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Draft DoD guidance reveals how cyber readiness will impact contract evaluations

May 23, 2018 By Andrew Smith

Editor’s Note: This post was created by Jon Williams who is a partner with PilieroMazza and a member of the firm’s Government Contracts Group. 

We have been blogging and giving webinars since last year about the DoD requirements around cybersecurity for contractors that are subject to DFARS 252.204-7012. Please view our past blogs and webinars here and here to get more of the backstory.

In a nutshell, DoD contractors operating nonfederal IT systems and subject to DFARS 252.204-7012 were required to have a system security plan (“SSP”) in place by December 31, 2017, to demonstrate compliance with the recommended security controls in NIST SP 800-171. Although the DFARS requirements were black-and-white, there was a fair amount of uncertainty late last year and continuing into this year about what contractors needed to do to comply and if/how DoD would enforce the requirements.

DoD has taken some of the mystery out of these cyber requirements in a recently-released draft guidance.

Keep reading this blog post at: http://www.pilieromazza.com/the-protests-are-coming-draft-dod-guidance-reveals-how-cyber-readiness-will-impact-contract-evaluations

See GTPAC’s instructional video on achieving compliance with DFARS 252.204-7012 and NIST guidance at: http://gtpac.org/cybersecurity-training-video/

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: compliance, cyber, Cyber Security, cybersecurity, DFARS, DoD, evaluation, evaluation criteria, NIST, NIST 800-171

Faster detection, cleanup of network infections are goals of $12.8 million Georgia Tech project

May 18, 2018 By Andrew Smith

Cybersecurity researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have been awarded a $12.8 million contract to develop fundamentally new techniques designed to dramatically accelerate the detection and remediation of infections in local and remote networks. Using novel machine learning techniques that take advantage of large datasets, the researchers will develop ways to detect network infections within 24 hours – before invaders can do serious damage.

The technical goal for the new system, dubbed “Gnomon,” is to detect changes in individual computer systems by analyzing suspicious network traffic that appears weeks or months before any evidence of malicious software – or malware – can be identified. As a proof-of-concept, the researchers will work with two major U.S. telecommunication companies and several petabytes of data in basic research aimed at detecting signals of malicious activity on their networks.

Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the four-year award is part of the agency’s Harnessing Autonomy for Countering Cyberadversary Systems (HACCS) program. Beyond rapid detection of infections, the project will also accelerate the cleanup after such infections, creating a clearer pathway in a process known as remediation.

“A compromise becomes a breach only if the original infection remains undetected long enough for the adversaries to do damage,” said Manos Antonakakis, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the project’s co-principal investigator. “If you look at the major breaches that have occurred, you see that the adversaries were in the systems for months. We want to identify them in a matter of hours to contain the infection before any real damage can be done.”

The new techniques to be developed will address the realization that network attacks cannot be completely blocked by existing defenses and malware-based detection systems. Dynamic intelligence will be a key feature of the system, with the intent of creating a continuously-updated dossier of every address in IPv4 space.

“Gnomon will search for illicit behavior in computer systems and network signals that indicate the start of an infection,” said Michael Farrell, chief strategist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), and the principal investigator on the program. “We’ll use our experience with taking down botnets – networks of infected computers – to accelerate the detection and remediation process. It’s imperative to evolve our view of the internetwork infrastructure at the same pace that the threat evolves.”

To protect millions of computers on the networks of the two companies, the researchers must find ways to identify troubling behavior on individual IP addresses without endangering the privacy of individuals. Among the signs of trouble are communications with network locations known to house malicious activity. Such communication is necessary for malicious groups to control computers that have been compromised, and to move data stolen from them.

“If you know where the infecting groups are located, you can very easily exclude most of the benign activities occurring on the network,” Antonakakis said. “We need to be able to identify what has changed in computers throughout the network, understand why the change has happened, and determine whether that change can be attributed to benign or malicious activity. This is a groundbreaking new approach to network security that will require tremendous computing power and infrastructure.”

Ever since the first viruses hit computers in the 1980s, cybersecurity has seen rapid evolution of detection and attack tactics. The success of Gnomon will likely drive adversaries to new attack techniques that may be more complex – and expensive – than existing activities. Making cyberattacks more costly to launch may reduce the profit from such activities, making them less attractive.

“If we can clean up our networks faster and more efficiently, that will increase the cost of the attack, making the adversaries work harder,” Antonakakis said. “If you raise the cost of an attack, the return on investment becomes smaller, while the risk of getting identified becomes higher. We would like to make the business of an attack so unprofitable and so risky for the adversaries that it will not make sense for them to conduct major operations in our networks.”

Success in developing new techniques with the first two telecommunication companies could open the door for scaling up Gnomon to other large networks in industry – and to U.S. government systems.

“Not only will deployment have an obvious benefit of improved hygiene for a significant portion of the U.S. internet infrastructure, but the public-private partnership will allow us to provide valuable feedback throughout the HACCS program on the sort of prototypes that will be necessary to have true business and mission impact in the real world,” Farrell said. “The goals are very ambitious, but if we’re successful, we’ll be able to close the gap between an infection and remediation.”

This program is the latest interdisciplinary research collaboration in cybersecurity at Georgia Tech, orchestrated by the Institute for Information Security & Privacy (IISP). In addition to the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and GTRI, the project will include Professor Brian Kennedy from Georgia Tech’s School of Physics.

