Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - November 26, 2018

Sur le même sujet

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  22 février 2023 | International, Aérospatial

  Estonia’s drone-buying spree finds local vendors eager for deals

  Officials in Tallinn have previously looked abroad when it comes to finding suppliers of high-tech weaponry.

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  17 décembre 2018 | International, C4ISR

  Audit finds cyber vulnerabilities in US missile defense system

  By: Geoff Ziezulewicz The Army, Navy and Missile Defense Agency are failing to take basic cybersecurity steps to ensure that information on America's ballistic missile defense system won't fall into nefarious hands, according to a Defense Department Inspector General audit released Friday. Investigators visited five sites that manage ballistic missile defense elements and technical information, but the names of the commands were redacted in the publicly released report. “The Army, Navy and MDA did not protect networks and systems that process, store, and transmit (missile defense) technical information from unauthorized access and use,” the declassified report states. Such inadequacies “may allow U.S. adversaries to circumvent (missile defense) capabilities, leaving the United States vulnerable to missile attacks,” the report states. They found officials failed to employ safeguards familiar to most people online in 2018, the latest development to raise questions about the U.S. military's cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Among the shortcomings: Administrators for classified networks had no intrusion detection and prevention systems in place to watch for cyberattacks, much less stop them, according to the report. At one site, officials said they had requested to purchase those cyber safeguards in December 2017 but nine months later it still hadn't been approved. “Without intrusion detection and prevention capabilities, (the site) cannot detect malicious attempts to access its networks and prevent cyberattacks designed to obtain unauthorized access and exfiltrate sensitive (missile defense) technical information,” the report states. Officials also failed to patch system flaws after receiving vulnerability alerts, one of which had first been identified in 1990 and had still not been fixed by April. Another vulnerability that could be exploited by an attacker was first identified in 2013 but also was never pathced, according to the report. “Countless cyber incident reports show that the overwhelming majority of incidents are preventable by implementing basic cyber hygiene and data safeguards, which include regularly patching known vulnerabilities,” the IG report states. “(Missile defense) technical information that is critical to national security could be compromised through cyberattacks that are designed to exploit these weaknesses.” Some facilities failed to force employees to use common access cards, or CAC, when accessing the classified system, a basic cybersecurity practice known as multi-factor identification. Instead, officials were able to access the sensitive information using just a username and password, the report states. Hackers use phishing and other tactics to exploit passwords and gain access to such systems. New hires are supposed to be allowed network access without a card for only their first two weeks on the job. But IG investigators found users on the systems without CAC cards for up to seven years. At one site, a domain administrator never configured the network to allow only CAC holder access. “Allowing users to access networks using single factor authentication increases the potential that cyber attackers could exploit passwords and gain access to sensitive (missile defense) technical information,” the report states. Investigators also found unlocked server racks at some locations, another key vulnerability to insider snoopers. “The insider threat risk necessitates that organizations implement controls...to reduce the risk of malicious personnel manipulating a server's ability to function as intended and compromising sensitive and classified data,” the report states. External storage devices held unencrypted data and some sites failed to track who was accessing data, and why. Other administrators told investigators that they lacked the ability to record or monitor data downloaded from the network onto these devices. Unless these officials enforce the encryption of such removed data and monitor its downloading and transferring, “they will be at increased risk of not protecting sensitive and classified (missile defense) technical information from malicious users,” the report states. Investigators also found that some supposedly secure sites were failing to even lock their doors. One location had a security door that hadn't worked for years. “Although security officials were aware of the problem, they did not take appropriate actions to prevent unauthorized personnel from gaining unauthorized access to the facility,” the report states. Other sites featured no security cameras to monitor personnel movement and security officers failed to conduct badge checks. While the report makes recommendations to fix the documented problems, officials for the inspected agencies offered no comments on the non-classified draft report of the audit. Friday's scathing IG audit marked the latest in a string of reports detailing shoddy cybersecurity throughout the armed forces and defense contractors. During the same week, the Wall St. Journal reported that Chinese hackers are targeting military systems and those of defense contractors working on Navy projects. Beijing-linked cyber raids have attempted to steal everything from missile plans to ship-maintenance data in a series of hacks over the past 18 months, the Journal reports. As a result, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer has ordered a “comprehensive cybersecurity review” to assess if the Navy's cyber efforts “are optimally focused, organized, and resourced to prevent serious breaches,” spokesman Capt. Greg Hicks said. The review will also look at authorities, accountability and if the efforts reflect and incorporate government and industry best practices, he said. “Secretary Spencer's decision to direct a review reflects the serious to which the DoN prioritizes cybersecurity in this era of renewed great power competition,” Hicks said. https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2018/12/14/audit-finds-cyber-vulnerabilities-in-us-missile-defense-system

