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29 Mar 24. Palantir to Deliver Electromagnetic Battle Management – Joint Decision Support (EMBM-J DS) Prototype to the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR) today announced that it was selected by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to deliver an Electromagnetic Battle Management – Joint Decision Support (EMBM-J DS) Prototype. This effort will provide the Department of Defense with a cutting-edge software capability to support Joint Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations (JEMSO). The award of prototype Other Transaction Authority (OTA) Agreement is worth $9.8 million over twelve months.
Palantir will work closely with the DISA PEO Spectrum as well as USSTRATCOM, the operational sponsor, and Combatant Commands to enable enhanced mission analysis, course of action (COA) and scheme of maneuver development, COA analysis and scoring, wargaming, and product production. This Impact Level 6, web-based EMBM-J DS prototype will also integrate with Service tools and processes for Electromagnetic Battle Management, maximizing interoperability and coordination across the joint force.
“The next iteration of the program addresses the need for a decision support capability by providing joint force commanders with a first-of-its-kind planning tool that can automate key operational electromagnetic spectrum planning processes,” said Donny Williams, PEO Spectrum chief of spectrum information systems.
“We are excited to continue our work with DISA PEO Spectrum and deliver our technology to accelerate the Department of Defense’s achievement of spectrum dominance,” said Dr. Miriam Marwick, SVP of Emerging Technologies at Palantir USG. “Through our extensive work with the operational community, we have learned a great deal about the impact of electromagnetic spectrum on recent conflicts and are working diligently to apply these lessons to meet the challenges of contested battlespaces.”
“DISA should be commended for their leadership in enabling warfighter decision-making in future battlefields,” said Akash Jain, President of Palantir USG. “We are proud to have been selected through DISA’s competitive procurement process and look forward to rapidly delivering a minimum viable capability to integrate EMBM-J DS into all aspects of mission planning.”
EMBM-J DS represents the next phase of Palantir’s ongoing investment in spectrum operations capabilities and will support joint planning efforts through JEMSO planning processes. The capability is being designed to integrate with service-provided Electromagnetic Battle Management tools and processes, maximizing interoperability between combatant command and Joint Task Force JEMSOCs and their counterparts at the component level.
“The ability to ingest component-level courses of action and schemes of maneuver into an overall joint plan and evaluate the associated electromagnetic spectrum opportunities and risks will be a significant technological leap forward for EMS operational planners,” said Betsy Park, EMBM-J program manager. “EMBM-J will play a critical role in ensuring that our forces are able to achieve EMS superiority across every warfighting domain.” (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
29 Mar 24. Establishment of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy. As directed in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, the Department of Defense established the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy (ASD(CP)) and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy (OASD(CP)) on March 20, 2024.
The ASD(CP) will be the senior official responsible for overall supervision of DoD policy for cyber operations. The ASD(CP) will be under the authority, direction, and control of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (USD(P)). In addition, ASD(CP) serves concurrently as the Principal Cyber Advisor (PCA) and, in that role, acts as principal advisor the Secretary of Defense on military cyber forces and activities. The Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy (DASD(CP)) and Deputy Principal Cyber Advisor (DPCA) report through the ASD(CP).
“In standing up this office, the Department is giving cyber the focus and attention that Congress intended,” said Acting Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Sasha Baker.
The Secretary of Defense has designated Ms. Ashley Manning, a career member of the Senior Executive Service, as the official performing the duties of the ASD(CP) until such time as an individual is nominated by the President, confirmed by the Senate, and appointed to the position. The President has nominated Michael Sulmeyer, who is currently serving as the Principal Cyber Advisor to the Secretary of the Army, to be the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy.
The ASD(CP) is responsible to the Secretary of Defense, Deputy Secretary of Defense, and USD(P) for all matters related to cyber-related activities that support or enable DoD missions in, through, and from cyberspace, including but not limited to:
- Developing, coordinating, assessing, and overseeing the implementation of DoD cyberspace policy and strategy, and ensuring these efforts are aligned with overarching national security objectives.
- Overseeing and certifying the department’s Cyberspace Operations Budget, Additionally, providing fiscal and budgetary oversight to USCYBERCOMs $3B annual execution with their ‘Enhanced Budget Control’ (Budget Authority, as recently approved by the FY24 DoD Appropriations Act)
- Monitoring programs and activities associated with implementation of cyberspace workforce development, recruitment, and retention.
- Overseeing integration of cyberspace operations and capabilities into operations and contingency plans.
- Developing DoD cyberspace policy guidance on private sector outreach, engagement, and agreements.
- Leading the DoD implementation of national-level cyberspace policies.
- Leading the development, implementation, and oversight of cyberspace-related activities for security cooperation.
- Exercising authority, direction, and control over the official designated as Deputy PCA with respect to that official’s Deputy PCA duties. (Source: U.S. DoD)
25 Mar 24. Silvus Technologies developing StreamCaster variant for small UAS. Mobile networking company Silvus Technologies is developing a pared down variant of its StreamCaster mobile ad hoc network (MANET) radio, specifically designed to provide networked radio communications capability for small unmanned aircraft systems (UASs).
Company officials are preparing to release “our next generation” of the small UAS-specific StreamCaster variant later this year, Silvus Technologies vice-president of sales Jimi Henderson said.
“We’ve seen that as a key and demand signal in the market and we’re working to help address that gap” with the new variant, he told Janes . Henderson declined to comment on specifics of the new MANET radio variant.
However, he indicated that the new platform would likely feature a significantly smaller form factor, compared with the StreamCaster Lite 4200, which is currently the company’s smallest offering in the StreamCaster family of systems. (Source: Janes)
28 Mar 24. DOD Releases Strategy to Bolster Cybersecurity Across Industrial Base. The Pentagon today released its first strategy aimed at enhancing cybersecurity across defense industry stakeholders.
The Defense Industrial Base Cybersecurity Strategy plots a course for increased focus and collaboration between the Defense Department and the U.S. defense industrial base on cybersecurity initiatives amid what officials say are persistent cyberthreats.