Attribution of malicious cyber activity is an established research thrust at Georgia Tech, and this new contract builds on the early success of another Department of Defense (DoD) sponsored program to enhance attribution. The “Rhamnousia” program is now a $25.3 million contract being led by the same research team of Farrell and Antonakakis.

This material is based upon work supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under contract number HR001118C0057. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Source: http://www.news.gatech.edu/2018/05/14/faster-detection-cleanup-network-infections-are-goals-128-million-project

Filed Under: Georgia Tech News Tagged With: cyber, cyber incidents, Cyber Security, cyberthreat, DARPA, data breach, Georgia Tech, GTRI, hack

Georgia National Guard wants some help prepping for a big cyber test

May 16, 2018 By Andrew Smith

The Georgia Army National Guard is gearing up for an inspection of its cyber posture and is looking for a contractor to provide technical assistance as it prepares.

The guard unit plans to upgrade its IT systems ahead of the review and needs assistance with “network configuration, server administration and information assurance,” according to a solicitation on the government contracting site FedBid.

“The objective of this contract is to provide skill and expertise in order to successfully pass the [Command Cyber Readiness Inspection],” according to the performance work statement. “This work will be performed to bring the [Georgia Army National Guard] into compliance with current DOD network security standards.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2018/05/georgias-national-guard-unit-wants-some-help-prepping-big-cyber-test/148190/

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: contracting opportunities, Cyber Security, cybersecurity, DoD, Georgia National Guard, IT, network services, technology

Next NDAA might add more cyber provisions

May 8, 2018 By Andrew Smith

The next defense authorization bill could have a slew of new cyber provisions aimed at streamlining the Defense Department’s collaboration with the rest of government.

The House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities released a markup of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act on April 26 that includes a range of cyber provisions and recommendations focusing on expanding cyber forces, protecting critical infrastructure and consolidating cyber responsibilities.

Key provisions include:

  • Studying state cyber teams.
  • Protecting critical infrastructure with more hackathons.
  • Boosting breach notification requirements. 
  • Prioritizing tech needs at DOD installations.
  • Fully integrating DIUx’s Silicon Valley vibe into defense labs. 
  • Mapping cyber vulnerabilities in weapons systems. 
  • Cyber Command absorbing (some of) DISA’s responsibilities.

Read details on each of these provisions at: https://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2018/04/27/ndaa-markup-cyber.aspx

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: critical infrastructure, cyber, Cyber Command, cyber incidents, Cyber Security, DISA, DIUx, HASC, House Armed Services Committee

New cyber rule requires critical documents

April 10, 2018 By Andrew Smith

Contractors and their supply chain with active Defense Department contracts, or those that plan on doing business with it, must assure that any of their data systems that transmit, process or store controlled unclassified information are compliant with National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-171 “Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Non-federal Information Systems and Organizations.”

It’s clear that meeting the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 252.204-7012 mandate to comply to the special publication is a required priority for defense contractors, subcontractors and suppliers.

Making a system security plan and plan of actions and mitigations is crucial to winning new business and keeping existing contracts this year and moving forward. Here are some tips on how to approach creating and utilizing these complex compliance documents.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2018/3/30/new-cyber-rule-requires-critical-documents

The Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) has developed an instructional video and a template to help contractors comply with DoD’s cybersecurity requirements.  You can view and download these resources at: http://gtpac.org/cybersecurity-training-video/

 

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: cyber, Cyber Security, cybersecurity, DFARS, DoD, GTPAC, NIST, NIST 800-171

Oct. 27 cybersecurity webinar reviews key regulatory actions impacting government contractors

September 25, 2017 By Andrew Smith

The Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) is hosting a one-hour lunchtime webinar on Oct. 27, 2017 on the subject of the regulatory obligations federal contractors have for protecting data from cyber-attacks.

Interested parties can sign-up to participate in this free webinar by clicking here.  After registering, enrollees will receive webinar access information from the instructor a few days before the webinar.

Businesses seeking information and resources on the subject of government cybersecurity rules can visit this page.  GTPAC hosted a half-day briefing for businesses on Aug. 9th, and visitors to this page can view a video of the event, plus download a number of resource materials.

Filed Under: GTPAC News Tagged With: cyber incident, Cyber Security, cyberattack, cybersecurity, government contract training, GTPAC, training, webinar

The rise of cyber security: How governments are buying and what it means for vendors

September 15, 2016 By Andrew Smith

Cyber security is no longer an issue that can be managed exclusively by IT departments and technology vendors alone. With data breaches and attacks on critical infrastructure occurring each year, government agency professionals are struggling to keep up with the increasing cyber attacks. Now, a special report, The Rise of Cyber Security, provides insight into how cyber security impacts the entire business-to-government (B2G) marketplace for both buyers and sellers.

The report is produced by Onvia, a government business intelligence company.

The cyber security report includes the latest research on industry trends and data from Onvia’s comprehensive database of state, local and federal contracts. Readers will discover how cyber security affects all industries and why it is an important issue in government procurement today.

Readers of this report will learn:

  • Areas of government where cyber security solutions are deployed
  • Buying trends and top procurement vehicles
  • Top vendors involved in cyber security projects nationwide
  • Which states are issuing the most cyber security contracts

Download this free report to learn how cyber security affects the business-to-government (B2G) procurement market, and how to make the most informed business decisions in this growing field.

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: B2G, business intelligence, contracting opportunities, cooperative purchasing, Cyber Security, cybersecurity, E-Rate, federal contracting, government contracting, IT Contracting, IT Government Contracts, SLED, state and local government, Technology Contracts

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