Thursday, April 25, 2024
Rick has more than 30 years of experience in covering federal policy, and has worked as an editor and reporter in such key policy areas as energy and environment, health care policy, and now cybersecurity and the tech industry. Rick is a founding member of the editorial team at Inside Cybersecurity, reporting on federal cybersecurity policies since their earliest stages, and is a regular contributor to Inside Defense.
Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks is touting the superiority of the Defense Department's data to power the artificial intelligence that will counter China's efforts for global dominance, while stressing the Pentagon's commitment to human control of emerging AI uses.
Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks stressed "speed and safety" to an audience of tech and defense industry officials as core elements of the Pentagon's strategy for integrating artificial intelligence into its operations, with the goal of upgrading the military's threat assessments and outmaneuvering adversaries.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has announced a two-year competition for the development of an AI-driven tool to identify and patch software vulnerabilities, with the intent of widespread applications throughout the economy.
Witnesses at a July 18 House Armed Services subcommittee hearing said the Defense Department must expand and accelerate its efforts to ensure the useability of massive amounts of data routinely generated by the military for the development and use of artificial intelligence technologies.
The industry-based accreditation body tasked with implementing the Pentagon's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program is reaching out to the broader contracting community for advice on how to determine whether a company has complied with the new requirements, a move that comes days after the group signed a legally binding agreement with the Defense Department on training and certifying cyber auditors.
An information technology company's adjustment to its claims about cybersecurity certification under an emerging Pentagon program reflects tensions in the marketplace, as the Defense Department aggressively pushes forward on landmark requirements and businesses strive to keep up in preparing for compliance and new clients.
The Defense Department has issued revisions to its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program, less than two months after it was released as final, to clarify requirements for encrypted data among other "administrative" changes.
Defense Department acquisition chief Ellen Lord has signed a legally binding memorandum of understanding with an industry-based accreditation body that will certify the auditors who will validate the cybersecurity practices of contractors, sources say, a move that marks a significant milestone for implementing the landmark program which will eventually affect all 300,000 defense contractors.
The Defense Department is seeking public comment on extending reporting requirements for contractors under acquisition rules related to the purchasing of information technology services and products, including measures to protect against counterfeit components that could pose cybersecurity risks.
The White House Office of Management and Budget has approved the National Institute of Standards and Technology's proposed update to data security and privacy standards central to an array of federal cybersecurity efforts, including the Pentagon's emerging certification requirements.
Defense Department acquisition Chief Information Security Officer Katie Arrington late last week said contractors will have to be certified as cyber secure before being awarded a contract, an assertion that one industry official saw as a slip in schedule from earlier DOD assertions that certifications would have to be completed at the time of bidding.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology has renumbered proposed revisions for criteria on protecting controlled unclassified information from advanced persistent threats, such as from Russia and China, a move linked to pushing out requirements that were stalled by a White House review and which are central to a Pentagon program for certifying contractors.
Pentagon acquisition officials are nearing a legally binding agreement with the industry-based accreditation body recently formed to certify auditors who will be expected to assess the cybersecurity of more than a thousand contractors this year.
The Defense Department was expecting to issue a proposed rule last year on banning contractor use of Huawei and ZTE products, but an interagency review scuttled those plans, a DOD contract official told industry representatives -- who were clamoring for a proposal rule to be issued as quickly as possible -- at a public meeting this week.
The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mark Warner (VA), is calling for passage of bipartisan legislation on securing Internet of Things devices in the wake of media reports about a malware attack on a Defense Department system which was discovered and revealed by a third-party researcher.
A Congressional Research Service report lays out specific questions for lawmakers to consider in developing policies to manage the risks to the Pentagon and military operations from next-generation 5G networks, particularly amid heightened concerns about threats from China.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology has issued final revisions to its cybersecurity standards for protecting "controlled unclassified information" by defense and other federal contractors.
The Defense Department's fiscal year 2021 budget request includes nearly $13 million for developing its landmark cybersecurity certification program, with an emphasis on "pathfinders" selected from the defense industrial base to guide requirements and services for countering cyber threats.
A federal judge in Texas has rejected China-based tech giant Huawei's challenge to a ban on government purchases of its products based on national security concerns, upholding the authority of Congress to establish the ban through the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act.
A leading industry lawyer on federal contracts is advising companies to move forward with cybersecurity audits and to adopt the use of draft standards as the Pentagon completes working on setting up its landmark certification program unveiled last month.