the department in a November request for information. The documents asked companies how they “might approach managing and modernizing Cloud One” while factoring in “recent government leadership direction.” The National Defense Strategy and the Air Force chief information officer’s strategy for fiscal 2023-2028 were attached to the notice.
Bonci on Wednesday said industry responses were diverse and substantive. Submissions are under review.
“We’re looking at a couple of different kind of economic models for how we continue to get cost efficiency and get scale for how we’re able to get more applications into the cloud,” he said. “Really, the focus is going to be on adoption.”
The department is also investigating what the Pentagon’s recent $9bn cloud-computing deal with Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Oracle, known as the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability, means for its own efforts.
Defense Department officials on Dec. 8 said the JWCC arrangement — the follow-up to the scuttled $10bn Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure undertaking — is meant to complement service-level cloud initiatives, not override them.
Bonci said the Department of the Air Force has “some feelers out now to understand how they want to administer it, being IDIQ-based versus, sort of, reseller-based.” There are “some outstanding questions,” he said, “and we’re going to continue to look.”
Each task order under the indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity JWCC will be competed for. The individual companies are only guaranteed $100,000, defense officials said, with the internal rivalry expected to drive down costs and engender best-of-class services.
(Source: Defense News)
15 Dec 22. Coming soon: DIA’s new strategy for AI readiness. The Defense Intelligence Agency is on track to release an artificial intelligence strategy in the coming weeks that will focus on attracting and developing a strong workforce.
Ramesh Menon, DIA’s chief technology officer, told reporters Dec. 14 the strategy is awaiting approval from the agency’s director and should be released “very shortly.”
The document takes a broad look at DIA’s needs, but sheds a particular light on the urgency to grow the agency’s AI talent base, Menon said during a media briefing at the Department of Defense Intelligence Information System Conference in San Antonio, Texas.
“Although we looked at it from different pillars, the most important one is talent and skills,” he said. “How do we attract the best and brightest [and] retain them in the intelligence community to enhance our mission capabilities?”
The strategy, which Menon and his team developed over the last year, comes in the wake of a 2021 report from the congressionally mandated National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, which argued the U.S. Department of Defense and the intelligence community are not prepared to protect against AI threats or harness the technology to improve national security.
The panel of scientists, business leaders and national security officials — chaired by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt — called on the national security community to ensure it is “AI-ready” by 2025.
“AI integration is hard in any sector — and the national security arena poses some unique challenges,” the report said. “Nevertheless, committed leaders can drive change. We need those leaders in the Pentagon and across the federal government to build the technical infrastructure and connect ideas and experimentation to new concepts and operations.”
Menon said that at a “very high level,” DIA’s forthcoming AI document is its plan for implementing the commission’s recommendation.
On the workforce front, the agency is looking to increase its investment in junior talent in hopes that it will draw more new recruits, according to DIA Deputy Chief Information Officer E.P. Mathew. Although that approach could mean the agency loses some trained personnel to higher paying jobs, the hope is that it would load the front end of DIA’s training program.
“We would love to be that pipeline or that training hub where people do come and recruit from us,” he said during the briefing.
DIA also wants to increase its collaboration with other DoD and intelligence agencies that can share lab space and expertise, Mathew said.
Along with its emphasis on workforce development, Menon said the strategy highlights the need to strengthen DIA’s data platforms and ensure its AI algorithms and processes are compliant with national policies. It also calls for deeper partnerships with international allies.
“We are working in collaboration with our partners, and we are expanding the value of data that we currently have to ensure we get that global overwatch advantage in terms of our mission,” he said. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
12 Dec 22. US Army puts Leidos, Microsoft JADC2 capability to the test. A warfighting exercise has tested the connectivity of disparate cloud software technologies developed by the global primes.
Leidos and Microsoft have taken part in the US Army’s Project Convergence 22 (PC22) — a warfighting exercise aimed at testing Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) capability.
The demonstration involved pairing Leidos Edge to Cloud (E2C) technology with the Microsoft Azure Cloud infrastructure.
This resulted in the connectivity of disparate legacy systems and new technologies, with the joint system enabling the rapid fielding of advanced software, applications, and security solutions within challenging operational environments.
“The recent demonstration at Project Convergence 22 proves that the JADC2 vision is attainable through collboration with leading defence and commercial partners,” Gerry Fasano, Leidos defence group president, said.
“Together, Microsoft and Leidos can deploy resilient, state-of-the-art solutions quickly and safely to warfighters across the Department of Defense.”
The collaboration between Leidos and Microsoft is expected to support the Department of Defense’s (DoD) JADC2 strategy, which aims to synchronise digital technology across service branches through legacy and cloud-based networks.
