Under a joint pilot program, verifying the security of mobile application software for use within the federal government no longer needs to be time consuming or expensive. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), working with a partnership within the NSA, automated the process to determine if apps meet the agency’s National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP) protection profile.
DHS
June 22, 2020
Under a $23 million, five-year contract, Westminster, Colorado-based Maxar Technologies is developing an analytics system for characterizing and tracking the behavior of vehicles in multiple domains at scale and in near-real-time for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the company reported on June 22.
June 18, 2020
AV3 Inc., Mechanicsville, Maryland, is awarded a $9,770,558 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract procures the audio and visual video teleconference equipment for the integration of specialized network video teleconference systems in support of the integrated command, control and intelligence divisions of the Joint Staff and combatant commanders, Department of Defense agencies and services, and Department of Homeland Security operational and support components. Work will be performed in Mechanicsville, Maryland, and supports the command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. Work is expected to be complete by June 2022.
June 3, 2020
Ten states and Washington, D.C., held primaries on June 2 as part of this year’s presidential and local election cycle. Along with other federal stakeholders, the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, known as CISA, has the role of helping to protect American’s confidence in the voting process by providing cybersecurity and a secure voting infrastructure.
April 15, 2020
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the State, Treasury and Homeland Security departments issued a detailed 12-page advisory on April 15 alerting the nation to an increased threat of malicious cyber activity by North Korea. The U.S. government’s advisory warned financial entities in particular of aggressive action by North Korea intended to harm the financial system, as well as threats to critical infrastructure.
April 1, 2020
Daily cyber attacks and other threats naturally take up the short-term attention of many governmental agencies, but there is a need for a more strategic look at risks to the nation’s critical infrastructure. A center within the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, is charged with examining how to address concerns in the long-term.
March 25, 2020
How the U.S. government responded to the vulnerabilities created by anti-virus software and other products from Russia’s AO Kaspersky Laboratories is an important demarcation point in the growing awareness of and need for supply chain trust and assurance. Before that, conversations regarding supply chain risk management “were sort of siloed off to the side,” explains Daniel Kroese, acting deputy assistant director for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s National Risk Management Center at the Department of Homeland Security.
March 25, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic, which to date has sickened tens of thousands of Americans and killed hundreds, is testing the viability of the FirstNet network in ways never seen before. The exponential increase in the number of cases in the country is pulling in more and more emergency medical services personnel, police officers, firefighters and other public safety officials, often in more remote areas, who all need real-time data exchange, network connectivity and communication tools.
January 22, 2020
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) awarded a $704,000 research-and-development (R&D) contract to Atlanta-based Georgia Tech Applied Research Center (GTARC) to support trustmark framework efforts to aid the public safety community’s information sharing and safeguarding capabilities, DHS reported. The GTARC R&D project will specifically address the lack of mature software tools to support the trustmark framework’s primary use-cases, such as emergency communications interoperability.
January 17, 2020
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported on January 17 that its Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate had completed the final integration of a smart city technology pilot in St. Louis as part of a program designed to enhance overall public safety and streamline operations across the city’s departments.
“This final rollout event, which included a series of tabletop exercises and operational scenarios, demonstrated how these technologies could be leveraged by first responders, emergency managers and other city officials in real-life events, such as floods, fires or earthquakes,” the DHS indicated.
November 13, 2019
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has awarded $159,040 to Learning Machine Technologies Inc. to develop blockchain security technology to prevent credential fraud.
October 25, 2019
Falls Church, Virginia-based General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) will provide priority telecommunications services (PTS) to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under a new contract with the DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) Emergency Communications Division (ECD), the company stated in an October 25 announcement. The single-award contract was awarded to CSRA LLC, a managed affiliate of GDIT. The value of the contract is capped at $325 million and includes a base period of one year with four one-year options. “We are honored to continue our journey supporting DHS’ next-generation telecommunications,” said Vice President Brian Michl, general manager of GDIT’s DHS Sector.
October 18, 2019
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is launching its latest S&T Impact Series case study, one that highlights many of the precautions and actions the department is taking to strengthen the nation’s cyber capabilities.
October 3, 2019
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) awarded $199,680 to Bastille Networks, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia. Under the Phase 4 award of S&T’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program’s (SVIP’s) “Security for the Internet of Things” solicitation, the company will provide its Internet of Things (IoT) security solution, which will enable system administrators to gain real-time situational awareness of threats on connected devices, according to the agency.
September 30, 2019
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) awarded $200,000 to CryptoMove, Inc., to support the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) security. CryptoMove is a start-up company in San Mateo, California, and is developing capabilities to protect CBP sUAS platforms from malicious actors. It uses a dynamic defense system and data fragmentation approach for the sUAS platforms, which is embedded in all levels of the technology architecture. The technology offers automated system resilience for connected devices, DHS reported.
September 27, 2019
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) awarded $143,478 to Danube Tech GmbH, a company based in Vienna, Austria, to develop blockchain security technology, the agency reported in a statement. The award was made under S&T’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP) Other Transaction Solicitation Preventing Forgery and Counterfeiting of Certificates and Licenses. The agency has identified blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) as a priority solution fors DHS missions.
September 3, 2019
Herndon, Virginia-based ManTech secured a five-year, $325 million, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Procurement Operations to support a Science & Technology Directorate requirement to provide Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance support, according to a company statement.
“As our nation confronts rising challenges from hostile states and criminal hackers, we are Bringing Digital to the Mission at DHS in innovative ways that advance their strategic and tactical goals while safeguarding vital IT [information technology] and network assets end-to-end.”said Kevin Phillips, president and CEO of ManTech.
August 27, 2019
The Department of Homeland Security’s new Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, known as CISA, is charged with coordinating the protection of America’s critical infrastructure from cyber as well as physical attacks. Director Christopher Krebs recently released the agency’s top operational priorities. CISA, which was created in November 2018, will initially tackle supply chain risks, election security and industrial control system security, among other measures, according to the document, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency: Strategic Intent.