“Our adversaries understand the strategic value of targeting the DIB,” said David McKeown, DOD’s deputy chief information officer for cybersecurity. “Private sector DIB contractors are at risk for malicious cyber activities by adversaries and nonstate actors alike,” he said. “Working in conjunction with the DIB, we can better ensure the safety of critical information and unauthorized disclosure of that information.”
McKeown, who also serves as DOD’s senior information security officer, was joined by Stacy Bostjanick, DOD’s chief of defense industrial base cybersecurity, in unveiling the strategy at the Pentagon.
“We need to get on top of this extremely complex challenge,” Bostjanick said. “This is a well contemplated, multifaceted, agile and nuanced response to the constant and evolving challenge securing the DIB against malicious cyber activity.”
The strategy lays out DOD’s vision over the next three years for a secure, resilient and technologically superior U.S. defense industrial base to ensure the United States’ warfighting edge.
It outlines four goals aligned with that vision:
Strengthening DOD’s governance structure for U.S. defense industrial base cybersecurity;
Enhancing the cybersecurity posture of the U.S. defense industrial base;
Preserving the resiliency of critical defense industrial base capabilities in a cyber-contested environment; and
Improving cybersecurity collaboration between DOD and the U.S. defense industrial base.
Central to the goal of strengthening DOD’s cybersecurity governance structure are efforts to bolster interagency collaboration and develop regulations that will further govern the cybersecurity responsibilities of contractors and subcontractors.
In terms of enhancing the DIB’s cybersecurity posture, the strategy outlines steps to evaluate compliance with departmental cybersecurity requirements and evaluate the effectiveness of regulations and requirements. It also outlines steps to improve cyber-related threat and intelligence information with industry partners, identify vulnerabilities and recover from malicious cyber activity.
The strategy also directs the department to prioritize cyber resiliency among critical defense production capabilities and establish policies that reflect a focus on cybersecurity for key suppliers.
That focus aligns with broader department guidance, including the 2022 National Defense Strategy and the 2023 National Cybersecurity Strategy.
The newly released document also responds to a requirement to develop a comprehensive plan to ensure the reliability and integrity of production nodes for critical weapons systems outlined in the 2023 strategy.
The cybersecurity strategy also marks a continuation of the department’s efforts to ensure the defense industrial base meets the demands of a challenging national security landscape.
Earlier this year, the Pentagon released the National Defense Industrial Strategy, which lays out long-term priorities that will guide DOD’s actions to create a modern, resilient defense industrial ecosystem designed to deter U.S. adversaries and meet the production demands posed by evolving threats.
The NDIS focuses on four key areas critical to building a modernized defense industrial ecosystem over the next three to five years. Those areas are resilient supply chains, workforce readiness, flexible acquisition and economic deterrence.
The newly released cybersecurity strategy further builds upon that collaboration between DOD and its industry partners.
“We have identified opportunities to bolster cybersecurity of our DIB partners, which will improve our overall cybersecurity of the U.S.,” said Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks in a statement accompanying the release of the strategy. “As our adversaries continuously seek information about U.S. capabilities, the department, in coordination with the DIB, must remain resilient against these attacks and succeed through teamwork to defend the nation.” (Source: U.S. DoD)
28 Mar 24. Israel announces that Oron intelligence aircraft is operational. The Oron intelligence-gathering aircraft is carrying out missions in support of Operation ‘Iron Swords’ against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced on 26 March.
“The aircraft became operational quickly for use in Operation ‘Iron Swords’ and has already recorded hundreds of operational flight hours and close to 100 sorties,” the MoD said in a statement.
Developed by the MoD’s Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D), Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), and the Israeli Air Force (IAF), the Oron is a Gulfstream G550 business jet equipped with an advanced active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar produced by IAI subsidiary Elta, as well as electro-optical and signals intelligence (SIGINT) sensors and advanced data-processing systems.
“What makes Oron unique is its ability to perform a wide range of intelligence missions in the same sortie and to transmit in real time to all relevant entities,” the MoD’s statement said. It added that the aircraft can collect a larger volume of information than any other Israeli platform.
The aircraft was unveiled on 4 April 2021, when it landed at Nevatim Air Base to be fitted with its mission systems in Israel. The MoD announced in August 2023 that Oron had begun flight tests, describing it as the most advanced aircraft of its kind.
Lieutenant Colonel Yoed, head of the DDR&D’s Missionized Aircraft Branch, said he called 122 ‘Nachson’ Squadron and industry partners to get Oron operational as soon as details of Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attack on Israel emerged. (Source: Google/Janes)
28 Mar 24. New Multi-Network Support Capability for Radio Operators.
goTenna’s new EdgeRelay offers permanent extended network coverage for off-grid missions, offering environmental ruggedization and external charging options to extend onboard powerBy Abi Wylie / 25 Mar 2024
goTenna has unveiled a new multi-network, endurance-focused support capability for goTenna’s Pro X2 radio operators — the goTenna EdgeRelay™.
This ad hoc infrastructure solution supports up to two separate mesh networks, with the system extending goTenna networks and offering environmental ruggedization, external charging options to extend onboard power, and varied mounting support to ensure sustained operational coverage without expensive and cumbersome installations.
Customers can mount the goTenna EdgeRelay in remote and austere environments to ensure seamless connectivity of goTenna edge networks. Tested at over 100 miles point-to-point line-of-sight in real-world scenarios, EdgeRelays can be connected together to create several hundred square miles of coverage.
With solar and direct power options, along with a dependable internal battery, the goTenna EdgeRelay aims to provide continuous operation as a dedicated infrastructure relay. This ruggedized and self-sustaining solution provides labor and personnel cost savings to the end user.
Using an EdgeRelay greatly reduces the time it takes to deploy, recharge, fix, and maintain ad-hoc communications in an austere or comms-denied environment.