This is tipped to allow joint forces to share data and enhance the decision-making process.
“By partnering with Leidos, we are demonstrating how commercial capabilities in a classified cloud can enable improved situational awareness and decision dominance for the DoD through global connectivity, data aggregation and advanced analytics that support decision making,” Rick Wagner, Microsoft Federal president, said.
The Leidos collaboration with Microsoft was the latest of a number of JADC2 connectivity demonstrations.
In September, Northrop Grumman teamed up with Cubic Mission and Performance Solutions (CMPS) to demonstrate a High-Capacity Backbone-enabled gateway system capability.
This is designed to provide foundational connectivity and processing capabilities to enable JADC2 and ensure delivery of key data.
As part of a recent test, the firms showcased an interconnected, vendor-agnostic network through open mission systems (OMS) interfaces.
This validated the system’s ability to deliver enhanced, all domain command and control capabilities to fifth and fourth generation platforms.
According to Northrop Grumman, the demonstration also showcased technologies and solutions that are critical enablers for JADC2.
This included incorporating PlatformONE, GatewayONE and Northrop Grumman’s Resilient Network Controller.
This reportedly validated rapid technology insertion and network management, recovery and optimisation in a contested environment.
(Source: Defence Connect)
15 Dec 22. Philippine Navy Commissions First Two FAIC-M/SHALDAG MK5 Vessels with RAFAEL’s Integrated Naval Combat Suite. The contract is valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. RAFAEL Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. is announcing that two FAIC-M/SHALDAG MK5 vessels with a fully-integrated RAFAEL naval combat suite have been commissioned by the Philippine Navy. The two vessels manufactured by Israel Shipyards Ltd., provided to the Philippine Navy, serve as the first fully-integrated vessels with the naval combat suite out of a total of 9 which the Philippine Navy will ultimately receive.
RAFAEL’s naval combat suite, which is valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, includes a Combat Management System (CMS), Typhoon and Mini-Typhoon Remote Operating Weapon Systems, Naval Spike Missiles, SeaCom Internal and external Communication System and BNET Tactical Data Link, as well as training, support and maintenance services.
RAFAEL’s Naval Combat Suite is based on combat-proven technology and systems, relying on years of experience and deep operational know-how in various naval arenas and scenarios, and integrating combat-proven technologies in all domains. RAFAEL’s off-the-shelf, leading technologies and solutions, provide naval forces defense superiority in littoral and blue water against all modern naval threats above and below the waves.
15 Dec 22. Japan: Spear-phishing attacks targeting politicians underline persistent threat of China’s espionage and influence campaigns. On 14 December, cyber security software firm ESET released a new report revealing a spear-phishing campaign targeting Japanese politicians in the run-up to the country’s House of Councillors (upper house) election in July 2022. The threat actor, identified as MirrorFace, used a previously unknown credentials-stealing malware named ‘MirrorStealer’, in combination with the deployment of the LODEINFO backdoor in the attacks. MirrorFace hackers sent spear-phishing emails to their targets in late June, pretending to be official communication from the public relations department of the recipients’ political party. The emails contained the backdoor which deployed MirrorStealer to compromised systems. ESET’s investigations show that MirrorFace is a Chinese-speaking group exclusively targeting individuals and organisations based in Japan. It is highly likely that MirrorFace has links to, or is affiliated with, the Chinese state-sponsored advanced persistent threat group APT10 (also known as Red Apollo and POTASSIUM), given the shared techniques and malware used. The campaign represents the latest example of China’s political influence and cyber espionage operations overseas. Politicians, lawmakers and businesses with close political ties in countries that Beijing deems as key rivals are at greater risk of such malicious cyber attacks. (Source: Sibylline)
14 Dec 22. US Navy’s Digital Horizon exercise showcases power of ‘mesh networks,’ AI. A first-of-its-kind naval exercise in the Middle East paired unmanned systems with a so-called mesh network and data-crunching tools to demonstrate a promising use for the future unmanned fleet: cuing crewed ships and planes to problem areas.
Task Force 59, established to rapidly integrate unmanned systems with artificial intelligence for maritime applications, has been operating for more than a year now in U.S. 5th Fleet. The ongoing Digital Horizon exercise showcases such operations at an unprecedented scale, according to the exercise commander.
Manned-unmanned teaming, and specifically this cuing concept, is at the heart of what Task Force 59 has been working on, Capt. Michael Brasseur, the commodore, told Defense News in an interview.
“We see the unmanned assets as a way to get a bunch of eyes out on the water, collect the data, and then leverage machine learning and [artificial intelligence] to gather insights from that so we can be more precise in how we deploy our manned assets,” he said.
