DHS

As emerging technologies and capabilities permeate and dominate the military and critical infrastructure, a different skill set is required to secure the increasingly complex cyberspace realm. The Internet of Things will be both an asset and a liability in the future when the military incorporates it into operations, and urban environments will complicate these efforts.

Cyber warfare continues to evolve with ever-changing innovation and technology, increasing critical infrastructure defense. In addition, with the onset of smart cities, the U.S. military in general, and the U.S. Army in particular, is exploring gaps in training and education related to operating in dense, super-connected urban areas.

Data Intelligence LLC,* Marlton, New Jersey, is awarded a $12,584,840 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide cybersecurity and security engineering-related services to the Department of Defense, National Guard Bureau and Department of Homeland Security. This two-year contract includes one, three-year option period which, if exercised, would bring the potential value of this contract to an estimated $31,832,280. Work will be performed in Marlton, New Jersey (25%) and in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (75%), and work is expected to be completed June 18, 2021. If the option is exercised, work will continue through June 18, 2024. No funds will be obligated at the time of award.

Yemi Oshinnaiye has been appointed deputy chief information officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Citizenship and Immigration Services.

VT Halter Marine Inc., Pascagoula, Mississippi, is awarded a $745,940,860 fixed-price incentive-firm contract for the detail design and construction of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Polar Security Cutter (PSC) (formerly the Heavy Polar Ice Breaker). The PSC program is a multiple year Department of Homeland Security Level 1 investment and a USCG major system acquisition to acquire up to three multi-mission PSCs to recapitalize the USCG fleet of heavy icebreakers which have exhausted their design service life. The PSC’s mission will be to ensure continued access to both polar regions and support the country’s economic, commercial, maritime, and national security needs.

The number of unmanned aerial vehicles in the sky is expected to triple this decade. The need to find or manage drones in the sky, especially adversarial drones, will correspondingly grow, experts say.

In response, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate, through its research and development, is developing capabilities to improve the management of vulnerabilities that drones present, the department recently announced.

Officials with the U.S. Defense Department and Department of Homeland Security recently signed a memorandum of understanding outlining a partnership that will allow the Defense Department to take a greater role in sharing intelligence and proactively defending the nation’s critical infrastructure, including next week’s mid-term election.

The Defense Department’s unique role in assessing foreign threats means that it often has information that could benefit the other departments and agencies, the defense industrial base and others with a role in defending the nation’s critical infrastructure.

Over the last decade, emergency responders have increasingly relied on robots to assist with public safety functions that may be too dangerous for humans. Autonomous systems can perform search and rescue tasks, provide decision support, transport medical supplies, extinguish fires, map disaster areas or accomplish other important rescue functions.

The Department of Homeland Security has awarded a $668 million contract to ​Herndon, Virginia-based ManTech in support of DHS' Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) Dynamic and Evolving Federal Enterprise Network Defense (DEFEND) program, the company reported. Under the new six-year agreement, ManTech will serve as the prime contractor providing CDM capabilities and support to the department and the 9 agencies assigned to CDM Group E, to strengthen their cybersecurity posture and improve their ability to rapidly respond to today’s rising threat of cyberattack.

Just as methodical programs to improve emergency communications interoperability are building up speed, new technologies threaten to derail the entire effort. Emergency responders find that new mobile systems bring valuable capabilities, such as enhanced data access, and they embrace these technologies eagerly. But the advanced communications systems often do not mesh with each other as well as traditional broadband radio links, and their innovative approaches pose new challenges.