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23 Apr 20. Custodio Technologies secures role in Singapore’s SLADE programme. Custodio Technologies, the Singapore-based subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries, has been awarded a role in the Smart Learning Analytics for Digital Crime (SLADE), the company confirmed on 23 April.
SLADE will also involve the Institute of Technology, the Defence Science Technology Agency (DSTA) and the Ministry of Home Affairs in Singapore and its work will feed into the wider National Cybersecurity R&D programme.
Alvin Cheng, Director of R&D at Custodio Technologies, said: ‘Our goal is to help Law Enforcement Agencies around the world to effectively combat cybercrime and successfully prosecute those whp choose to use technology against us and our communities.’
The programme will utilise Custodio’s own next-generation cyber analysis platform known as CyVestiGO. This is already available for commercial use and provides assistant to cyber operators and analysts by reducing work load whilst reducing the time needed to identify Advanced Persistent Threats. (Source: Shephard)
23 Apr 20. Top USAF general defends Advanced Battle Management System from critical report. A report by a government watchdog that slammed the US Air Force’s major command-and-control program did not include key classified information and was outdated by the time it was released last week, the service’s top general said Wednesday.
On Friday, the Government Accountability Office delivered a scathing report on the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System, which seeks to overhaul the U.S. military’s command-and-control infrastructure so that any platform will instantly and seamlessly be able to share data with another weapon system on the battlefield.
The problem, according to the GAO, is that the Air Force has not provided enough detail on exactly what technology it needs, how it plans to field it and how much it will cost. But speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Goldfein said the agency did not have access to key information that may have fleshed out the service’s plans.
“There is a bit of latency to the reporting,” Goldfein said. “Two things I would offer is that they were not able to get to our December ABMS demo. So they didn’t actually … see in real time what we were connecting.”
The other problem, Goldfein said, is that the organization was not cleared to receive information about the classified portions of the program.
“That makes it challenging because if the technology you’re moving forward, if a lot of it is in the classified realm — if a lot of it, quite frankly, was in the space realm — and the GAO doesn’t have access or clearance to be able to look at it, then the report is going to be on a very small portion of what the Advanced Battle Management System really is,” he said.
In an email to Defense News, GAO director Marie Mak disputed Goldfein’s characterization of the report, saying that the organization has a full understanding of past and present ABMS efforts, including the December exercise and numerous classified discussions.
“Those discussions did not change our finding that the Air Force still does not have an overall plan for ABMS, a point which they openly acknowledged and in fact concurred with our recommendations,” she said. “The Air Force still needs to develop an overall plan, to include preliminary costs and schedule. Without some type of overall plan in place, it will be difficult for the Air Force to prioritize this program among the acquisition efforts within the Air Force.”
When Goldfein became the Air Force’s chief of staff in 2016, he made connecting the joint force one of his major priorities. Since then, the service has canceled efforts to replace legacy aircraft that play a role in battlefield management, such as a recapitalization of the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System aircraft.
Instead, it has put its financial resources toward ABMS, which it envisions as a family of systems that will be more survivable than a direct replacement for JSTARS aircraft or other assets.
The service tapped Preston Dunlap to manage the ABMS effort in 2019. It then conducted its first set of technology demonstrations in December, where it tested 28 different technologies, with 26 of them proving to be successful.
However, some lawmakers have remained skeptical about the Air Force’s approach and lack of transparency. In March, Republican Sen. David Perdue called for the Air Force to deliver an analysis of alternatives and capability development document — two pieces of documentation typical to defense acquisition programs.
“The development of ABMS is encouraging, but we need to make sure Congress has proper oversight throughout the process,” said Perdue, whose home state of Georgia is the location of Robins Air Force Base, where ABMS is slated to be based.
Goldfein did not directly address one of the GAO’s major complaints: that the program is at greater risk for schedule delays and cost growth because it does not have a firm business case that spells out capability requirements and cost. But he acknowledged that the Air Force has to do more to share information with Congress and the GAO in a timely matter.
However, the pace of the ABMS program may also require lawmakers and the GAO to put in more time to keep updated on the effort’s progress, he said.
“The GAO has got to keep up … and we’ve got to help,” Goldfein said. “This is not a poke or criticism. We’ve got to help them. We’ve got to help Congress. We’ve got to help think tanks. We’ve got to help others realize that we are moving out and we are developing capability faster than we’ve ever developed capability before. We’re connecting things faster than we’ve ever connected them before.”
“Every four months we are connecting new capabilities that have never been connected. That’s a hard one to deliver a report on, but I’m eager to sit down with the GAO and get them up to speed.” (Source: Defense News)
22 Apr 20. Abaco and Amergint develop communications technology for troops. Abaco Systems and Amergint Technologies have partnered to develop an electronic warfare (EW) communications technology for troops.
Under the partnership, Abaco’s ruggedised VP430 RFSoC hardware platform was combined with Amergint’s Softlink architecture to create a lower cost, rapidly available technology.
The new lab-tested capability reduces RF signal chain complexity, integration and field timing from weeks to days.
The VP430 platform has been designed for advanced EW applications and enables the use of fewer boards and less power. It also delivers increased processing throughput.