The exercise, which kicked off Nov. 23 and runs through Dec. 15, includes 17 industry partners bringing 15 different unmanned systems, 10 of which are being operated in 5th Fleet for the first time, the Navy said in a statement.
Brasseur said these unmanned surface and aerial systems are the best of what industry has to offer and performed well during the exercise. Some of the surface vessels are long-endurance craft meant to perform persistent surveillance missions, some are high-speed intercept craft, and some fall in between. On the aerial side, platforms include two vertical take-off and landing systems, Aerovel’s Flexrotor and Shield AI’s V-BAT, as well as Easy Aerial’s tethered UAV, according to the Navy statement.
The key, Brasseur said, was to put them in a realistic operational environment and push them to their limits to understand their true capability.
During the exercise, Brasseur’s team first established the mesh network and other communications systems. They then began daytime operations of the drones before moving on to round-the-clock operations.
“We ran a series of vignettes that looked like real-world situations that we would see in and around the waters surrounding the Arabian Peninsula, so we were able to test how the systems could respond and also detect these sorts of occurrences,” he said.
A top takeaway for the commodore is “the importance of the mesh network, which is the main mover for the data — not only to collect the data to power the machine learning and AI tools, but also to control the unmanned systems,” he said. “So we did some really groundbreaking work in terms of testing and deploying a resilient mesh network in an operational environment, during which we were able to work through some challenges and ultimately get the data flowing in a quite compelling way.”
Mesh networks, made up of multiple points called “nodes,” are wireless radio devices that communicate with one another, creating an overlapping “mesh” that needs no central hub and allows for quick and efficient data routing.
Brasseur added that previous exercises and operations over the last year have picked at different pieces of the puzzle, but Digital Horizon seeks to tackle the entire challenge of manned-unmanned operations in a single, seamless operation.
“We have done a lot of work with AI previously, and we’ve done computer vision, we’ve done anomalous behavior detection, we’ve done AI-enabled [command and control], but we’ve done all of those separately,” the commodore explained. “At Digital Horizon, for the first time ever, we did that together on a single stack, and that’s all integrated on a single pane of glass.”
“What that does is, it allows the end user to make decisions quicker and leverages artificial intelligence to make sense of all those data streams that are flowing in to a single pane of glass,” he added.
Over the last year of Task Force 59′s operations, Brasseur said, the cycle of development might allow for software changes to be made in weeks and hardware changes to be made in months.
At Digital Horizon, “we were seeing software changes within hours and hardware changes within days,” he said.
As a result, he said Task Force 59 is now “lightyears ahead of where we were” in February, when it hosted the largest unmanned exercise to date, International Maritime Exercise 2022.
“We don’t have any intention of slowing down. We are accelerating, we’re learning at a pace that’s just really, really impressive, and we are iterating at a pace that’s even more impressive. So we will apply the lessons we’ve learned here at [IMX 2023], but also during operations the fleet does every day,” Brasseur said.
These lessons won’t be confined to just 5th Fleet, the Navy has made clear.
Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro told Defense News in a November interview that he wanted to export what Task Force 59 was doing — using cheap and plentiful unmanned systems to help cue the movements of more limited manned ships and planes — to Central and South America.
Earlier this month, he reiterated that the Navy “will soon expand that capability to other regions of the world — into Central and South America, and the Indo-Pacific.”
Following that Dec. 8 speech, Del Toro told Defense News that the operating environments in 5th Fleet versus 4th Fleet for Central and South America are different, but that unmanned systems would benefit them in the same way.
“The tactical environments are different,” he said. “The concerns and the threats are different. Much of what we do in 5th Fleet is about monitoring the activities of Iran. Down in Central and South America, it largely has to do with the counter-drug mission, especially in the Caribbean, and it also has to do with illegal fishing.”
“When I met with the president of Panama, for example, he made it clear that many countries in Central and South America are really challenged by these Chinese fishing fleets, and they don’t have the necessary resources in terms of ships and airplanes to counter the threat, and they need more resources to properly cue the resources they do have,” Del Toro said. “So by being able to use unmanned technologies, not only will we be able to help them, but they can be able to help themselves. So this has been an ongoing conversation I’ve had with numerous leaders, heads of navies, and they see the definite advantage.”
Without giving a specific timeline for when a new unmanned task force might be established in 4th Fleet, Del Toro said the Navy was continuing talks with its regional partners about what the organization might look like. Mexico, he added, was even beginning to develop its own unmanned systems for use in this maritime domain awareness-focused task force.