The goTenna EdgeRelay system supports two separate mesh networks on each device, allowing operators to support different mission configurations, and is already enhancing missions for multiple U.S. government organizations. Additional software features in the relay introduce advanced capabilities for remote diagnostic checks on network statistics and health.
A companion relay manager app and updated TAK plug-in allow operators to remotely monitor the health and status of deployed relays across the mesh network, eliminating the need to physically revisit deployed relays.
Ari Schuler, goTenna CEO, said; “One of goTenna’s greatest strengths is being able to stand up a communication network where there is no infrastructure whatsoever.
“The EdgeRelay extends that capability by enabling our customers to create robust fixed or itinerant goTenna mesh networks that operators can automatically connect to, offering more flexibility to those who are responding to natural disasters, supporting an austere forward operating base or operating in other difficult mission environments.”
(Source: https://www.defenseadvancement.com/)
28 Mar 24. DoD Releases Defense Industrial Base Cybersecurity Strategy. Today, the Department of Defense (DoD) released its Defense Industrial Base (DIB) Cybersecurity (CS) Strategy, an actionable approach to maturing a more resilient Joint Force and Defense cybersecurity ecosystem. Spanning Fiscal Year 2024 – 2027, the DoD DIB CS Strategy provides a path forward for the Department’s internal and industry-facing cybersecurity activities.
The Strategy’s vision, mission, goals, and objectives support the directives and priorities of the National Defense Strategy, 2023 National Cybersecurity Strategy, and 2023 DoD Cyber Strategy. By sharpening the Department’s focus on collaboration with industry partners, the Strategy’s four goals and key objectives will guide DoD’s efforts to defend the nation and maintain our technology advantage:
- Strengthen the DoD governance structure for DIB Cybersecurity
- Enhance the Cybersecurity posture of DIB contractors
- Preserve the resiliency of critical DIB capabilities in a cyber-contested environment
- Improve collaboration with DIB.
The Department is working together with the DIB, harnessing the expertise of Industry, academic institutions and research and development organizations to achieve the goals and objectives in this strategy.
“We have identified opportunities to bolster cybersecurity of our DIB partners, which will improve our overall cybersecurity of the US,” said Deputy Secretary of Defense Hicks. “As our adversaries continuously seek information about U.S. capabilities, the Department, in coordination with the DIB, must remain resilient against these attacks and succeed through teamwork to defend the Nation.”
You can read a copy of the strategy here: https://media.defense.gov/2024/Mar/28/2003424523/-1/-1/1/DOD_DOB_CS_STRATEGY_DSD_SIGNED_20240325.PDF(Source: U.S. DoD)
28 Mar 24. Thales, Europe’s leading high-tech company in the civil and defence fields, has announced the creation of cortAIx, which brings together the company’s AI capabilities in research, sensors and systems.
- cortAIx is the AI accelerator that will equip armed forces, aircraft manufacturers and all critical infrastructure operators with highly secure solutions to provide them with more efficient data analysis and decision support, whilst taking into account specific constraints such as cybersecurity, embeddability and frugality that are related to critical environments.
- With over 600 AI experts, around 100 doctoral students in AI and a top-tier network of industry, start-up and academic partners, Thales has been a major player in trusted, transparent, explainable and ethical AI for the past decade. The company is Europe’s top patent applicant in the field of AI for critical applications, and has incorporated AI into over a hundred of its products and services.
The defence sector is undergoing major changes related to the proliferation of data on the battlefield. And it is taking advantage of new usage in the civilian world, such as personal assistants, video analysis and noise reduction.
On the back of the investments it has made in the field of AI, Thales has been incorporating AI into its critical systems for the last ten years, in order to enable its customers to gain an edge and to become more resilient in the face of a deluge of data, threats and information.
Thales Chairman and CEO Patrice Caine, said: “Our company, which is a European leader in the fields of civil and defence high-tech, is able to draw on its mastery of AI and on the assets that are its strength: its technological expertise, its knowledge of critical domains – defence and aerospace, space, cybersecurity, digital identity – and its management of constrained environments. Thales is already developing embeddable, frugal, trusted, explainable and secure end-to-end solutions, and today it is moving to the next level by acquiring major AI capabilities, that meet the security and sovereignty needs of our customers.”
cortAIx, the trusted AI accelerator for research, sensors and systems
On the occasion of today’s fourth edition of the Thales Media Day, structured around AI, Thales is introducing cortAIx, the AI accelerator designed to expand the integration of AI technology into all of the company’s sectors of activity (defence, space, aerospace, cybersecurity and digital identity). cortAIx brings together:
- cortAIx Lab – the most powerful integrated lab for critical AI in Europe, based in Saclay, at the heart of the European innovation ecosystem.
- cortAIx Factory – Thales’s AI technology factory, designed to speed up the classification and industrialisation of AI development tools and use cases for system data. Thales already equips its systems with AI, and continues to identify new use cases to increase performance, such as, for instance, mission planning, air traffic management, and steering drones and robots. AI enables situations to be analysed and processed quicker and systems to be used more intuitively, in order to speed up decision-making and reduce operators’ mental workload.
- cortAIx Sensors – this represents all the AI capabilities in the field of sensors within the company’s defence businesses. The Thales sensors (sonar, radar, radio and optronics) that incorporate AI offer hugely increased capabilities – both more precise and more efficient – in terms of sighting and identifying threats and targets, and they meet frugality requirements in terms of size, weight, power, as well as being resilient in extreme environments.
This trusted AI serves its end-users, who remain the final decision-makers at all times.
Cybersecure AI
In the face of the security threats of AI, Thales, which is a pioneer in the field, has developed specific assessment methods at its Toulouse-based CESTI laboratory (Centre d’Évaluation de la Sécurité des Technologies de l’Information – Centre for the Assessment of the Security of Information Technology), which is certified by ANSSI (the French Agency for Information System Security). It draws on the expertise of more than 5,800 cybersecurity experts across the company to provide tailor-made solutions for the vulnerabilities that have been detected.