Abaco Systems product management vice-president Peter Thompson said: “Modern militaries are increasingly relying on communication and weapons systems that utilise the entire RF spectrum, from microwaves, radars and satellites to infrared and lasers.
“And in today’s contested environment, where new threats are proliferating and multiplying in number and complexity, it has never been more important to reduce time to market and time to deployment for new EW technologies.”
Using Softlink, software applications can be built from an early prototype through to full operational capability.
The pre-integration of Amergint’s Softlink libraries with Abaco’s hardware platforms will reduce cost and programme risk for customers.
Amergint Technologies systems vice-president Marc Verity said: “With US military reliance on electronic communications and GPS navigation, even a short interruption can be disastrous to an operation.
“Using proven modular software devices, nearly any signal, data processing or network transport capability can be designed, configured and deployed with our Softlink technology.”
Abaco Systems’ advanced platforms enable customers to validate and deploy new capabilities without enduring complex software development cycles. (Source: army-technology.com)
22 Apr 20. Mercury Systems Announces Industry’s First SOSA-Aligned Ultra-Wideband Dual Microwave Upconverter. Innovative technology improves electronic warfare system interoperability while reducing development costs.
Mercury Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRCY, www.mrcy.com), a leader in trusted, secure mission-critical technologies for aerospace and defense, today announced the SpectrumSeries™ RFM3103s ultra-wideband dual upconverter, designed to align with the emerging sensor open systems architecture (SOSA) technical standard for demanding electronic warfare (EW) environments. By creating a common architecture that streamlines system integration, the rugged, compact upconverter pioneers system interoperability and upgradeability, supporting an increased and more diverse range of unmanned systems on various platforms including ground, airborne, and subsurface.
“Mercury solutions are designed to be the most rugged, long lasting and highest performing available to meet the rigorous demands of military and commercial customers,” said Neal Austin, Vice President and General Manager of Mercury’s Embedded Sensor Processing group. “Our new purpose-built dual upconverter delivers on these demands while aligning with snapshot 3 of the SOSA reference architecture technical standard. Additionally, it is the first in a new series of RF solutions that enable users to better mitigate electronic threats with the rapid deployment of innovative and secure technology. It’s another proof point of how Mercury is making commercial technology profoundly more accessible to aerospace and defense.”
The standard configuration of the RFM3103s unit consists of two transmit modules installed on two OpenRFM™ module sites, with parameters such as instantaneous bandwidth, frequency range, and output power able to be adjusted at the module level. This, combined with the modularity for an up/down converter, allows for easy design modifications, rather than full product redesigns, reducing system cost and time to market.
Mercury is accelerating innovation for our customers as the Company bridges the gap between commercial technology and defense applications to meet the industry’s current and emerging needs, and will be accepting orders for RFM3103s modules in the third quarter of calendar year 2020. (Source: ASD Network)
20 Apr 20. Connectivity: the heart of the future soldier. Networks are now widely seen as the key element in combat, be it on a tank, ship, or aircraft, or indeed at the soldier level. At SMI Group’s Future Soldier Technology 2020, Harry Lye learned what the future connected soldier will look like from the British, Spanish, Finnish and Swiss armed forces.
‘Flexibility is the only way to survive,’ explained Colonel Moises Serrano Martinez from the Spanish Ministry of Defence as he detailed his country’s approach to the future dismounted soldier system – known in Spain as SISCAP. In a world where technology is rapidly evolving, soldier technology needs to adapt rapidly to keep up with modern threats.
This idea of technology evolution was a key theme at the conference. Lieutenant Colonel Neil Locke, Commanding Officer of the British Army Infantry Trials and Development Unit (ITDU), spoke of the UK’s plans to improve the kit carried by British soldiers, which has seen little evolution in the past ten years.
The soldier as a system
Across the British, Spanish, Finnish and Swiss presentations at the conference, the core problem with soldier systems, and the solution to it, remained the same: communications and connectivity. This includes communicating with other soldiers, a robot or an unmanned system, as well as how all the aspects of a soldier’s kit interact with one another – from a laser range finder to the radio and the batteries that power the equipment.
The future soldier system can be seen as taking two strands: the wearable and the peripheral, that is, what a soldier physically carriers in gear, and what helps them achieve their mission. The British Army, in a collaboration of the ITDU and TommyWorks, aims to refine the soldier and the systems that support them.
A large part of the UK’s development of a new dismounted system is powered by the Army Transformation Fund, set up by former defence secretary Gavin Williamson. The idea was to create a pool of money allowing the three services could bid to buy novel equipment, test it and see what sticks. The challenge now is to work out and implement a structure to get all of it to work well together.
“With robotics, the focus is currently on load-bearing capabilities, but in future the army is looking to further equip them with a sensor and an effector.”
“The transformation fund provided us with a load of kit,” said Lieutenant Colonel Gareth Davies at the conference, adding that the challenge now is to get it to work together. The Army has six robotic platoon vehicles and four nano-UAS currently undergoing testing to see how they can best augment a soldier. With robotics, the focus is currently on load-bearing capabilities, but in the future the army is looking to further equip them with a sensor and an effector.