Brasseur said representatives from several numbered fleets attended Digital Horizon and saw the unmanned fleet in action. The beauty of the live event, both for Middle Eastern countries considering joining Task Force 59 and other fleet leaders considering establishing their own unmanned task force, is that “it shows them the art of the possible, and then it unlocks opportunities of how you could use these systems in new and innovative ways.” (Source: Defense News)
13 Dec 22. KPMG and Vectra AI join forces to reduce cyber risk for hybrid cloud enterprises. KPMG has added the Vectra cloud-based threat detection and response platform to their Cyber Operations solutions and services. The Vectra solution gives clients 24/7 internal security monitoring in real time, leveraging Attack Signal Intelligence and AI-driven threat intelligence. These state-of-the-art features provide clients with high-fidelity alerts for efficacious and actionable security detection.
KPMG Nederland (hereafter: KPMG) has partnered with Vectra, a leader in AI-driven cyber threat detection and response for hybrid and multi-cloud enterprises, to bolster its AI-driven behavioural attack intelligence with KPMG’s Cyber Security services.
Vectra is part of KPMG’s Effective Security Observability (ESO) proposition. “The first step of this unique approach is to understand the business risks. Guiding principles and a proven security operating model make sure the Vectra platform is well integrated and delivers the expected outcome. We support our clients to be effective in detecting threats and mitigating risks, including cost reduction to maximize the business value”, explains Henrik Smit, Director for the CyberOps team at KPMG. “In other words, KPMG integrates Vectra into security ecosystems to improve cyber resilience, protect against advanced threats and eliminate noise. In just a matter of days, our clients are able to achieve greater visibility, detection efficacy, and cut incident response times – as proven by KPMG red teaming exercises.”
As cyber-attacks increase and become more sophisticated while, concurrently, the attack surface expands, SOC teams are overwhelmed by a rise in alerts to triage, prioritize and investigate.
Vectra’s AI-driven Attack Signal IntelligenceTM provides continuous and automated monitoring for attacker methods, leveraging pre-set AI models to minimize manual work and create actionable insights. By combining Vectra with Microsoft Sentinel and ServiceNow to identify gaps in security, KPMG accelerates the adoption through proven operating models, helping clients with the integration of these technologies in alignment with the organization’s People and Processes. By doing so, KPMG helps customers achieve so called Effective Security Observability. This adds another layer to KPMG’s Cyber Operations services focusing on delivering business outcomes through an AI technology, supported by a proven operating model for security operations: “People, processes, technology”.
“As cybercriminals become stealthier and the attack surface widens, the mean time to detect a security incident has grown to 277 days. It’s clear that organisations must act to improve visibility. By using AI to detect and investigate known and unknown threats in real time, Vectra empowers organisations to identify attacks at the earliest possible stage and stop them before they become breaches. So, we are delighted to become a part of KMPG’s security ecosystem, empowering organisations to close this gap and respond quickly to threats”, says Willem Hendrickx, Chief Revenue Officer at Vectra.
KPMG’s partnership with Vectra is the latest step in creating a proven centre of excellence for security in the Netherlands, whose model can be replicated across other regions for fast scaling and deployment. This demonstrates KPMG’s commitment to create a robust and reliable digital world by being a trusted advisor, integrator, and incident response organisation.
About Vectra
Vectra is the leader in Security AI-driven hybrid cloud threat detection and response. The Vectra platform and MDR services provide attack coverage across public cloud, SaaS, identity, and network infrastructure. Unlike traditional threat detection approaches that simply alert on what is “different”, Vectra’s Attack Signal IntelligenceTM detects and correlates attacker behaviors – the TTPs at the heart of all attacks. The resulting alert signal clarity enables security operations teams to rapidly prioritize, investigate and respond to the most urgent cyber-attacks and stop them from becoming breaches. Organizations worldwide rely on the Vectra platform and MDR services to get ahead and stay ahead of attackers. For more information, visit www.vectra.ai.
12 Dec 22. Goldilock teams up with the UK Ministry of Defence to advance solutions for cyber vulnerabilities in military systems. Goldilock, a UK-based cyber security hardware innovator, is working in partnership with the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), part of the Ministry of Defence that finds and funds exploitable innovation for a safer future.
Following continued nurturing from UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NSCS), Goldilock has been proven relevant as a next generation solution that reduces exposure to national security cyber threats. Both Goldilock and DASA are celebrating the success of the project so far that has developed two distinct prototypes, months before the predicted timescale. This achievement prompted DASA’s feedback about the overall project performance to state “it couldn’t have gone any better”.
At the core of the project is Goldilock’s TruAirgap™ patented technology that dynamically and physically segments networks, without using the internet. As part of this partnership, the commercial version has been significantly retooled to address environments where cyber risk stakes are at their highest in critical national infrastructure and military use.
