March 27, 2024

Attacks Push Need for More Cybersecurity Workers

cybersecurity

Morning Coffee is a robust blend of links to news around the internet concerning the Naval Air Station Patuxent River Morning Coffee logoeconomic community. The opinions expressed here do not reflect opinions of the Leader’s owners or staff.

The demand for cybersecurity workers is growing faster than the supply, reports The Washington Post. This is being driven by a barrage of cyberattacks hitting everything from the US government to small businesses and municipalities.

Mieke Eoyang, deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy, said DoD doesn’t have the cyber workforce it needs to cover new missions. Eoyang told the Defense Writers Group last week that the DoD’s military members’ cyber workforce is “appropriately sized to the missions that we have” but not for additional missions.

Microsoft said the Russian hackers allegedly behind the SolarWinds espionage campaign last year are back at it, reports Breaking Defense. This time the target is the global information technology supply chain.

The Biden administration favors a 24-hour timeline for cyber incident reporting for critical infrastructure operators, reports Defense Systems, as was done by Colonial Pipeline after its system was hacked earlier this year. This puts the administration in agreement with the bipartisan Cyber Incident Notification Act of 2021.

The T-38 trainers used by the US Naval Test Pilot School are getting a special custom paint job, reports Forbes. Gone will be the familiar orange and white. Designer David Rosol said he took inspiration from the school’s shield and the patch its instructors wear, suggesting the colors, the stars, slide rule, and orange flash in his scheme. Its inset silhouette of a Douglas F4D Skyray, a 1950s-era jet fighter that the school used in the 1960s, struck a chord with him as well.

The Pentagon believes Iran was behind the drone attack last week at a military outpost in Syria where American troops are based, reports The Associated Press. A small number of rockets were involved, and no deaths or injuries were reported from the October 20 attack.

This latest attack suggests that a new front could be opening in the low-level conflict that has simmered since the US pulled out of the Iran nuclear accord in 2018, reports The Washington Post.

Colin Kahl, a DoD undersecretary, told the Senate Armed Services Committee this week that terrorist groups in Afghanistan could strike international targets within six months if left unchecked, reports Air Force Times. “We’re actually fairly certain that they have the intention to do so,” Kahl said.

The US Navy currently has three of its Littoral Combat Ships deployed in the western Pacific, and the service is giving them some of the weapons they would need to fight and survive in a clash with the Chinese fleet, reports Forbes.

Should the US be worried about China’s recent hypersonic missile test? asks Fox News. The components of the test are nothing new, but taken together, they pose a new challenge for the US in developing countermeasures. The weapon provides China with a theoretically unlimited range of deployment.

The US is backing Taiwan’s inclusion in the United Nations system, reports The Hill, a move that is likely to rankle China, which considers the island under its authority.

 

 

Air Combat Command’s GEN Mark Kelly said the E-7 Wedgetail could be the ideal solution to what he called the “multi-spectral problem” of updating the US Air Force’s current air domain surveillance capabilities, reports National Defense.

The US House will posthumously award the Congressional Gold Medal to the 13 American service members killed in a bomb attack in Kabul in August, reports NPR. The attack took place just days ahead of the US’ full withdrawal from Afghanistan that had been overtaken days earlier by the Taliban.

Thousands of Afghan evacuees are being discharged from US military facilities and being placed in communities across the country, reports CBS News. In recent weeks, 6,000 evacuees have left temporary housing sites at several military bases. Stars and Stripes reports that more than 53,000 evacuees are still being housed by the military.

The US Army Combat Readiness Center said that fatal training accidents in the service hit a record low this year, reports Military.com, crediting safety campaigns timed at statistically more dangerous training periods.

The Save Our Servicemembers Act is being introduced in the US Senate, in an attempt to prevent suicide among members of the military, reports Military Times. The proposal would direct the Pentagon to evaluate the effectiveness of its suicide prevention efforts, said Maine Sens. Susan Collins (R) and Angus King (I).

A new survey found that six of 10 Americans believe that the pace of global warming is speeding up, reports The Associated Press. The survey finds that the majority of Americans regard the deteriorating climate as a problem that needs to be addressed.

Blue Origin wants to put a new commercial station in space, reports CNN Business. The “Orbital Reef” could be used to host science experiments, vacation getaways, and in-space manufacturing. The company plans to work alongside startup Sierra Space to bring the space station to fruition.