On the lower end of the spectrum, as a Thales representative explained at the conference, is the burden-sharing potential of connected soldiers, which includes everything from batteries to new concepts such as the ‘digital water bottle’, which allows a commander to keep track of a squad’s hydration, and to assess resources in longer missions.
The clearest vision of what the future soldier could look like was presented at the event by the UK with the 24-hour integrated digital soldier
Another consideration when designing the future soldier – or treating the soldier as a system – is one that has been known to designers of armoured vehicles for generations: the balance between armour and mobility. Representatives of the Finnish and Swiss militaries pointed out the ongoing dilemma between better armour or better mobility.
Major Marco Dâmaso of the Swiss Armed Forces explained that his country is looking to assess the potential of modular armour. If soldiers carry less armour they can move faster; however, they are also less protected against enemy fire. This trade-off, he explained, was a problem with older versions of Swiss body armour that was heavily focused on protection, meaning soldiers would often have to expose more of their body to get into a good fire position – in turn making the soldier more vulnerable.
In the Finnish Armed Forces, the current approach is to lighten the load and buy new skiing equipment for forces operating in northern areas. The country sees value in mobility, although this is more of a theory than a provable rule, the notion being that maneuverability will ultimately mean personnel can keep out of harm’s way.
Tidy wires make a difference
Power management remains another area of concern in soldier systems. Black Diamond Advanced Technology chief strategy officer Colonel (retired) Mike Lawrence, in his talk on power management and soldier systems, pointed out that cable management can often be just as important in increasing the efficiency of the soldier as a system as some of the more high-tech innovations.
To find out how their systems can be made easier for soldiers to carry, Black Diamond issued hundreds of surveys and took thousands of pictures of existing soldier communications gear to examine how it is used. The company then used this research to design its connectors, hubs, and batteries to fit the soldier, rather than get in the way – the idea being that systems worn by the soldier should never get in the way of the tactics they are trained to use.
Black Diamond’s system cuts down on the number of wires, hubs, connectors and batteries so that a soldier can keep their communications system assembled, lowering the need to prepare for deployment. At base the armour can be taken off and the system plugged in to charge, or when on operations the system can be charged from the cigarette lighter of an armoured vehicle.
Networks are now widely seen as the key element in combat, be it on a tank, ship, or aircraft, or indeed at the soldier level. At SMI Group’s Future Soldier Technology 2020, Harry Lye learned what the future connected soldier will look like from the British, Spanish, Finnish and Swiss armed forces.
‘Flexibility is the only way to survive,’ explained Colonel Moises Serrano Martinez from the Spanish Ministry of Defence as he detailed his country’s approach to the future dismounted soldier system – known in Spain as SISCAP. In a world where technology is rapidly evolving, soldier technology needs to adapt rapidly to keep up with modern threats.
This idea of technology evolution was a key theme at the conference. Lieutenant Colonel Neil Locke, Commanding Officer of the British Army Infantry Trials and Development Unit (ITDU), spoke of the UK’s plans to improve the kit carried by British soldiers, which has seen little evolution in the past ten years.
The soldier as a system
Across the British, Spanish, Finnish and Swiss presentations at the conference, the core problem with soldier systems, and the solution to it, remained the same: communications and connectivity. This includes communicating with other soldiers, a robot or an unmanned system, as well as how all the aspects of a soldier’s kit interact with one another – from a laser range finder to the radio and the batteries that power the equipment.
The future soldier system can be seen as taking two strands: the wearable and the peripheral, that is, what a soldier physically carriers in gear, and what helps them achieve their mission. The British Army, in a collaboration of the ITDU and TommyWorks, aims to refine the soldier and the systems that support them.
A large part of the UK’s development of a new dismounted system is powered by the Army Transformation Fund, set up by former defence secretary Gavin Williamson. The idea was to create a pool of money allowing the three services could bid to buy novel equipment, test it and see what sticks. The challenge now is to work out and implement a structure to get all of it to work well together.
“With robotics, the focus is currently on load-bearing capabilities, but in future the army is looking to further equip them with a sensor and an effector.”
“The transformation fund provided us with a load of kit,” said Lieutenant Colonel Gareth Davies at the conference, adding that the challenge now is to get it to work together. The Army has six robotic platoon vehicles and four nano-UAS currently undergoing testing to see how they can best augment a soldier. With robotics, the focus is currently on load-bearing capabilities, but in the future the army is looking to further equip them with a sensor and an effector.
On the lower end of the spectrum, as a Thales representative explained at the conference, is the burden-sharing potential of connected soldiers, which includes everything from batteries to new concepts such as the ‘digital water bottle’, which allows a commander to keep track of a squad’s hydration, and to assess resources in longer missions.
The clearest vision of what the future soldier could look like was presented at the event by the UK with the 24-hour integrated digital soldier
Another consideration when designing the future soldier – or treating the soldier as a system – is one that has been known to designers of armoured vehicles for generations: the balance between armour and mobility. Representatives of the Finnish and Swiss militaries pointed out the ongoing dilemma between better armour or better mobility.