The form factor of the two new prototypes are dramatically re-engineered from the CAD designs up, making each product distinct from commercial versions ofTruAirgap™, both are more suited to being bolted to walls, radio masts and wind turbines. With DASA helpfully advising Goldilock, changes to aspects such as the external casing, methods of power and form factor and hardening characteristics have been quickly considered and implemented.
Goldilock’s attentive and experienced Development Team went the extra mile and also scribed every step and detail of thought processes, approaches to challenges, and the logic behind decisions so they can share their initial development story in its completeness for the first time. And, with both prototypes now being showcased within the MoD, they worked closely with the DASA team to create clear explanatory materials and supporting assets that accompany the detailed technical documents.
Goldilock’s team of Developers and Engineers were able to translate DASA’s requirements and exceed expectations within a tight timescale. Now they hope to use the learnings they’ve gained to further boost their exploration of innovative cybersecurity solutions for the defence sector.
Stephen Kines, Co-founder of Goldilock, commented: “Our partnership with DASA was our first major milestone in working on cyber security with the defence sector. Thanks to DASA’s support, guidance and openness, the experience was a hugely positive one that we are excited to build on going forwards. We hope to share our learnings widely with other organisations that are developing technology to reduce current cyber threats from hostile nations and criminal groups and ensure a safer future.”
About Goldilock
Goldilock is based on the premise that your assets should not be physically connected to the Internet when you’re not using them, but that they must be available to you from anywhere immediately when you want to access them. That process, however, should not be controlled over the internet. Our patented remote TruAirgap™ security technology allows asset owners to remotely and instantly physically connect and disconnect those assets (servers, networks, OT systems, data repositories) to and from the internet without using the internet to do so. Goldilock is redefining how sensitive data, devices, networks and critical infrastructure can be secured.
13 Dec 22. Raytheon Selected to Develop a CTEN for the USAF’s Advanced Battle Management System. Raytheon Intelligence & Space, a Raytheon Technologies business, has been selected to develop a Common Tactical Edge Network, or CTEN, in support of the U.S. Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System. RI&S is one of nine companies selected to demonstrate portions of the network.
CTEN will provide edge networking to help operators enable distributable battle management command and control in highly contested environments to support Joint All-Domain Command and Control.
Raytheon Intelligence & Space will build upon advanced networking products previously developed, to demonstrate an architecture that enables aerial network interoperability. To support this development, RI&S will expand its expertise in model-based systems engineering and DevSecOps as the basis for the design to support this development.
“We have a rich history of creating resilient, collaborative and secure networks,” said Paul Meyer, president, Department 22 at RI&S. “This enables us to put forward a solution ready to meet the U.S. Air Force’s need for an interoperable and integrated convergence layer.”
“At Raytheon BBN, we’ve been advancing state-of-the-art wireless communications systems since the 1970s,” said Jason Redi, Raytheon BBN president. “Today, we have focused investments in creating networked communications that span every domain from underwater to outer space. We are ensuring these new advancements provide our customers critical advantages faster, as they layer secure communications across multiple platforms in joint, all-domain, distributed, disrupted, disconnected and denied environments.”
CTEN is RI&S’ latest milestone to advance the Air Force’s alignment with the DOD’s JADC2 vision. Raytheon Technologies was recently selected as an industry partner for the U.S. Air Force ABMS Digital Infrastructure Consortium.
Raytheon Technologies is contributing its multi-domain footprint of capabilities in space systems, resilient communications, sensors, effectors, secure processing, artificial intelligence, machine learning and mission software to the DOD JADC2 architecture. (Source: ASD Network)
13 Dec 22. SES Space & Defense, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SES, announced their new Common Operational Picture (COP) capability, the Information & Communications Technology (ICT) Portal. The ICT Portal is a modular web-based NetOps capability providing end-to-end situational awareness in a consumable single-pane-of-glass user interface. The ICT Portal uses the same holistic and vendor agnostic approach as the SES Space & Defense ICT Ecosystem – providing customers with a comprehensive and flexible monitoring and reporting solution. Accessible anywhere in the world, the technology agnostic capability is customizable based on mission and customer operational requirements.
The consolidated network visibility provides the transparency necessary to rapidly identify and diagnose issues across complex networks, including terrestrial and space assets, so networks and applications can be fully optimized to increase performance. In addition, the ICT Portal allows all SATCOM assets to be viewed as one comprehensive satellite and network architecture, providing customers with access to innovative solutions and making a more resilient satellite architecture a reality.
The ICT Portal is secure by design and incorporates the latest security and data processing technologies, ensuring mission assurance for government and military users.
“Today’s military and government users are more network-enabled than ever before, and our ICT Portal supports this through increased visibility and control over their network,” said SES Space & Defense President and CEO David Fields. “The ICT Portal will be showcased at the SIA DoD COMSATCOM Workshop, enabling our most tactical customers to see how performance, network transparency and assurance, makes it a critical capability for successful missions.”
