FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Government’s cybersecurity Achilles Heel. Contributor Marc Selinger reports, “The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is putting a spotlight on cybersecurity threats to federal buildings. In response, it is developing a strategy to thwart potential cyber attacks against electronic card readers, heating equipment and a host of other computerized “building and access control systems” at thousands of federal facilities. The department, which expects to complete the document by May 29 . . . .”
2. Internet Explorer: the forensics. Contributor Ashley LaGanga reports, “Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (“IE”) suffers unique challenges, prompting some users to select an alternate browser. . . . Last April, the Department of Homeland Security warned IE users to switch internet browsers until a grave security failure was resolved. The flaw allowed hackers to bypass protections in the Windows operating system and thus access users’ personal information. Few bugs have prompted the government to publically endorse one web browser over another.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Teaming with India to offset China. DoD Buzz’s Richard Sisk reports, “Tucked away in a new defense deal with India was an agreement for the U.S. to aid India in fielding aircraft carriers that China views as a threat. As part of a Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) signed by President Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, the U.S. agreed to ‘form a working group to explore aircraft carrier technology sharing and design.’ Under the agreement, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said that ‘we will begin to realize the enormous potential of the U.S.-India defense industrial partnership. We have further strengthened this partnership with an agreement that will allow us to continue science and technology collaboration for the next 15 years.’”
2. Bad news for ISIS, perhaps. Christian Science Monitor’s Dan Murphy reports, “If the battle for Kobane has truly been won, it would be among the most significant successes against the group so far. Control of the town would have given IS a nearly unbroken swathe of territory along Syria’s northern border, facilitating the flow of fresh fighters and supplies from Turkey and cutting off its enemies in the area from the same kind of support.” See also from Rudaw, “Kurdish leaders call for more Turkish help in the fight against ISIS.”
3. Boko Haram taking Nigeria. The Long War Journal’s Laura Grossman reports, “As Nigeria’s battle with Boko Haram pushes forward, its success may well be dependent upon the support it receives from its regional allies and other international partners, including the United States. Given both the Nigerian military’s poor track record against the terrorist outfit, local security forces are in need international support.”
4. Sequestered to death. Defense Media Activity’s Lisa Ferdinando reports, “Sequestration is ‘absolutely crazy,’ will hurt national security and make it ‘impossible’ for the United States to meet its global commitments, according to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The world has changed dramatically since sequestration was passed into law in the Budget Control Act of 2011, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said.” See also from ExecutiveGov, “US Army readiness, training in danger if sequestration returns in 2016.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Free market wins in space. Quartz’s Tim Fernholz reports, “SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket company, announced a settlement with the Air Force, ending a lawsuit that accused the military of unfairly awarding an $11 billion launch contract to United Launch Alliance, a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture that is the sole contract provider of space access to the US military. . . . While the lawsuit failed to re-open the competition for ULA’s block-buy contract, it does seem to have eased SpaceX’s way into the lucrative spy-satellite business.”
2. Science of decision-making. Defense Systems reports, “The military is making ever-expanding use of simulations in large-scale training exercises, tying together air and ground forces in scattered locations to create an overall operational picture. The Office of Naval Research, however, also wants to think small, particularly with regard to decision-making at the small unit infantry level. ONR has issued a solicitation calling for white papers and full proposals for developing Small Unit Decision Making (SUDM) training systems that focus on the infantry squad personnel and operations of dismounted Marines.” Review the solicitation, “Accelerating the Development of Small Unit Decision Making (ADSUDM).”
3. $7 million for Northrop Grumman 2-color IR sensors. Military Aerospace Editor John Keller reports, “Officials of the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., awarded a $7 million delivery order to the Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems segment in Rolling Meadows, Ill., to start installing two-color infrared sensors in the P-8’s AN/AAQ-24 Directional Infrared Countermeasures (DIRCM) system.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Rethinking cybersecurity. Breaking Defense’s Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. reports, “Improving security on embedded systems is just part of a larger rethinking of cybersecurity across the entire department [of Defense]. With embedded systems, engineers once imagined that chips built into weapons systems were protected by their isolation: They weren’t on a network, so they weren’t vulnerable to attack. With networked systems, engineers focused on firewalls, anti-virus software, and other perimeter defenses to keep the enemy out of the network. In both cases, the strategy was keeping the enemy out—but that’s no longer enough.”