Major Marco Dâmaso of the Swiss Armed Forces explained that his country is looking to assess the potential of modular armour. If soldiers carry less armour they can move faster; however, they are also less protected against enemy fire. This trade-off, he explained, was a problem with older versions of Swiss body armour that was heavily focused on protection, meaning soldiers would often have to expose more of their body to get into a good fire position – in turn making the soldier more vulnerable.
In the Finnish Armed Forces, the current approach is to lighten the load and buy new skiing equipment for forces operating in northern areas. The country sees value in mobility, although this is more of a theory than a provable rule, the notion being that maneuverability will ultimately mean personnel can keep out of harm’s way. (Source: army-technology.com)
22 Apr 20. FCC and Ligado are undermining GPS – and with it, our economy and national security. Right now, the coronavirus is rightly our country’s most immediate concern. But the Federal Communications Commission has used the crisis, under the cover of darkness, to approve a long-stalled application by Ligado Networks — a proposal that threatens to undermine our global positioning system (GPS) capabilities, and with it, our national security.
The FCC granted Ligado (formerly known as LightSquared) permission to repurpose spectrum adjacent to GPS frequencies for a terrestrial cellular network — framing this proposal as essential to “winning the race to 5G.” But what Ligado has done is conflate two different and important spectrum issues: the sharing of mid-band 5G spectrum by the Department of Defense and commercial industry, and harmful interference of Ligado’s signal with the low-band GPS signals used in nearly every aspect of daily life. The result: some members of Congress, members of the administration, and the public are now confused about the real and immediate impacts of Ligado’s proposal.
So, we wanted to clarify things: domestic 5G development is critical to our economic competiveness against China and for our national security. The Pentagon is committed working with government and industry to share mid-band spectrum where and when it makes sense to ensure rapid roll-out of 5G.
[Editor’s note: C4ISRNET first broke the news that the FCC would move forward with Ligado’s request on April 10.]
The problem here is that Ligado’s planned usage is not in the prime mid-band spectrum being considered for 5G — and it will have a significant risk of interference with GPS reception, according to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The signals interference Ligado’s plan would create could cost taxpayers and consumers billions of dollars and require the replacement of current GPS equipment just as we are trying to get our economy back on its feet quickly — and the FCC has just allowed this to happen.
Think of all the ways Americans use GPS each and every day. GPS satellites provide free precise timing and navigation that powers thousands of functions: making financial transactions at our banks, keeping the lights on in our homes, traveling around the country — the list goes on and on. Studies show GPS satellites contribute at least $1bn to our economy every single day. GPS also forms the backbone of countless military operations and applications — to get supplies to our war fighters on the battlefield, guide unmanned aircraft and vehicles, target its precision weapons, and much more.
It would be practically impossible to identify and repair or replace all of the potentially adversely affected receivers. It would “needlessly imperil [Department of Defense] GPS-dependent national security capabilities,” per Secretary Esper, putting the war fighter, U.S. Space Force, military readiness, and even the defense of our homeland at risk. American families and businesses would lose coverage or be forced to use systems from our strategic competitors, China and Russia, jeopardizing our global leadership in precision timing.
We’re not the only ones with serious concerns. Nine federal departments and agencies have completed extensive engineering tests and analyses on Ligado’s proposal; and the results are clear: Ligado’s plan would interfere with millions of GPS receivers across the nation. The Departments of Defense, Commerce, Interior, Justice, Homeland Security, Energy, and Transportation — as well as NASA, the National Science Foundation, the Coast Guard and the Federal Aviation Administration — all strongly object to Ligado’s plan. What kind of precedent is the FCC setting by disregarding near unanimous opposition of federal agencies to this proposal?
It’s not just the government, either — industry leaders representing GPS, satellite communications services, automotive companies, commercial aviation, and weather data have also voiced concerns over Ligado’s proposal.
We would expect that the FCC listen not just to Ligado’s privately funded research, but also broad-based, in-depth research from experts in national security and other fields. This makes it all the more confusing — why is the FCC ignoring all the evidence, especially now, at the height of a global crisis?
The Ligado application highlights the need to use a technical, data-driven approach to balance the use of the spectrum between war fighter requirements and commercial needs, rather than strong-arming a proposal through the process like the FCC just did. We can expect this issue to be an ongoing national security challenge. If we want to strike a responsible balance moving forward, the U.S. government must modernize the infrastructure needed to manage and share spectrum efficiently, promote policy and technology innovation, and improve the ability of military systems to operate alongside commercial systems.
Considering the risks, it’s clear the FCC commissioners made the wrong decision regarding Ligado’s plan, which will set a disastrous precedent while impeding ongoing work on spectrum sharing. The vulnerabilities to our national and economic security are not worth the risk, particularly for a band of spectrum that isn’t necessary to secure a robust 5G network.
We encourage the FCC to withdraw its approval of Ligado’s application and take this opportunity to work with the NTIA and other federal agencies, including the Departments of Defense and Transportation, to find a solution that will both support commercial broadband expansion and protect national security assets. Moreover, we expect the FCC to resolve Department of Defense concerns before moving forward, as required by law.