13 Dec 22. Belgium: Highly disruptive attack against Antwerp highlights sustained exploitation of vulnerabilities in local governments’ cyber defences by ransomware groups. On 12 December, the Play ransomware operation claimed responsibility for an attack on Antwerp’s IT systems last week, which has severely impacted the municipal government and its public services. Many of the city’s Windows applications and official emails remain unavailable. Although authorities have restored limited telephone access for customer support, most systems for Antwerp’s public services such as job applications, libraries and schools remain offline or are subject to significant delays. While authorities have not disclosed the details or scope of the attack, according to a listing on a data leak site, Play claims to have exfiltrated 557 GB of data, including passports, IDs and financial documents and warns that it will begin to publish the stolen information in a week unless a ransom is paid. First detected in June 2022, Play is a relatively new ransomware operation that shares many similarities in tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) with the well-known Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) group Hive. The Antwerp attack and its significant impact underscore the sustained ransomware threat to local governments and public services, particularly as these often represent relatively soft targets due to vulnerabilities in their cyber defences. (Source: Sibylline)
12 Dec 22. US Army ponders ‘radio as a service’ to keep communications up to date. The U.S. Army may take a new tack to the procurement of radios, launching an “as a service” pilot that officials say can drive down costs and increase communications adaptability.
The as-a-service effort would kick off in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023, according to Undersecretary Gabe Camarillo, who spoke last week at the Army’s Technical Exchange Meeting 9 in Nashville, Tennessee. Under the model, the service contracts with a vendor who provides “a minimal number of radios for training,” centrally stores or leases radios for operations and would “upgrade software as required,” he said.
The approach differs from the service’s traditional means of buying and maintaining radios, which can be hamstrung by hardware limitations. Instead, it’s more similar to the subscription model offered by some makers of consumer products and mirrors as-a-service deals in which companies furnish goods or services on a rolling basis and keeps them operating and up to date. The thinking initially encompassed software and information technology, but has since expanded to a wider range of wares.
The idea is preceded by a “need to experiment with different buying models, especially for our capabilities in which technology trends do not support the serial process of defining a requirement, entering a development phase and then pursuing a continuous fielding process of that exact same version of a capability over a long period of time,” Camarillo said.
The Army has some 350,000 radios — a stockpile too massive to quickly and cost-effectively modernize, given looming security deadlines and competition with China and Russia.
The two technologically savvy world powers employ sophisticated signals intelligence and electronic warfare capabilities, which can put in harm’s way U.S. soldiers relying on outdated lines of communication. The Russia-Ukraine war has proven the need for more-insulated networks as well as the dangers posed by indiscriminate cell phone use to relay battlefield information, defense officials said earlier this year.
Network modernization is among the Army’s top priorities, and intimately ties into the Pentagon’s push for a wholly connected miltary, known as Joint All-Domain Command and Control.
While the as-a-service model could jeopardize the Army’s ability to surge radios in the event of a large-scale fight, the potential cost savings, flexibility and software upgrades are “a really compelling reason” to experiment with it, Camarillo said.
Army Lt. Gen. John Morrison, deputy chief of staff, G-6, backed what the undersecretary said at the conference, warning that “whatever we build today, 20 years from now, it better not be in the force because it will be so antiquated. We won’t be able to use it.” An as-a-service arrangement could prove less stagnant.
“It is ironic to me that we would actually come up with any IT program where we think we’re going to be fielding the same capability for decades,” Morrison said.
The Army is seeking input from industry about the as-a-service pilot as well as what, exactly, companies can provide to meet requirements for a low-cost, single-channel, secure-but-unclassified radio.
The feedback, provided via requests for information published earlier this month, will shape how the Army proceeds.
“Maybe it works, maybe it won’t,” Camarillo said. “But I think we’ve got to try something different.”
The Army this spring selected two companies, L3Harris Technologies and Thales Defense and Security, to furnish voice and data radios as part of its combat net radio modernization program. The arrangement is worth as much as $6.1bn.
More than 1,100 radios, including those to be used for quality checks and preliminary testing, had been ordered as of April, according to the Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications-Tactical. L3Harris secured $20.6m of the initial order. Thales got $18.2m.
The program, the Army said, supports Pentagon and National Security Agency cryptographic goals as well as the service’s unified network strategy. (Source: Defense News)
13 Dec 22. Luftwaffe submits Eurofighter EK study ahead of jammer selection by end of year. The Luftwaffe has submitted to its service chief a market study geared at informing the electronic attack payload for its Eurofighter Elektronischer Kampf (EK) aircraft.