Trusted AI in Thales’s critical systems
Sonar, radar, equipment on board maritime patrol aircraft and fighter jets… Thales’ solutions use the best sensor and system technologies, which cover the whole range of intelligence needs in the land, aerospace and space domains. Trusted AI, which is incorporated into these sensor technologies, lightens operators’ workloads and speeds up the detection, identification and classification of objects of interest and target scenes:
- The Talios pod is designed for air reconnaissance and targeting missions, and is to be found on board Dassault Aviation’s Rafale fighter jet. Until now, the images collected by the pod were analysed on the ground, but thanks to the Thales Neural Processor, the optronics images captured in flight will be analysed in real time, and 100 times quicker, by embedded AI.
- With its Friendly Hacking unit, Thales provides its development teams with the ability – hitherto unseen in the industry – to submit their AI-based solutions to a cyber crash-test, with the aim of strengthening considerably the cybersecurity of systems that implement AI.
- AI on board maritime patrol aircraft’s AirMaster surveillance radars enables ever-greater quantities of data to be analysed, and targets to be classified in a few tenths of a second.
- Thales’ air defence radars perform remarkably well in detection at very low altitude. AI will provide significant help to operators in identifying small targets.
- AI in air traffic control systems will enable the optimisation of the sequencing of aircraft on the approach paths to airports, thus contributing to a reduction in their carbon footprint.
- AI will make the coordination of multi-drone and multi-robot systems easier. The controlled and secure autonomy of these systems will significantly reduce pressure on operators.
- Using an innovative human-machine interface coupled with AI, helicopter pilots will be able to not only prepare tactical missions much quicker, but also to change them in flight, which had until now been impossible. Pilots will remain in charge of the choice of trajectory depending on the mission objective, whilst minimising their cognitive workload.
- AI in radios for armed forces improves sound quality in noisy environments. It has been designed to be embdedded in a miniature chip that ensures that the autonomy of equipped devices is maintained.
27 Mar 24. Global: Unveiled Cyber campaigns affirm heightened risks from Chinese state-sponsored groups. On 25 March, the UK and US announced sanctions targeting two Chinese companies and individuals for their involvement in cyber espionage operations. Both governments claimed that these entities have been targeting several private and public organisations since 2020 and 2021 on behalf of ‘APT31’, a state-sponsored group affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS). The compromised organisations included US 5G providers and members of the steel and energy sectors as well as the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and legislature. The announcement was followed by similar reports from Canada, Finland and New Zealand. The longevity and persistence of these campaigns affirm that cyber espionage forms an integral part of China’s strategic intelligence gathering. It is highly likely that China is seeking to bolster its economic and security posture by stealing trade secrets and compromising political organisations through cyber campaigns. Consequently, this event illustrates heightened espionage risks to Western private and public organisations from Chinese state-sponsored groups. (Source: Sibylline)
26 Mar 24. Finland to host NATO tech centers, revamp cybersecurity strategy. One of NATO’s newest members plans to build and jointly operate two research centers and an accelerator facility for the alliance as part of a program dubbed DIANA.
The move comes as Finland also seeks to ramp up its defense strategy and capacity to deal with escalating cyberthreats.
The NATO research centers, which are to focus on new technologies, will be based in the Finnish town of Espoo, while the accelerator unit will be run from a new facility in Oulu, Finland’s leading cyber technology hub.
The Espoo site will collaborate with VTT, Finland’s largest technical research center and the axis for quantum computer development in Finland. The location will also test cyber-secure communications in addition to quantum and space technologies.
The test facility in Oulu, which will operate in cooperation with the University of Oulu, will test 6G network technologies.
Finnish Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen said the accelerator and test centers will create business opportunities for domestic technology companies as well as help lift Finland’s profile among the 32 other fellow NATO member states. Finland joined NATO in April 2023.
“Finland’s leading position, especially in the development of new-generation communication technologies and quantum technologies, is likely to attract operators and experts to Finland. Our status as a global frontrunner of dual-use communication technologies will render Finland more attractive to international financiers and strengthen our technological input as a NATO member,” Häkkänen said in a statement.
NATO launched the DIANA program — or Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic — in 2021 with the mission of identifying challenges for the defense sector. A core part of the program’s mission is to find technologically innovative solutions through partnerships with tech firms inside and outside of the defense industry.
Cyberspace switch
Meanwhile, under a new joint initiative, the Defence Ministry and the Ministry of Transport and Communications are tasked with revamping Finland’s national cybersecurity strategy. The initiative aims to provide the government with an operating model better suited to protect critical military and civilian assets and infrastructure.
Bolstering cyber resilience and improving defensive capabilities were among the chief national security priorities of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s coalition government that took power after parliamentary elections in June 2023.
The urgency behind updating the national cybersecurity strategy became evident during the third quarter of 2023 when Finnish security and intelligence service SUPO warned of a sharp rise in cyberattacks emanating from Russia. Those attacks reportedly targeted state agencies, the Finnish Defence Forces, and their critical IT networks and infrastructure.
In February, SUPO issued an alert that Russia was trying to recruit and train migrants seeking political and economic asylum in Finland as spies. The agency also warned that “hostile forces” in Russia were behind an increase in cyberespionage activities against Finland.
As a result of the heightened security threat — and with Russia allegedly bussing thousands of migrants to Finnish crossing points — Finland closed its 832-mile border with Russia on Feb. 20. The government plans to keep the border closed until April 14 at the earliest.
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Finish government websites experienced a distributed denial-of-service attack in April 2022 amid an address to Parliament by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Finnish government’s drive to strengthen national security is backed by an increase in the cyber defense budget. Finland will spend $350m on cybersecurity in 2024, corresponding to a 35% increase over 2023. A large part of the additional funding will be used to drive projects and programs that counter artificial intelligence-based cyberthreats.