If they do not, and unless President Trump intervenes to stop this from moving forward, it will be up to Congress to clean up this mess.
Senator Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., is the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., is the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., is the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, is the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee. (Source: Defense News)
21 Apr 20. AI could transform open source intelligence in the developing world. By accessing proprietary information and geotagged household data, FRAYM says it can create highly localized open source intelligence for customers, and the technology has broad national security implications.
In developed nations, there is a rich trove of data that the intelligence community can and does mine.
Valuable information can be pulled from media reports, public financial information and social media posts. Websites track user activity, and smartphones are constantly gobbling up information about their users, from geolocations to search histories and more. By using artificial intelligence tools, analysts are able to make sense of this torrent of publicly available data and turn it into usable open-source intelligence, known as OSINT.
But not every part of the world produces that vast torrent of data.
“That exists in a very small handful of places throughout the world where that doesn’t exist—basically every developing economy,” said Ben Leo, chief executive of FRAYM, a geospatial data and analytics company. “[In developing economies] you are not able to get a comprehensive and representative picture of what the population looks like through the same types of techniques that are being used in the U.S.”
The U.S. military and intelligence community are increasingly interested in leveraging OSINT for predictive analysis—after all, properly collected and processed OSINT can help warn regional commanders of upcoming political protests, political violence, extremist attacks or other kinds of security related events could take place, said Leo. Notably, the Army awarded BAE Systems a $437m task order for open source intelligence support in October.
Of course, in order to create usable and reliable OSINT, companies like FRAYM will need to create data rich analysis in data poor areas.
“What we do is we gobble up the very high quality, underutilized datasets that are out there. We bring in additional public datasets and we bring them all together using our AI/ML algorithms to produce this hyper local data at scale,” said Leo.
The company takes geotagged household data and feeds that into its machine learning algorithm, and from there it can then produce data down to a 1 km x 1 km grid level across dozens of characteristics, such as religion, ethnicity, language, age, education access, electricity, media consumption and more.
FRAYM has provided its services to the U.S. government in the past, but company officials declined to name any agencies they were currently working with or would like to work with.
In the past, he explained, there were really only two ways to make predictions in data poor areas. First, analysts could monitor events through social media. While that can help commanders understand the situation on the ground, it has very limited predictive power.
“Previously, you’ve been stuck in two worlds,” said Leo. “You’ve either been stuck in a world where ‘I’m going to monitor social media and try to apply natural language processing or other tools that will aggregate and make sense of that data so that I can try to identify a tipping point.’ When is the chatter getting to a certain point where it feels like something important is happening in a particular city? It’s too late at that point. That might be helpful for basic situational awareness, but that is not nearly as helpful or powerful for a practitioner or combatant commander than getting way left of ‘boom.’”
“When is the chatter getting to a certain point where it feels like something important is happening in a particular city? It’s too late at that point. That might be helpful for basic situational awareness, but that is not nearly as helpful or powerful for a practitioner or combatant commander than getting way left of ‘boom,’” he explained.
The other method was to basically plot out how and where events have unfolded in the past and try to find correlations that can predict future events. That, too, is very limited.
But with access to proprietary data the U.S. government does not have, Leo says his company has been able to create a unique source of OSINT for data starved areas.
“This is the first time that this kind of very comprehensive and rich data has been brought to bear in developing markets. Basically, anywhere where there is not a data identity-centric ecosystem, FRAYM brings a tremendous set of powerful solutions to the marketplace,” said Leo. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
21 Apr 20. GAO reveals lack of cybersecurity strategies at four agencies. Four cabinet departments are working on improving coordination between their cybersecurity and risk-management teams. (ipopba/Getty Images)
Four Cabinet-level agencies are working to finalize risk-management strategies and improve internal cybersecurity coordination by this fall at the behest of the Government Accountability Office, according to new reports released by the watchdog this month.
According to the “priority open recommendations” reports, which detail the GAO’s top unimplemented recommendations to an agency, the departments of Agriculture, Education, State and the Interior aim to create enterprise risk-management frameworks and improve coordination between cybersecurity management teams and enterprise risk-management teams.
A July 2019 GAO report found the Department of Agriculture needed to implement a cybersecurity risk-management strategy to fully complete its cybersecurity risk-management program.
According to the open recommendation for USDA, the current program was missing “key elements such as a statement of risk tolerance and how the agency intends to assess, respond to, and monitor cyber risks.”
As of February, USDA told GAO that it is developing a plan to integrate risk-management practices into its cybersecurity program. The department was also working to increase coordination between its enterprise risk-management team and cybersecurity team.
The GAO also found in July that the Department of the Interior hadn’t fully established its enterprise risk-management (ERM) structure or laid out a plan to coordinate cybersecurity risk management with the ERM team. Interior officials told the GAO in January that the department plans to complete the effort by July 31, 2020.
“Given the increasing number and sophistication of cyber threats facing federal agencies, it is critical that agencies be well positioned to make consistent, informed, risk-based decisions in protecting their systems and information against these threats,” GAO officials wrote to the Department of the Interior. “The inconsistent establishment of cybersecurity risk management practices can be partially attributed to challenges agencies identify in establishing and implementing their cybersecurity risk management programs.”
