National & World Headlines
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When the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency says it\'s ramping up a new Transformer program, they\'re not talking about transferring AC to DC.... They mean transformers, like the toys, turned movie heroes. Only in the case of DARPA, it\'s flying cars. DARPA says their Transformer program will attempt to combine the advantages of ground vehicles and helicopters into a single vehicle. Six vendors will participate in a 12-month effort to develop a robust ground vehicle that can transform into an air vehicle that can take-off and land vertically. It should be able to efficiently travel 250 nautical miles on land and in the air, or any combination, without a dedicated pilot, while carrying up to 1,000 pounds. The benefits to warfighters would be numerous, including better resupply operations and quicker medical evacuations.
October 25, 2010 -
For years, the biggest renewable-energy project in the Air Force was a 140-acre solar array at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. It produces about 14-point-2 megawatts of electricity annually. Air Force engineers are now set to outdo that project with plans to build three new larger solar arrays by the year 2013.Officials at the Davis Monthan and Luke Air Force Bases in Arizona are planning even larger solar arrays to be constructed, owned, and operated by SunEdison Company. The Davis Monthan project is expected to generate 14-and-a-half megawatts of solar energy, delivering 35-percent of that bases energy needs. Meantime, officials at Luke have teamed up with the Arizona Public Service Company to build a 15-megawatt solar array on 100 acres of under-utilized base property. That project could produce enough energy to satisfy half of the base\'s energy needs, potentially saving up to 10 million dollars on utility bills over the next quarter-century.
October 25, 2010 -
A team of experts has been pouring over the latest release of documents from wiki leaks. Pentagon spokesman Dave Lapan said they didn\'t reveal anything that hadn\'t already been reported. Most of the material dealt with tactical intelligence and unit level reporting of events and incidents that took place during the Iraq War. What the Pentagon has said is that Iraqis whose names that do appear in the documents are understandably at risk.
October 25, 2010 - To Improve Cybersecurity the Federal Government Must Enhance Its Partnership with the Private Sector
Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility. During National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the Administration has educated the general public about the evolving risk of cyber threats through its \"Stop. Think. Connect.\" campaign and reminded the American people, government agencies, and industry that everyone has a role to play in guarding against cyber attacks. At the same time, Administration officials have leveraged the momentum of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month to announce changes in government organizational relationships designed to enhance the security of federal information assets and networks in cyberspace, such as the Memorandum of Agreement between the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) formalizing agency roles and responsibilities for coordinating cybersecurity. One area that has received less public attention is the need for government to enhance its partnership with the private sector. Building this partnership and clarifying these roles and responsibilities is critical. The private sector\'s resources are inextricably linked to our government\'s efforts to successfully secure federal information in cyberspace for several key reasons, most notably: Much of the nation\'s cyber infrastructure is owned and operated by the private sector. Because the public, government, educational institutions, and industry rely on cyberspace, an attack against a major player in the Information Technology (IT) infrastructure sector may not be just an attack against a company. Instead, it may result in an attack against the Internet itself and may impact citizens, governments, and companies across the globe. The federal cybersecurity community must clarify the degree to which government and industry should partner to prevent, detect, and defend against these challenges Each key sector of the nation\'s Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources (CIKR) leverages cyberspace to perform mission-critical tasks.Cyberspace minimizes and, in some instances, eliminates jurisdictional, organizational, and technical boundaries of CIKR sectors (e.g., emergency services, defense industrial base, communications, government facilities, etc.). While the increased capability to share information across sectors enables private sector and government CIKR stakeholders to perform more efficiently and effectively, it also creates additional vulnerabilities in cyberspace. In order to truly be prepared to meet the challenges posed by cyber attacks that could threaten the security of multiple CIKR sectors, the federal government must enhance its partnership with private sector CIKR stakeholders There is a shortage of cybersecurity talent in government. While the Cyberspace Policy Review included the need to expand and train its workforce as a key priority, and efforts are underway toward that end, the reality is…the government can\'t do it alone. Cyber attacks are a constantly evolving, significant threat to our national security and the federal government. In the short-term, the federal government has an immediate need for a qualified, seasoned cybersecurity workforce (e.g., Information System Security Officers (ISSO), cyber strategists, security operations specialists, and program managers, etc.) and must fill these gaps by augmenting its existing workforce with the resources available in the private sector. Long-term, the federal government must assess its broader cyber workforce strategy and the role that the private sector plays in meeting mission-critical cyber requirements As September came to a close, DHS hosted Cyber Storm III- an exercise designed to test the government\'s cyber preparedness, which included participants from throughout the federal government, 11 states, 12 international partners, and 60 private sector companies. Cyber Storm III provided the opportunity to test the updated National Cyber Incident Response Plan (Interim Version, September 2010), including the roles and responsibilities of the private sector in cyber incident management. With more than 20 additional private sector participants than its preceding exercise, it also provided an unprecedented opportunity for government and the private sector to work together to solve a (fictional) cyber threat scenario. We look forward to viewing the exercise\'s after-action report and the recommendations for government to enhance its partnership with the private sector in the cybersecurity arena.