The budget will support new cybersecurity measures slated for implementation by the military and SUPO in 2024. The increase in the cyber budget is partly influenced by findings and recommendations in a report on AI-enabled cyberattacks, which was delivered to the government in 2022.
The report was created by a group that included the national communications agency Traficom, the National Emergency Supply Agency, and the Helsinki-based cybersecurity firm WithSecure.
The national cybersecurity strategy, once finalized and implemented, will conform with the European Union’s updated directive on measures meant to achieve a high common level of cybersecurity across the bloc, said Rauli Paananen, director Finland’s National Cyber Security Unit.
“Under its plan, the government wants to revamp Finland’s cybersecurity strategy in a way that makes it more able to respond to the changed operating environment and the increasing risk to national security that is posed by threats from the cyber domain,” Paananen said.
The unit ran a major national cybersecurity exercise over five days in mid-February. The KYHA drill included cybersecurity experts in Finnish municipalities as well as state and private sector operators of critical infrastructure.
“Organizations need to develop cyber defense capabilities and resilience, just as Finland needs to develop cyber resilience as a country. Exercises like KYHA strengthen Finland’s cyber resilience, which is also what the cyber security strategy update aims for. The goal of the strategy is to be well prepared as a society,” Paananen said. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
27 Mar 24. Rackspace Technology® (NASDAQ: RXT), a leading end-to-end hybrid, multicloud and AI technology solutions company, has announced the launch of Rackspace UK Sovereign Services as part of its next generation product set. The offering provides end-to-end, digitally sovereign cloud services for the UK public sector and other regulated industries.
Sovereign cloud services keep data, support, and infrastructure within the borders of a national state. This is normally a requirement for government agencies, healthcare providers, law enforcement organisations and other regulated industries in the private sector such as pharma and financial services. Providing a solution to these sectors assures regulatory compliance and allows a reduction in an organisation’s security risk, especially important considering the increase in global cyberthreats.
Rackspace UK Sovereign Services prioritises customer data security aligned with the recommendations of the UK National Cyber Security Centre & NHS England amongst other UK regulatory bodies. Rackspace UK Sovereign Services is changing the game by providing a platform that has dedicated compute and storage ‘Pods’ for each customer sector, each Pod is isolated from any other with full segregation of compute and storage services between customers. This approach ensures a cost-effective hosting solution for customers, while providing the high levels of data security they require. The platform is designed for secure workloads accredited for UK Official (to a handling guidance of Official-Sensitive) or NHS England Class V risk data.
Through Rackspace Technology’s extensive partnership with BT, it also provides secure, and fully sovereign, communication services into our secure data centres, adding further value to the service to customers.
“Digital independence and sovereignty within the UK have become key requirements of public sector and many other regulated industries with only a small number of providers to choose from. This truly digital Sovereign offering allows for the UK public sector to achieve cost savings and compliance all through a single provider, without compromising on security or performance,” said Rick Martire, General Manager for Sovereign Services, UK at Rackspace Technology.
Rackspace UK Sovereign Services key features include:
- ITIL based service delivery, with incident, change & problem management.
- Fully managed end-to-end solution with a pre-built blueprint, anti-malware protection, vulnerability scanning, performance monitoring and system patching included as standard.
- Separated multi-tenant PODs for UK healthcare, government, police and regulated industries to ensure compute and disk workloads are never mixed on the same physical servers or disks.
- Offering multiple levels of configuration for customers that require secure cost-effective multi-tenancy or dedicated compute / storage ranging up to a fully isolated compute, network and storage stack for higher security workloads.
- Highly available platforms across multiple data centres capable of delivering in-built Disaster Recovery as a service.
- Platforms and support team isolated from the Rackspace Technology global network to ensure no access is possible to sovereign platforms.
- Costed on a monthly usage-based model, ensuring migrations in or out of the environment can still be achieved with ease.
- Evergreen IT to ensure platforms are refreshed without a large CAPEX investment from Sovereign Customers.
About Rackspace Technology
Rackspace Technology is a leading end-to-end, hybrid, multicloud, and AI solutions company. We design, build, and operate our customers’ cloud environments across all major technology platforms, irrespective of technology stack or deployment model. We partner with our customers at every stage of their cloud journey, enabling them to modernize applications, build new products and adopt innovative technologies.
26 Mar 24. Royal Navy warships to be boosted with new cutting-edge launchers.
UK security will be bolstered through a new contract worth £135m that will equip the Royal Navy with new decoy launchers to counter missile and drone threats.
£135m contract for cutting-edge launchers for Royal Navy warships
- Decoy Launchers provide increased protection for vessels against missile and drone threats, including in the Red Sea
- New contract will sustain up to 150 jobs in the South West to help grow the economy.
UK security will be bolstered through a new contract worth £135m that will equip the Royal Navy with new decoy launchers to counter missile and drone threats, ensuring the long-term availability and resilience of warships.
Following the signing of the new contract, Trainable Decoy Launcher technology will increase the protection of Royal Navy ships and sailors, further strengthening the Navy’s ability to defend Britain’s interests across the world, including the Red Sea.
It comes as new missile and drone technology creates greater threats to the UK’s fleet and the latest decoy launchers will help counter this, providing optimised manoeuvrability that provides the capability to defend warships without the need to alter course.
The innovative new system, which uses high-end technology, will be manufactured in Systems Engineering & Assessment Ltd (SEA) site in North Devon and Chess’s facilities in Sussex, sustaining up to 150 jobs to help grow the economy. Both SEA and Chess are part of the UK-based Cohort plc group.
Minister for Defence Procurement, James Cartlidge said: “In a time of global instability, it is vital we protect the Royal Navy in the best possible way to ensure national security. With recent attacks towards HMS Diamond and HMS Richmond in the Red Sea, it’s crucial our sailors have the latest technology to best defend themselves and the fleet. “
The new Trainable Decoy Launcher technology is an improvement on speed and agility and highlights more excellent work from UK companies in backing UK defence.