The Department of Education, meanwhile, updated its cybersecurity risk-management framework in March to include its risk appetite and tolerance. However, the GAO found, the updated framework doesn’t define “in detail” acceptable risk response strategies and how they are selected. The department told the GAO this would be updated by Aug. 21.
The State Department also hadn’t created a coordination process between its cybersecurity risk-management and enterprise risk-management functions. The department told the GAO that coordination does occur, though it was unable to produce evidence. The GAO said the department is working to update policy and procedures, but there was no concrete timeline.
At the both the State Department and USDA, the GAO found they weren’t adequately labeling appropriate codes in IT and cyber-related jobs. The GAO recommended to both agencies that they implement the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education’s work role codes that would more reliably identify agencies’ critical workforce needs.
USDA told the GAO it plans to complete the work by the fall, while the State Department is “reviewing” its policies.
“Assigning work roles that are inconsistent with IT, cybersecurity, and cyber-related positions diminishes the reliability of the information State needs to improve workforce planning,” the GAO wrote to the State Department. (Source: Fifth Domain)
20 Apr 20. Warrant officers should be the next cyber operators. Georgia Army National Guard Capt. George Allen, a network engineer, takes the drivers seat for Team National Guard during the U.S. Army’s ‘Cyber Center of Excellence’, Fort Gordon, Ga. (Staff Sgt. Tracy J. Smith / Georgia Army National Guard)
Our proposal is straight forward.
There is too much turnover among non-commissioned officer (NCO)/enlisted cyber operators to match the expanding need for a highly qualified and technically cognizant cyber force. But there are lessons to be learned from other military career fields, which there is a high educational and technical investment upfront (Think of Army aviation or the medical field.) We propose that the cyber force, instead of relying on NCO/enlisted operators, replace these positions with warrant officers with a longer initial time commitment, higher return on the initial investment, and the potential for consolidating organizational knowledge in a more mission effective way.
We propose that there should be an option for immediate entry into the cyber operator WO track. Relied on as technical experts, WOs usually are drawn from the midgrade and senior NCO ranks. In the same way as in aviation, not everyone will have the whole kit to be successful, but for those who have what it takes, the Army would benefit from a six-year commitment instead of a three-year commitment. The proposed model mimics the Army aviation model of “street to seat,” where able high school graduates can pursue an Army aviation career without any prior military service and go directly to Warrant Officer Flight School. This model would also enable stricter tailoring of what skillsets the force wants at the point of entry, and it offers enough time to modify and upgrade skillsets. It allows more freedom for talent management incentives. The cyber operators of the 2020s and beyond will face increased technical complexity, accelerated decision cycles, and shorter time frames to grasp what’s happening. In our view, that does not lend itself to enlisted/NCOs that are rapidly cycled through the system.
Why is this an issue – and what are we trying to solve?
The return on investment to train enlisted personnel to become cyber operators could be improved. The retention of cyber NCO who are operators is too low, as many seek opportunities outside of DOD directly after their first contractual obligation of three years. If it takes 15 months to train an enlisted cyber operator, including basic training from enlistment, and they phase out under their last three months, that means for half of their three-year tenure, they are not a contributing part of the cyber force. If we add other disruptions such as organization changes, retraining, and change of duty station, the actual productive time might be even far less.
Cyber is fast-moving and ever-changing, which requires a technical expert with longevity. Threat intelligence and the ability to understand the modus operandi of an adversary require experience. The adversary, even if supported by automated processes, is governed by human minds, with preferred tactics and techniques, which lend themselves to early identification and interception. These skills require, in a best case scenario, more exposure to the cyber operational environment than slightly more than a year. The argument against this is that operators should not make decisions. That argument fails, because if the operator is not able to identify and assess what is happening, then there is no relevant feedback loop to any leader. The whole mission team is stuck in a fog of war, filled with confusion and illusion.
Understandably, NCO/enlisted cyber operators seek to leave the Army for higher-paying jobs in the civilian job market after their three-year obligation to serve. The all-volunteer force provides that option. Future cyber operators will face a different civilian cybersecurity job market with increasing competition from cybersecurity majors from universities and IT-professionals that have retailored their careers, which increases the supply of cybersecurity professionals.
Our increased longevity might provide future veterans a 30 to a 50-year civilian career. The cyber WO leaving after six years would then be better positioned for a more competitive job market, ensuring higher lifelong earnings, and having a significant advantage over those who leave the Army after three years as well as civilian graduates. The change from enlisted/NCO cyber operators to WO cyber operators is a win-win, for the contracted individual, the mission, and the Army. (Source: Fifth Domain)
20 Apr 20. Swift Tactical Systems and Silvus Technologies Form Strategic Alliance. Swift Tactical Systems, a subsidiary of Swift Engineering, and Silvus Technologies have entered into a strategic alliance. This collaboration combines Swift’s world-class unmanned aircraft systems with Silvus’ advanced MIMO communication systems for tactical applications.