Andreas Hammer, the head of Combat Aircraft Systems at Airbus, told Janes and other defence media on 12 December that the report had been submitted to Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz on the same day. This was ahead of review by the BAAINBw German procurement agency, and the selection of an airborne electronic attack (AEA) jammer payload by the end of 2022.
“The Chancellor made his [Eurofighter EK selection] speech in March 2022, and in the summer [third quarter], a market study was launched to see what [jammer payload] might [be] available at a high-technical readiness level on the open market,” Hammer said during the annual Airbus Trade Media Briefing at its Madrid facility in Spain. (Source: Janes)
12 Dec 22. Department Names Vendors to Provide Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability. The Defense Department awarded contracts to four technology companies to provide services in support of its Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability. The four companies include Amazon Web Services Inc., Google Support Services LLC, Microsoft Corporation and Oracle.
“This is a huge day for the department and what we can bring to our warfighters, particularly for areas like Joint All Domain Command and Control,” John Sherman, the DOD’s chief information officer, said.
The department announced plans for JWCC back in July 2021 and Sherman said it took 17 months of work by the CIO, the Defense Information Systems Agency, Washington Headquarters Service and others to arrive at contract award.
“It’s been a been a lot of work to get here, and I’m proud of where we’ve landed,” Sherman said.
The JWCC is a multiple-award contract vehicle that allows the department to acquire commercial cloud capabilities and services directly from commercial cloud service providers.
“It brings us really cutting-edge cloud capabilities, to the entire department here,” Sherman said. “Very importantly, it brings us cloud computing at all three security classification levels: unclassified, secret and top secret.”
The DOD currently has other cloud computing capabilities, which are expected to remain complementary to JWCC. But those cloud capabilities don’t bring the breadth and depth that JWCC will have, Sherman said.
“We’ve got other types of clouds here within the department, but none of them do this at all three security classification levels, spanning the entire enterprise from the continental United States all the way out to what we call the tactical edge — way out, whether it’s Western Pacific or Eastern Europe or onboard a ship,” he said. “That tactical edge piece is very critical for our warfighters. Whether it’s, as I’ve noted, on a small coral atoll, or somewhere in sub-Sahara Africa or somewhere else.”
The JWCC contract also allows the department to have direct access to the four cloud providers, Sherman said, rather than having to go through an intermediary or a reseller.
“This creates for more efficient and effective leveraging of these capabilities,” he said. “And this is something we’re very excited about. So we’re leaning forward on this. This is a big day in the Department of Defense. It’s been a long, long journey to get here, and I’m very proud of what the team has done to provide this capability to the Department of Defense.”
The JWCC is an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract vehicle which offers commercial pricing, or better, and streamlined provisioning of cloud services. As part of JWCC, warfighters will have the opportunity to, under one contract, acquire capabilities such as global accessibility; available and resilient services; centralized management and distributed control; ease of use; commercial parity; elastic computing, storage and network infrastructure; advanced data analytics; fortified security; and tactical edge devices.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert J. Skinner, who serves as the director of the Defense Information Systems Agency, said the department has more to be excited about than just the cloud capability that JWCC provides.
“We’re also really developing an environment,” he said. “That environment includes some great accelerators, as we call them — those capabilities that help enable our mission partners, those warfighters, to be able to leverage cloud a lot more than what they are today.”
One such “accelerator,” Skinner said, allows JWCC users to make use of pre-configured templates so that those less familiar with cloud computing will be able to make use of it in a much faster environment. He also said there is a cloud provisioning tool that enables users to manage accounts and how they use the cloud capability.
“If you look at this as one of many things that are going on within the department, as we improve the transport layer and how we’re transporting data, the integrated data layer that you’ve heard department leadership talk about, those, along with this cloud contract, and JADC2 … all those together really improve the resiliency, the capability and the readiness of the department, across the board, in support of those warfighters, whether they’re at the strategic level, or down in that foxhole,” Skinner said. (Source: US DoD)
09 Dec 22. US Army intel office plots AI development with Project Linchpin. The U.S. Army’s one-stop shop for all things intelligence and electronic warfare is in the preliminary stages of constructing a digital pipeline to more efficiently develop artificial intelligence and machine learning tools.
The undertaking, dubbed Project Linchpin, is a collaboration between the Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors, or PEO IEW&S, the Army Research Lab and Army Futures Command’s AI integration hub.
Through the project, officials intend to create the “infrastructure and environment” needed to deliver AI capabilities for use across the intertwined intelligence, cyber and electronic warfare spaces. The plan, documents show, is to soothe troubles often associated with AI optimization and distribution, such as incorporation of new data and extensive training regimens.