The contract for the Trainable Decoy Launcher will see Type 26 and Type 31 frigates and Type 45 destroyers fitted with a new trainable countermeasure launcher system.
Trainable Decoy Launchers use an improved decoy launcher technology and enables a decoy to be rapidly deployed against modern missile threats, without the need to manoeuvre the vessel itself. The launcher fires a range of countermeasures, which includes chaff, flares and ‘corner reflector’ rounds to target hostile missiles.
The contract, procured by Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), was awarded to SEA and will see a fully UK-designed and built solution. SEA have partnered with Chess Dynamics and Frazer-Nash Consultancy (FNC) to deliver the product.
Richard Flitton, Managing Director of SEA said: “Being awarded a contract of this nature demonstrates the Royal Navy’s trust in SEA which is based on our proven track record of delivering, upgrading, and sustaining high-end maritime capabilities over many years. The knowledge and maritime domain expertise within our UK-based team has enabled our long-standing partnership with the Royal Navy, and we’re delighted that this will allow us to support the UK’s defensive capabilities against modern and complex naval threats.”
DE&S CEO, Andy Start said: “This contract is an excellent example of how dedicated DE&S teams work with our partners in industry and across defence to deliver innovative and agile equipment to our Armed Forces that can be upgraded to keep pace with ever-evolving threats.”
(Source: https://www.gov.uk/)
25 Mar 24. Pentagon inks dozens of cloud contract orders, more in the pipeline. The U.S. Department of Defense said it lined up at least 100 task orders tied to its multibn-dollar Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract.
More than 47 orders have already been awarded to contractors, and over 50 are “in the pipeline right now,” according to Defense Department Chief Information Officer John Sherman. The figures are up sharply from August, when officials said they were working with more than 13.
“In today’s environment … it is critical more than ever that we provide DOD personnel with secure and resilient software when and where they need it,” Sherman told the House’s Cyber, Information Technology and Innovation panel March 22. Exactly how many orders have been completed thus far was unclear.
The Defense Department in December 2022 tapped Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Oracle to supply digital services for the JWCC, itself the successor to the failed Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure venture, or JEDI. The JWCC is valued up to $9 bn over several years. The four companies compete for each order dished out, with each only guaranteed $100,000.
The cloud capability contract is considered the backbone of the Defense Department’s connect-everything-everywhere campaign dubbed Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control. The CJADC2 concept envisions troops and their databases seamlessly linked across land, air, sea, space and cyber, and spanning unclassified, classified and top secret designations.
“When I testified last year, the department was just beginning the enterprise cloud journey,” Sherman told lawmakers. “I’m happy to report significant and successful progress.”
Cloud is increasingly seen as a means to get the right data to the right people at the right time — a pillar of CJADC2. Sherman last year advised defense agencies, military services and other offices to prioritize JWCC, especially when inking deals involving the nation’s most sensitive information.
The guidance helps streamline cloud contracting and reduces “contract sprawl” across the Defense Department, Sherman said.
His directions for JWCC employment included carve outs for the National Reconnaissance Office, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. They rely on the intelligence community’s Commercial Cloud Enterprise, or C2E, which was awarded in 2020. It features the same vendors as JWCC, plus IBM. (Source: Defense News)
25 Mar 24. MITRE Opens New AI Assurance and Discovery Lab. While artificial intelligence (AI) can transform government operations, decision makers need confidence that AI-enabled systems will operate effectively with acceptable levels of risk before adopting them. MITRE was joined by Sen. Mark Warner, Rep. Donald Beyer, and Rep. Gerry Connolly as it opened its AI Assurance and Discovery Lab today with the mission to discover and mitigate critical risks in AI-enabled systems that need to operate in increasingly complex, uncertain, and high-stakes environments.
“Government use of AI will have consequential impacts on the nation and world, in areas such as efficient transportation, effective healthcare, and strengthened national security,” said Charles Clancy, MITRE senior vice president and chief technology officer. “However, in adopting these systems, we also need to mitigate risks. Providing an independent assessment of the security, safety, and efficacy of AI systems will play a critical role toward helping government and business realize the transformational power of AI in benefits processing, intelligence analysis, autonomous vehicles, and more. This lab will demonstrate a repeatable engineering approach and infrastructure that could serve as a blueprint for a national network of AI assurance facilities.”
MITRE defines AI assurance as a process for discovering, assessing, and managing risk throughout the lifecycle of an AI-enabled system so that it operates effectively to the benefit of its stakeholders and end users. The new AI Assurance and Discovery Lab will evaluate AI-enabled systems intended for use in consequential applications including national security, healthcare, and transportation. Government agencies can also use the lab to inform requirements development for new AI-enabled systems, create and evaluate proposed risk mitigation plans, and develop long-term AI assurance strategies for their organizations.
The lab, which is based at MITRE’s McLean, Virginia headquarters, features configurable space for risk discovery in simulated environments, AI red teaming, large language model evaluation, human-in-the-loop experimentation, and assurance plan development. The lab’s physical space can be tailored and instrumented for specific mission scenarios and workflows.
“For federal agencies and private companies, this new lab delivers an objective, independent analysis to complement and validate their own testing and evaluation of AI-enabled systems, helping establish confidence for end users,” said Cedric Sims, MITRE senior vice president. “Ensuring that AI provides transformational benefits for our government sponsors is a top priority as we solve problems for a safer world.”
MITRE’s team of scientists and engineers includes expertise in computational sciences, linguistics, robotics, human cognitive science, systems neuroscience, and government mission domains. Federal agencies, and soon private companies, can bring AI-enabled systems to the lab to explore potential risks including whether they perform effectively, consistently, and safely in real-world contexts. MITRE will also use the lab to evaluate factors such as whether systems are secure and free from harmful bias, and allow users to control how their information is used.