The commercial agreement will enable Swift to integrate the locally manufactured radios into its family of American made UAVs, allowing Swift to accelerate its product roadmap and the delivery of its government contracts. The combined systems will bolster both commercial and advanced military missions, as well as research and development for future applications.
“Swift Tactical Systems is utilizing Silvus radios to support complex missions and RF requirements, enabling our suite of unmanned systems to pull C2, telemetry, and all of our sensor data for reliable, unparalleled datalink capabilities. The flexibility and adaptability of Silvus Technologies will enable us to accelerate the delivery of our UAVs for highly sensitive missions,” says Alex Echeverria, Vice President of Swift Tactical Systems.
Swift recently won a multi-agency unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) contract with the Commonwealth of the Bahamas to support Bahamas Ministry of National Security, Law Enforcement, Immigration, and Customs Agencies. The program will utilize 55 short and medium-range drones to accelerate The Bahamas’ mandate to fight crime, curb drug and gun trafficking, illegal immigration, human trafficking, and poaching.
“Swift is a strong, strategic partner of Silvus who’s systems not only support warfighter activities, but infrastructure and surveillance support for the Bahamas. A Swift unmanned system integrated with Silvus Streamcaster will increase the situational awareness of Bahamian agencies, and the beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) structures and installations that need surveillance. We are proud to contribute to this incredibly talented Swift team,” says Kasey Cooper, Director of Unmanned Systems for Silvus Technologies.
Swift plans to use the radios on other projects, including its High-Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) aircraft, which is currently under development in a project with NASA. (Source: UAS VISION)
20 Apr 20. Association of Old Crows (AOC) Opposes FCC Authorization of Spectrum License to Ligado. Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted unanimously to authorize Ligado Networks LLC to provide a mobile broadband network using frequencies adjacent to those used for GPS, a National Security System. The Association of Old Crows (AOC) sides with the US Department of Defense (DoD) and strongly opposes this approval of the license. While we recognize that Ligado has made certain accommodations to alleviate concerns about interference and disruption, the accommodations may still be insufficient and the potential costs – both financially and technologically – to the DoD and other federal agencies remain high. The AOC believes the risks identified by the DoD may not be sufficiently mitigated and there is a need for more testing to ensure the fidelity of GPS systems in coexistence with the new broadband network. The US military is heavily reliant on the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) to conduct any and every military operation around the world, including domestic military training and national security support to other US federal agencies. Military superiority in the EMS Domain is a prerequisite for successful military operations. In an era of timing and precision, global connectivity, and multi-function technology, even the slightest interference or disruption of GPS signals can have cascading adverse effects across a broad range of military systems and capabilities.
The license in question has evolved since 2011 when testing on Ligado’s (formerly LightSquared) wireless broadband service proposal found significant disruption of most general-purpose approved GPS receivers. AOC first raised concerns about these findings in a 2011 press release in which the AOC stated that, “[d]ue to global dependence upon the GPS system, reliable access to GPS frequencies must be protected and managed as a National resource and no longer simply as a commercial opportunity.” Little has changed since then. Unfortunately, the FCC moved forward without the full cooperation and support of the DoD. This decision sets a precedent and the FCC should have ensured the decision represented full stakeholder cooperation and a proper balance between commercial benefit and operational efficacy.
The AOC unequivocally supports DoD’s position stated in the Memorandum for IRAC Chairman dated February 14, 2020 and signed by 13 leading national security stakeholders. Specifically, the Memorandum states, “It is DoD’s position that FCC approval of Ligado’s license modification would cause unacceptable operational impacts to the warfighter and adversely affect the military potential of GPS by negatively impacting GPS receivers. Ligado’s proposed accommodations of identifying and then repairing or replacing potentially impacted legacy equipment is not feasible, affordable or technically executable given the vast number of systems implicated, including critical national security and weapon systems. Accordingly, DoD remains strongly opposed to granting the license modification sought by Ligado.”
While the AOC recognizes the tremendous economic potential of advances in 5G telecommunications and the need for DoD to modernize its policies and processes to strengthen investment in military solutions that keep pace with commercial technology, the decision by the FCC is short-sighted. It unnecessarily increases risk to a critical military network and capability and does not sufficiently cement the US as a leader in 5G network development. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
17 Apr 20. FCC has votes to approve spectrum plan Pentagon rejected. The Federal Communications Commission has enough votes to approve a long-standing application from Ligado Networks to operate in the L-band spectrum, overriding concerns from the Department of Defense and other government agencies which were worried the company’s plan will cause damage to the Global Positioning System, sources said April 17.
The commission’s three Republican members have voted to back the measure, sources said.
The vote is the latest in an almost decade-long fight between the Pentagon and Ligado, previously known as LightSquared. C4ISRNET first broke the news that the FCC would move forward with Ligado’s request on April 10.
In a statement late in the evening of April 17, a Pentagon spokesman reiterated the department’s complaints.