St. Mary’s County will unveil a historical marker next month to remind the community of the “murderous epidemic of lynching” that once spread across large parts of the country, reports The Washington Post. At least 6,500 Black people in the US between 1865-1950 were killed by lynch mobs. “Although many victims remain unknown, at least 40 racial terror lynchings have been documented in Maryland with one known to have taken place in St. Mary’s County,” reads the marker that will be placed outside the Old Jail Museum in Leonardtown.

Contracts:

Aviation Systems Engineering Co., Lexington Park, Maryland, is awarded a $22,984,788 commercial, firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide test and evaluation support services for Commander, Operational Test & Evaluation Force Air Test and Evaluation Squadron One. The contract will include a 60-month base ordering period with an additional six-month ordering period option pursuant of Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.217-8 — option to extend services, which if exercised, will bring the total value to $25,000,000. The base ordering period is expected to be completed by October 2026; if the option is exercised, the ordering period will be completed by April 2027. All work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland. Fiscal 2022 research, development, test and evaluation funds (Navy) in the amount of $10,000 will be obligated to fund the contract’s minimum amount and funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Individual task orders will be subsequently funded with appropriate fiscal year appropriations at the time of their issuance. This contract was competitively procured with the solicitation posted on Navy Electronic Commerce Online, with three offers received. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk, Contracting Department Norfolk Office, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N00189-22-D-0002).

General Dynamics Information Technology Inc., Falls Church, Virginia, is awarded a $39,959,262 modification (P00029) to a previously awarded, cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract (W15QKN15D0001). This modification exercises an option to provide integrated logistics support services for Foreign Military Sales customers using Navy procured defense articles including weapon systems, various aircrafts, and other components in support of the International Sustainment Department and the Naval Air Systems Command. Work will be performed in California, Maryland (28%); Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania (21%); Arlington, Virginia (6%); Patuxent River, Maryland (5%); Jacksonville, Florida (5%); Lexington Park, Maryland (4%); Fredericksburg, Virginia (3%); Fairfax, Virginia (2%); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2%); San Diego, California (2%); Kaohsiung, Taiwan (2%); Lemoore, California (1%); King George, Virginia (1%); Warrenton, Virginia (1%); Cherry Point, North Carolina (1%); Charlotte, North Carolina (1%); Jacksonville, North Carolina (1%); New Bern, North Carolina (1%); Pensacola, Florida (1%); Tucson, Arizona (1%); Washington, District of Columbia (1%); Jackson, Louisiana (1%); Glassboro, New Jersey (1%); Dover, Delaware, (1%); Houston, Texas (1%); Seattle, Washington (1%); Kuwait City, Kuwait (1%); Tokyo, Japan (1%); Cairo, Egypt (1%); Cours, France (1%); and Taipei, Taiwan (1%), and is expected to be completed October 2022. No funds will be obligated at the time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

BKM IDS LLC, Arlington, Virginia, was awarded a $2,415,685,748 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for National Cyber Range Complex event planning and execution, site services, range modernization, technology service management, range operations, and site security services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 29 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 26, 2031. US Army Contracting Command, Orlando, Florida is the contracting activity (W900KK-22-D-0001).

Raytheon Intelligence & Space, Dulles, Virginia, has awarded a $340,000,000 firm-fixed-price, cost-reimbursable, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for mobile sensors operations and maintenance services of the Cobra King radar system. Work will be performed at Patrick Space Force Base, Florida, and outside continental U.S. locations, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2031. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition in which one offer was received. Fiscal 2022 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $17,699,700 are being obligated at the time of award. Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Patrick Space Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity (FA7022-22-D-0001).

Cubic Defense Applications, Austin, Texas, has been awarded a $9,849,096 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to support the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency LogX program, Phase 2. The LogX Phase 2 program seeks innovative concepts for logistics and supply chain automated reasoning and information fusion, real-time demand forecasting, and system resilience assessment. This contract provides for the producing of systems which assess resilience of the military logistics enterprise for use by military logisticians and operations planners. Work will be performed in Austin, Texas (31%); Arlington, Virginia (45%); Basking Ridge, New Jersey (11%); Reston, Virginia (12%); and Potsdam, New York (1%). Fiscal 2021 research and development funds in the amount of $2,460,268 are being obligated at the time of award with an estimated completion date of October 2022. This contract is Phase 2 of a competitive acquisition in accordance with the original broad agency announcement, HR001119S0053. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HR001122C0040).

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