Members of Virginia’s U.S. Congressional Delegation Join MITRE at AI Lab Opening
“The opening of MITRE’s AI Assurance and Discovery Lab is an exciting development in the most fertile frontier of technological progress—extracting maximum value from AI while mitigating some of its risks,” said Sen. Mark Warner. “We need to have an all-hands-on-deck approach to studying and unleashing the potential of AI, and I look forward to seeing the discoveries and progress the lab will be able to make in this critical field.”
“The emergence and evolution of new technologies like AI have led us to the brink of an exciting future,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly. “As we seek to embrace AI safely and with the proper guardrails in place, ventures like MITRE’s AI Assurance and Discovery Lab will be invaluable to our efforts across government. I am thrilled to be part of this grand opening, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the lab and its goal of advancing AI for the public good.”
“As federal agencies leverage the utility of AI to help fulfill their missions, I’m thrilled to see Northern Virginia continue to lead the way on tech innovation,” said Rep. Don Beyer. “The grand opening of MITRE’s AI Assurance and Discovery Lab, which will support the secure implementation of advanced AI systems in federal agencies, is another step forward for our region’s leadership in research and applied sciences.” (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
25 Mar 24. Cohort company SEA awarded £135m maritime countermeasures contract. Cohort, the Independent Technology Group announces that its subsidiary Systems Engineering and Assessment Ltd (SEA) has been awarded a £135m contract by the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) to provide a Trainable Decoy Launcher to improve Royal Navy surface ships’ defensive capabilities.
SEA’s Ancilia system, a highly modular and flexible maritime countermeasures solution, has been selected by the MOD to provide Electronic Warfare Countermeasures Increment 1a (EWCM 1a) to the Royal Navy. Ancilia delivers effective and rapid protection against modern anti-ship threats such as ballistic missiles as well as other sophisticated systems and tactics. It will be installed across a range of the Royal Navy’s surface ships. Its design builds on SEA’s deep knowledge of existing systems in service with the Royal Navy. Built on technology developed collaboratively by Cohort subsidiaries SEA and Chess Dynamics, the Ancilia system offers a world-leading solution to a growing threat using the best available engineering solution from within the UK supply chain.
The Ancilia technology is a step-change from traditional fixed solutions, as its trainable nature removes the need to manoeuvre the vessel to counter incoming threats. Its relatively small size and weight enables rapid installation on a wide range of maritime platforms, and its capability to configure the firing of multiple decoy types in varying positions provides the Royal Navy with a truly flexible countermeasures solution.
Andy Thomis, Cohort Chief Executive said of the win: “We are delighted that Cohort’s Ancilia system has been selected to provide this vitally important capability. It represents a strong vote of confidence in our operating businesses SEA and Chess, and in the Group as a whole. The conflict in Ukraine, and investment by some countries in advanced missile technology, has underlined the importance of defence against sophisticated anti-ship threats. Ancilia has generated considerable interest from overseas customers, and this contract award will boost its visibility still further. We estimate that our addressable market for systems of this kind in the coming years is at least £250m. The win will sustain employment for 150 professional and skilled staff in North Devon, and further success in export markets will generate new employment opportunities and economic benefits in the region and in the UK more widely.”
Richard Flitton, SEA Managing Director said: “The knowledge and maritime domain expertise within our UK-based team has enabled us to build a true and long-standing partnership with the Royal Navy. We’re delighted that this win will allow us to support the UK’s defensive capabilities against modern and complex naval threats, while bringing employment and economic benefits to North Devon.”
This is comfortably Cohort’s largest single order ever and will take its orderbook to over £500m.
26 Mar 24. Kromek receives $2.1m security screening order. Kromek Group plc (AIM: KMK), a leading developer of radiation and bio-detection technology solutions for the advanced imaging and CBRN detection segments, is pleased to announce that it has received a $2.1m order from an existing US-based OEM customer that is an emerging leader and global company in the homeland security marketplace.
The order is for the supply of key detector components for incorporation into the customers’ advanced security screening system for the detection of explosives. Delivery will commence in the current year and complete in the first half of FY 2025. The Group has been supplying this customer since 2017 when it was awarded a five-year delivery contract, following the completion of an R&D phase to design components to meet the customer’s requirements, and it expects to enter another long-term delivery contract.
Arnab Basu, CEO of Kromek, said: “We are pleased to have received this latest order from a long-standing customer in the security screening market. It demonstrates the strength of our advanced imaging business where, after an initial design phase, we continue to receive orders for years to come. It also adds to the growing pipeline for FY 2025, which we expect to be a year of further growth. In addition, with the global aviation market now recovering, we expect another long-term delivery contract in due course, which will provide enhanced visibility into 2025 and beyond. We look forward to updating the market on our progress.”
22 Mar 24. USAF to add 5 new Compass Call electronic-attack planes in 2025. The Air Force plans to add five EA-37B Compass Call electronic-attack aircraft to its arsenal in the coming fiscal year, as it swaps out the aging EC-130H fleet for a smaller, modern set of airborne jammers.
The service noted their arrival in budget documents released March 11. The first of 10 EA-37Bs was delivered to the Air Force last year for testing — two years later than anticipated — before heading to its eventual home at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. Delivery of the first mission-ready jet is expected sometime in 2024.
It’s unclear to what extent the first five aircraft will be used in testing or if they will enter regular operations as they come online. Air Combat Command, which manages the fleet, declined to provide more details about the jets.
Compass Call is designed to jam enemy signals, including communications, radar and navigations systems, and can suppress enemy air defenses by blocking the connection between weapons systems and command-and-control networks. The aircraft also carries hardware and software that give airmen the ability to hack into wireless devices, defuse roadside bombs and more.
Its new airframe — a Gulfstream G550 business jet outfitted with advanced electronic attack equipment by an L3Harris-BAE Systems team — will also be able to soar higher than 40,000 feet and fly at nearly 600 mph, nearly twice as high and as fast as the legacy EC-130H.
The 43rd Electronic Combat Squadron at Davis-Monthan will be the first to transition to the new Compass Call, which began flying in the 1980s. As it prepares to replace old with new, the squadron logged its final flight in an EC-130H on Feb. 15.
