A significant modernization effort underway across the national electric grid is seeking a balance between strong cybersecurity capabilities and affordable protections across the sector.

The United States and its allies have at their disposal an existing defense capability that can be employed as an effective weapon at the highest levels of conflict. The West's installed base of expertise in communications electronics can be harnessed as a strategic offensive weapon to constrain nation-states that seek to bypass the overwhelming superiority that the United States and its allies possess in conventional warfare.

In last month’s column, I reported that there were 2,904 separately funded fiscal year 2012 information technology budgets. Many of these would be set up to operate their own and incompatible networking, storage, server, operating systems, middleware or control commands.

Having experienced more than a decade of hot and humid Washington, D.C., summers, I thoroughly enjoyed the pleasant start we experienced this year. Warm temperatures, cooling breezes and clear skies made for delightful days and evenings. It doesn’t get much better than that. Unfortunately, the political climate in no way resembles that pattern. The storm clouds of dissent have moved from the horizon to a perch directly overhead, and there are no clearer skies in the forecast.

A new technology aimed at finding unauthorized wireless devices on critical infrastructure networks could be fielded within a matter of months.

U.S. officials attending a United Nations meeting this month will try to sway other nations to agree to a set of international norms of behavior in the cyber realm. The U.S. approach is at odds with that preferred by Chinese and Russian officials, who argue that new treaties or international codes are needed for cyber.

Brazil is looking skyward to provide secure communications necessary for its military forces. Using SISCOMIS, the country’s national System for Military Satellite Communications network, Brazil is turning to satellite communications to play a progressively larger role in its joint military structure. Recent initiatives are seeing new terminal procurement, further hubs and two additional satellites that would join recently launched orbiters beginning in 2014. Brazil also is employing international government-to-government cooperation with France to access advanced military satellite communications technology and capabilities.

The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command recently invested almost $8 million in upgrades to current explosive ordnance disposal robots to improve their usefulness to operators. These enhancements also could benefit troops in other mission areas.

Breaking with traditional government strategies that target public perception, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has issued a new strategic plan that focuses on internal processes and goals. The strategy establishes measures of effectiveness by defining end-states that will be the targets of NGA activities, and it touches on topics ranging from work force activities to major organizational shifts.

Like a good horse for a range-roving cowboy. Like a decent hammer for a carpenter. A business developer needs tools to hunt down the right business opportunities and to efficiently engage the right clients. Several news tools have come to my attention recently and several older ones that still provide great value. This blog entry is one of several, over the next weeks, to highlight what’s available for the current BD practitioner in the federal/defense market. If you have been a BD professional for awhile and are not updated, this will help. If you’re still learning, this will be even more help. In any case, having the right tools is vital.