“I see it as a huge enabler across my entire portfolio in how we can deliver the future algorithms and how we can alleviate the cognitive burden that’s been discussed,” PEO IEW&S boss Mark Kitz said Dec. 8 at the Army’s Technical Exchange Meeting 9, a networks-and-communications industry event in Nashville, Tennessee.
The executive office conducted market research for the project at the conference this week. Additional engagements are planned throughout fiscal 2023. Of particular interest is input from industry regarding data holding, labeling, model training, verification and deployment, according to a request for information posted in late November.
The U.S. Department of Defense has for years recognized the value of AI — both on and off the battlefield — and has subsequently invested bns in its advancement.
The cutting-edge technology can help vehicles navigate, predict when maintenance is required, assist identification and classification of targets, and aid analysts sifting through tides of incoming information. Integrating AI into weapons and networks not initially designed for it has been and will continue to be challenging, according to the Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog, and building trust among troops will take time.
“This is really important,” Kitz said. “How do we deliver the algorithms or the software that’s going to ask questions of that data, that doesn’t overly burden the network, and delivers the answers to the questions that our analysts and soldiers are asking in a very meaningful way?”
More than 685 AI projects are underway at the Defense Department, with at least 230 traced back to the Army, the GAO said in February.
The software-centric technology is also a cornerstone of the service’s Project Convergence, a series of annual experiments designed to mature Joint All-Domain Command and Control, a Pentagon vision for a seamlessly linked military. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
12 Dec 22. Luxembourg provides additional funds for Nato’s AFSC initiative. The AFSC programme is being collaboratively funded by all the 30 Nato allied and partner nations. Luxembourg has decided to provide additional funds for the development of NATO ’s first multi-domain surveillance capability, called the Alliance Future Surveillance and Control (AFSC) initiative.
Announced by Nato Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), the new decision was formalised at NSPA’s headquarters in Luxembourg on 7 December.
An ‘Implementing Instrument’ was signed between Luxembourg national armament director (NAD) colonel Guy Hoffmann and NSPA general manager Stacy Cummings.
The development builds on the initial letter of intent (LOI) signed between Luxembourg and NSPA in May this year.
As part of this LoI, Luxembourg committed to providing $5.27m (€5m) to support various activities performed before and during Phase III of the AFSC Concept Stage between 2023 and 2025.
NSPA AFSC programme manager Cagatay Soyer said: “In the next phase, our team will prepare future acquisition programmes based on the selected AFSC technical concept and a review of planned and available capabilities.
“We are grateful for Luxembourg’s additional contribution to support the continuity of these important activities.”
Handled by NSPA, the AFSC programme aims to study a wide variety of emerging technologies and different options to provide surveillance and control capabilities to Nato.
The new platform is being developed to replace the Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AWACS) fleet, before its expected retirement in 2035.
The AFSC programme is being collaboratively funded by all the 30 Nato allied and partner nations, as part of the Nato Common Funding effort. It is currently in the concept development stage.
NSPA has already awarded Risk Reduction and Feasibility Study contracts to three different teams of industry partners.
It includes Boeing-led team Abiliti, a General Atomics Aeronautical Systems-led team, and Airbus Defence & Space and Northrup Grumman co-led team ASPAARO. (Source: airforce-technology.com)
09 Dec 22. Australian Minister for Home Affairs and Cyber Security Clare O’Neil has appointed a new Expert Advisory Board to oversee the development of the 2023-30 Australian Cyber Security Strategy to improve Australia’s cyber resilience.
According to the minister, the objective of the new strategy is to:
- Protect Australians and the economy through a whole-of-nation approach.
- Protect critical infrastructure.
- Build Australia’s sovereign capability to address cyber security threats.
- Strengthen Australia’s international engagement.
- Grow and sustain the nation’s cyber workforce.
Appointed to the panel are:
- Andrew Penn, former CEO of Telstra
- Air Marshal (ret’d) Mel Hupfeld AO, DSC
- Rachael Falk, chief executive officer of the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre.
“Australians have recently suffered two of the worst data breaches in our nation’s history. We must work together to counter these threats, build partnerships and set ourselves up for success,” Minister O’Neil said.
“Everyone has skin in the game when it comes to Australia’s cyber security. If you use the internet, have a smart device in your home, or have a perspective on what Australia’s cyber security should look like, I encourage you to get involved as the Expert Advisory Board seeks views throughout the strategy’s development.
“Australia should aim to be the world’s most cyber secure nation by 2030. The development of the 2023-30 Australian Cyber Security Strategy will outline the government’s long-term vision for the future of Australian cyber security, and the concrete steps required to get there.” (Source: https://www.cybersecurityconnect.com.au/)
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