“Throughout its storied existence, the squadron’s adaptability and commitment to evolving military technologies shine through, having operated 11 different aircraft types across six continents,” 43rd ECS Commander Lt. Col. Tray Wood said in a statement. “The final EC-130H flight marks the end of an era and signals the beginning of a new chapter with the forthcoming EA-37B transition.”
The 41st and 42nd Electronic Combat Squadrons, also based at Davis-Monthan, are still flying the legacy platform. The 41st is the only remaining operational squadron flying the EC-130H; the 42nd is a training squadron.
The new EA-37B, which was redesignated from EC-37B late last year, comes as the Air Force looks to replace many of its decades-old aircraft with more-capable versions that may have a better shot at surviving in future conflicts against advanced adversaries like China.
The service said in November it had retired nine of its 14 old Compass Calls so far. Air Force budget documents show that the service plans to send one more EC-130H to its aircraft “Boneyard” this year. The budget also includes an additional $15 m for operating and maintaining the Compass Call program, driven by fielding the new aircraft and storing the retiring planes.
A mainstay in U.S. Central Command during the war on terror, the EC-130H carries a 13-person crew, including two pilots, a navigator, a flight engineer, a mission crew commander and supervisor, a signals analyst and multiple cryptologic language analysts. The Air Force contends that though its new Compass Call airframe is smaller, advances in equipment will allow it to consolidate jobs onboard and cut the crew to nine members.
The 41st Electronic Combat Squadron spent 20 years overseas with the Compass Call, becoming the longest continuously deployed Air Force unit in Afghanistan at nearly 14,800 sorties over 90,000 flying hours before returning home in 2021. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Army Times)
22 Mar 24. Cyber Update Key points.
- A new Python tool vulnerability allows threat actors to bypass data protection, highlighting the financial and security risks stemming from outdated software.
- A new Chinese-affiliated campaign points to sustained espionage risks facing Western government and technology (See Sibylline Cyber Daily Technical analysis below).
- The recent rise in cyber attacks targeting operational technology (OT), primarily US water and wastewater facilities, points to elevated operational threats posed by state-sponsored actors
- A new North Korea state-sponsored campaign signals the heightened espionage risks facing public and private organisations see Technical analysis below).
- A new strain of wiper malware possibly disrupted Ukrainian telecommunication networks, pointing to the elevated destruction and disruption threats posed by Russian threat actors (see Sibylline Cyber Daily Analytical Update – 22 March 2024).
Technical analysis of weekly stories
The Chinese state-sponsored group ‘Earth Krahang’ has targeted multiple government organisations in a cyber espionage campaign since early 2022. The campaign starts with the exploitation of vulnerabilities or spear phishing emails to gain initial access to a targeted system. Subsequently, two backdoors, ‘RESHELL’ and ‘XDealer’, are downloaded onto the victim’s system to collect strategic information by capturing screenshots, logging keystrokes and intercepting data. Additionally, the group uses Python scripts and other brute force techniques to hijack corporate Outlook accounts. It then uses these legitimate accounts to infiltrate secondary organisations via phishing emails, highlighting the stealthy and multipronged nature of the campaign. The threat actors can also achieve persistence and facilitate lateral movement by building virtual private network (VPN) software on compromised servers. This further points to the growing sophistication of state-sponsored actors’ tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs).
The North Korean state-sponsored threat group ‘Kimsuky’ is leveraging legitimate Windows files to deploy information-stealing malware in a new campaign. The campaign primarily targets government organisations and think tanks based in the Asia-Pacific region and Europe to collect strategic information. Although the initial attack vectors are unknown, the group typically uses phishing and social engineering to gain access to its victims’ systems. The threat actors trick victims into downloading a malicious Compiled HTML Help (CHM) file. CHM files are frequently found on Windows systems in the form of legitimate help files; as such they enable threat actors to bypass defence systems and to prolong detection evasion. The threat actors then establish a command-and-control (C2) mechanism and harvest additional information on a victim’s system to maintain persistence. Stolen data is then forwarded to the actor-controlled infrastructure, subsequently deleting any trace from the victim’s machine (so as to remain undetected). This campaign highlights threat actors’ knowledge of modern security mechanisms, and displays their innovation in exploiting legitimate tools to evade detection and achieve persistence on a compromised system.
Some non-exhaustive recommendations to mitigate against these threats include:
- Enforce strict security policies including regular software and password updates, as well as adequate network segmentation to prevent lateral movement following an infection
- Monitor devices and networks for suspicious activity
- Conduct cyber hygiene awareness courses for users to enable them to recognise and report phishing and other types of social engineering attempts
- Add available Indicators-of-Compromise (IoCs) to the organisation’s security detection systems to detect potentially malicious samples on the network
- Ensure adequate security detection measures are in place, particularly behaviour-based end-point detection and response (EDR) solutions
Our cyber word(s) of the week: Wiper (Malware) (Source: Sibylline)
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Spectra Group (UK) Ltd, internationally renowned award-winning information security and communications specialist with a proven record of accomplishment.
Spectra is a dynamic, agile and security-accredited organisation that offers secure Hosted and Managed Solutions and Cyber Advisory Services with a track record of delivering on time, to spec and on budget.
With over 15 years of experience in delivering solutions for governments around the globe, elite militaries and private enterprises of all sizes, Spectra’s platinum and gold-level partnerships with third-party vendors ensure the supply of best value leading-edge technology.
Spectra was awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise (Innovation) in 2019 for SlingShot.
In November 2017, Spectra Group (UK) Ltd announced its listing as a Top 100 Government SME Supplier by the UK Crown Commercial Services.
Spectra’s CEO, Simon Davies, was awarded 2017 Businessman of the Year by Battlespace magazine.
Founded in 2002, the Company is based in Hereford, UK and holds ISO 9001:2015, ISO 27001:2013 and Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation.
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