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  17 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  The case for robust defense spending

  By: Rep. Rob Wittman President John Adams once wrote: “National defense is one of the cardinal duties of a Statesman.” These words are as true now as they were when they were written in 1815. However, unlike in 1815, the weight of these words seems lost on some in Congress. As Congress moves forward with the National Defense Authorization Act and the passage of the defense appropriations bill, there are irresponsible calls for blanket cuts to defense spending that are either misguided or willfully ignorant of the role the U.S. military plays in maintaining global stability. In a time where China continues its unprecedented aggressive actions, such as pushing into contested territory in India, attempting to subdue Hong Kong and continuing to antagonize partner nations in the South China Sea; where Russia advances its malign global state-building agenda through overt means while simultaneously using paramilitary mercenaries such as the Wagner Group to do the Kremlin's more insidious bidding; where Iran continues to terrorize the Middle East; and where North Korea remains a global nuclear threat, our response cannot be to cut our defense budget by nearly 50 percent, as suggested by some members of Congress. Simply put, there is no shortage of global powers who wish to see the United States, our partners and allies falter and fail. Ultimately, national defense is not just about protecting the homeland — it is about preventing conflicts from escalating, eliminating future threats and deterring those who have malicious intent toward the American people. Unfortunately, the world is not a benevolent place. The United States isn't fighting terrorism in Syria and Iraq for fun, we aren't protecting shipping lanes in the Pacific Ocean because we have nothing else to do, and we aren't working to bring the structural change needed to protect human rights against oppression across the African continent because of boredom. The United States military engages in these operations because no one else will, and we take up the mantle to bring stability to this dangerous world because we support peace and democratic institutions. Bringing stability to the globe and protecting our homeland comes at a price — it requires strong, robust funding of the Department of Defense. This does not mean to suggest there isn't waste, excess or duplicative programs within the Department of Defense. However, we are fortunate right now to have Pentagon leadership in Secretary Mark Esper and Deputy Secretary David Norquist who are tackling this problem head-on through their departmentwide review that has already yielded at least $5.7 billion to be reallocated for higher priorities. On top of this, every year the congressional Armed Services committees continue to work to refine, streamline and root out waste in the Pentagon through reformative NDAA provisions. For example, I led the aircraft carrier block-buy contract that saved nearly $4 billion for the taxpayers, and I have a bill out right now to do multiyear procurement on amphibious ships that would save at least $1 billion. While these are just two examples, one can imagine the type of savings that are to be found if we continue to extrapolate these types of actions out to our defense acquisitions at large. Additionally, Congress must work with the department to examine the audit and eliminate and reduce functions that are redundant or deemed no longer mission-critical, which will save the taxpayers billions of dollars. This is how Congress must address the defense budget — to make it streamlined and effective, and to find the mechanisms and authorities needed to make sure our dollar works harder than the yuan or the ruble. While this anti-defense spending rhetoric may play well for a certain form of politics, we must remember blanket cuts don't cut out the waste, it eliminates the programs that are easiest to cut, necessary training exercises, and emerging programs that are going to make the difference between life and death on the battlefield for our service members. https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2020/07/16/the-case-for-robust-defense-spending/