Cybersecurity

Cyber in the 2022 defense bill

As has been the case for the past few years, cyber governance provisions were featured in this year's must-pass defense policy bill moving through Congress, but a bipartisan breach notification measure was dropped from the bill -- to the chagrin of its supporters.

Digital Government

House passes NDAA compromise bill

The bill, which supports $778 billion for national security spending, was filed in lieu of a traditional conference report and combines the text passed by the Senate Armed Services Committee in July and the House bill passed in September.

Modernization

Accounting for software in weapons systems

The Defense Department is still trying to figure out the best way to buy software and track that spending. But could the answer be in separating out those costs from the hardware required in major acquisitions?

Acquisition

What’s next for CMMC

After the Defense Department revamped cybersecurity standards for contractors, the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program’s accreditation body is making adjustments.

Modernization

Could faster buying undermine electronic warfare prep?

Some measures that protect weapons systems against electronic vulnerabilities can be “pushed aside” during rapid acquisitions, according to David Tremper, the electronic warfare director for the Defense Department.

Modernization

SATCOM shift to Space Force stalled under CR

The U.S. Space Force’s plans to absorb all of the military’s satellite communications, including nearly 700 uniformed personnel from the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, is delayed along with the rest of the military’s appropriation as Congress preps for a second continuing resolution in fiscal year 2022.

Acquisition

Biden taps former USAF buyer to lead DOD acquisition

The White House has nominated former Air Force acquisition chief William LaPlante to be the Pentagon’s top buyer.

Cybersecurity

Military service principal cyber advisors take root

Congress established service level principal cyber advisors in the 2020 defense policy bill. FCW sat down with the Army and Navy PCAs to get a sense of what their priorities have been in the past year.

Modernization

DOD names cloud contenders in JEDI replacement

The Defense Department has invited Google and Oracle to compete for its massive warfighter cloud program alongside Amazon and Microsoft.

Cybersecurity

Langevin tees up cyber legislation for 2022

Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) is looking to create a statutory framework for threat information sharing and mitigation between a small number of critical infrastructure firms and the federal government.

Modernization

Coast Guard completes MHS Genesis deployment

The U.S. Coast Guard has completed its rollout of the military's new commercial electronic health record system, following a long journey that was paused during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Acquisition

IT controls still a pain point, DOD audit finds

The Defense Department failed to get a clean opinion in its fourth annual financial audit, highlighting ongoing struggles to accurately account for IT systems.

Modernization

Army seeks native data analytics in its logistics systems

Lt. Gen. Duane Gamble, the deputy chief of staff, G-4, for the Army, said that as the service modernizes its enterprise resource planning systems, it's looking for native data analytics capabilities to avoid supply chain surprises.

Modernization

Google wants a place on the next big DOD cloud contract

The tech giant says it has met key technical and security thresholds and is interested in a spot on the upcoming Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract, the multi-cloud successor to JEDI.

Acquisition

Who's going to volunteer for the new CMMC?

The Defense Department is looking for contractors to test out its revamped cybersecurity standard to protect unclassified but sensitive data.

Modernization

DOD awards $32.6 million in spectrum OTAs

The awards were made via an other transaction agreement through the National Spectrum Consortium. DOD has increasingly used OTAs to rapidly buy and fund prototype development as well as fielding new technologies.

Acquisition

Why DOD is so bad at buying software

The Defense Department wants to acquire emerging technology faster and more efficiently. But will its latest attempts to streamline its processes be enough?

Acquisition

DIU director: Look beyond reform to keep the technological edge

Mike Brown, the director of the Defense Innovation Unit, said the acquisition reform is needed for the requirements, budgeting processes.

Cybersecurity

White House pick for DOD CIO eyes tweaks to CMMC

The Biden administration's pick to be the Pentagon's tech chief wants to make it easier for small businesses to adhere to the Defense Department's cybersecurity standards and expand network optimization across the entire enterprise.

People

DOD looks to civilian workforce to close technology gaps

The Defense Department has been increasingly looking to recruit civilians to fill its tech talent needs, but some lawmakers are concerned that the mission of uniformed troops could suffer.