October 25, 2010 -
Across the government, chief information officers are being asked to modernize technology systems more quickly and in smaller, more modular programs -- and for less money. But what happens when your network is on a moving ship?
October 25, 2010 -
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The Defense Information Systems Agency\'s Net-Centric Enterprise Services (NCES) Program achieved its final acquisition milestone on Sept. 29
October 22, 2010 -
Agencies and industry are trading employees with specific technology skills, but in the end both need to increase the overall workforce. One expert calls for the professionalization of cybersecurity workers. Agencies are finding new ways to recruit these in-demand employees.
October 22, 2010 -
The military\'s Missile Defense Agency plan to shoot down a fake ballistic missile of the coast of Central California was not successful. The objective of the mission was for the ALTB to destroy a solid-fuel, short-range ballistic missile while its rocket motors were still thrusting. A news release from the agency says, the Terrier Black Brant target missile was launched successfully, the system acquired and tracked the target, but never transitioned to active tracking.
October 22, 2010 -
The government of Yemen is trying to put down a branch of al Qaida that has attacked Western and regional targets in the country next to oil giant Saudi Arabia. So Yemeni authorities offer a reward of $50,000 for information on the whereabouts of two Saudi \"terrorists\", Turki al-Shahrani and Ahmed al-Jasser. Yemeni aircraft bombed al Qaeda positions in southern Yemen.
October 22, 2010 -
\"Shot spotter\" is being considered for use at the Pentagon specifically to help in situations like the one that unfolded yesterday. \"Two exterior windows had been hit by gunfire,\" says Pentagon Force Protection director Steven Calvery. Shot spotter is a gunfire location and detection tool that uses acoustic sensors to determine where gunshots came from, when they were fired and it can even determine whether an automatic weapon was used.
October 22, 2010 -
The European Union should establish a three-way dialogue on security with Russia and Turkey to tackle frozen conflicts and promote stability on its eastern flank, a leading think-tank says. In a report released today, the European Council on Foreign Relations said the 27-nation EU must take more responsibility for security in its own neighborhood because the United States has its hands full dealing with Afghanistan, Iran and China and is no longer focused on Europe. The study says the current system failed to prevent wars in Kosovo and Georgia, or disruption to Europe\'s gas supplies, or to resolve a string of legacy disputes on the fringes of the former Soviet Union.
October 22, 2010 -
Rob Carey is following Dave Wennergren for a third time. Carey will become the new Defense Department deputy chief information officer as of Oct. 24,
October 21, 2010 -
The Defense Department is expanding its role by joining forces with the Department of Homeland Security to defend critical infrastructure from cyber attacks.
October 21, 2010 -
The Net-Centric Enterprise Services Program, a project of the Defense Information Systems Agency, allows secure information sharing between soldiers in the field, as well as between systems, DoD reports.
October 21, 2010