2. Defeating the drones. Defense One’s Patrick Tucker reports, “There are plenty of ways to knock a drone out of the sky, everything from surface to air missiles to hunter-killer robots to, yes, lasers. But for a cheap off-the-shelf drones operating off a simple radio or Wi-Fi signal, the best method is simple jamming.”
3. Spies charged. Reuters’ Jonathan Stempel and Nate Raymond report, “The U.S. government on Monday unveiled criminal charges against three men for their alleged involvement in a Russian spy ring operating in New York City. Evgeny Buryakov, Igor Sporyshev and Victor Podobnyy conspired to gather economic intelligence on behalf of Russia, including information about U.S. sanctions against the country, and to recruit New York City residents as intelligence sources, prosecutors said.”
4. The insider threat. Federal Times’ Aaron Boyd reports, “A survey of 200 federal IT managers and decision makers showed data breaches due to careless and untrained insiders is the top cybersecurity concern, but that is not reflected in their spending. External threats still get the lion’s share of investment.”
5. CIA’s Jeffrey Sterling convicted. Washington Examiner reports, “An ex-CIA officer was convicted Monday of leaking details of a secret Iranian operation to a New York Times reporter. Jeffrey Sterling, 47, was convicted of all nine counts he faced in federal court after a two-week-long trial. The basis of the trial originated from a 2006 book by journalist James Risen titled State of War, which depicted a mission to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions by giving the country deliberately flawed nuclear weapons blueprints to use . . . .”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. $889 billion – sold to the Kochs! “The Koch brothers’ operation intends to spend $889 million in the run-up to the 2016 elections — a historic sum that in many ways would mark Charles and David Koch and their fellow conservative megadonors as more powerful than the official Republican Party. The figure, which more than doubles the amount spent by the Republican National Committee during the last presidential election cycle, prompted cheers from some in the GOP who are looking for all the help they can get headed into a potentially tough 2016 election landscape.”
2. Romney wins Pelosi’s support. “Mitt Romney has attracted an unlikely supporter in his possible 2016 White House bid: Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Asked if Romney has any shot at defeating Hillary Clinton in 2016, Pelosi told The Hill, ‘No, no. I mean, he might be a nice person—no offense, no offense—[but] let’s save you time.’ A smiling Pelosi added, ‘Let me put it this way—I hope he’s their nominee.’ Romney, who ran unsuccessfully in the 2008 Republican primary before being defeated handily by President Obama in 2012, is now weighing a third shot at the White House in 2016. The former Massachusetts governor has been calling donors to size up support he retains after two failed bids.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “What Dempsey Wants In New War Powers To Fight ISIS.” Defense One contributor Micah Zenko argues, “The Senate and House armed services and foreign affairs committees are planning to hold hearings in the next few months about what an AUMF focused on ISIL would look like. If it resembles the unbounded and infinite Congressional authorization that Gen. Dempsey has outlined, that would indeed send a powerful signal to the world about America’s desire to remain in a state of perpetual warfare.”
2. “What does an electronic open-air drug market have to do with bringing down dictators? Everything.” Reuters contributor Matthew Gault argues, “The Silk Road trial has made it harder to do illegal business online, yes. But it also has weakened dissident movements in countries with oppressive regimes. For millions of activists using Tor, the Internet is no longer safe.”
3. “Russia Is Turning Into a Rogue State.” The Moscow Times contributor Alexander Golts argues, “Kremlin officials believe that the ‘weak’ leaders of the United States and Western Europe cannot countenance seeing women and children die under the hail of Grad rocket fire and will agree to Russia’s demands in order to put a stop to the bloodshed. And this points to perhaps the most important factor making Russia a rogue state: The Kremlin is willing to pay for its ambitions and prejudices with people’s lives.”
THE FUNNIES
1. Fair is fair
3. Kick me