“Americans rely on our Global Positioning System (GPS) each day for many things: to locate citizens in need of emergency assistance through our E-911 system, to secure our financial system, to order and receive shipments, to travel by car for work and leisure, to facilitate commercial trucking and construction work, and even to make a simple cellphone call,” the statement read. “Our Departments rely on GPS each day for all those reasons as well to coordinate tactical national security operations, launch spacecraft, track threats, and facilitate travel by air and sea. The proposed Ligado decision by the Federal Communications Commission will put all these uses of GPS at risk. That’s why our Departments – and almost a dozen other federal agencies – are strongly opposed to the Ligado proposal and have asked for its denial.”
Sources told C4ISRNET that the push to consider the effort came from the White House, led by Larry Kudlow’s White House National Economic Council. Kudlow has expressed interest in the economic benefits of expanding the nation’s 5G capabilities. In addition, Attorney General Bill Barr has been a vocal supporter of Ligado’s bid, which he views as a way to grow America’s 5G capabilities to challenge China.
“Freeing up L-band spectrum for use in tandem with the C-band, as the Chairman proposes, should greatly reduce the cost and time it will take to deploy 5G throughout the country and would be a major step toward preserving our economic future,” Barr said in a Thursday statement. “I hope the full Commission moves forward quickly.”
L-band is described as the range of frequencies between 1 to 2 GHz. GPS, and other international navigation systems, rely on L-band because it can easily penetrate clouds, fog, rain and vegetation. Ligado owns a license to operate the spectrum near GPS to build what the firm describes as a 5G network that would boost connectivity for the industrial “internet of things” market. The company uses the SkyTerra-1 satellite, which launched in 2010 and is in geostationary orbit, and it has planned to deploy thousands of terminals to provide connectivity in the continental United States.
Over the years, Ligado officials have argued their system would use less spectrum, have lower power levels and reduce out-of-channel emissions. In the face of complaints from major commercial GPS companies such as Garmin and John Deere, Ligado has also offered to reduce the amount of spectrum it had initially planned. The company has also said it will work with government agencies to repair and replace equipment if necessary.
Those arguments have been dismissed by the Defense Department, which has focused on potential interference to the GPS network that could come from Ligado’s plans. As recently as March 24, defense leaders were sending letters to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), letters that were not made public, despite a request from the DoD, until they were reported on by C4ISRNET.
While the Pentagon has been the most vocal in its opposition to Ligado’s plan, it was hardly alone. A letter sent from the Air Force on Feb. 20 opposing Ligado’s plan was co-signed by the departments of Commerce, Interior, Justice, Homeland Security, Energy and Transportation, as well as NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Science Foundation.
The Aerospace Industries Association trade group also issued a statement April 16, saying the FCC’s decision to move forward with Ligado’s plan “disregards the serious concerns raised by various government agencies about the harmful impacts to GPS. We urge the FCC to reject the Chairman’s proposal and adequately protect the GPS network that underpins our nation’s military operations and the safety of our airspace.”
In the last week, bipartisan opposition to the application grew in Congress. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, the committee’s ranking member, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the House Armed Services Committee chair, and Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, the ranking member of the HASC, all issued statements against the proposal as did Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee, and Rep. John Garamendi, D-Califorinia, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee subcommittee on readiness.
After the FCC announced plans to hold a vote on Ligado, Thornberry issued a second statement, indicating the potential for Congress to attempt to block the move.
“We must advance 5G development, but this is not the way to do it. The FCC cannot be allowed to overrule the unanimous opinion of America’s national security leaders,” said Thornberry, who is retiring after this year. “If they do, Congress should immediately revisit and revise their authority.” (Source: Defense News)
16 Apr 20. Covid-19: Pentagon networks under increased attack during mandatory telework. The Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) classified and unclassified networks are facing an increase in attempted breaches and cyber attacks, as the majority of Pentagon and service-centric operations shift online due to the department’s efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
Joint Force Headquarters for the Department of Defense’s Information Network (JFHQ-DODIN) has been monitoring cyber threats to the Pentagon’s digital communication networks in the weeks after department employees were ordered to telework, US Air Force Lieutenant General Bradford Shwedo, chief information officer for the Joint Staff, said.
“There has been a surge in spear-phishing [attacks] related to Covid-19,” Lt Gen Shwedo told reporters during a 13 April briefing at the Pentagon, noting that cyber-security officials had anticipated the surge in such attacks, and that many spear-phishing campaigns look to “exploit current events to produce convincing products … and right now, Covid-19 is an emphasis item”.
Targets of the spear-phishing attacks cut across all levels and directorates within the Pentagon, with hackers using a shotgun blast approach in distributing spear-phishing malware across department networks, Lt Gen Shwedo said. He declined to identify specific, senior-level targets of the spear-phishing campaigns but did note that cyber-security officials were gaining more insight into the origins of the attempted breaches and means through which they are being launched.
Cyber-security initiatives by the Joint Staff, focused on addressing threats tied to accelerated telework, are aligned with ongoing cyber-security measures by US Cyber Command and the National Security Agency to mitigate future attacks while gathering intelligence on the adversaries carrying them out.
“We are getting better and better at getting their [tactics, techniques, and procedures] and finding out where these threat vectors are coming from,” the three-star general said. The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) is pushing new anti-malware programs and system updates onto the department’s networks, in a bid to curb spear-phishing and other types of cyber attacks. (Source: Jane’s)
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