Tag Archives: Raytheon

Recent NSA leaks show challenge of a software ‘solution’ for insider threats

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Two recent thefts of NSA documents were made possible simply because workers who handled sensitive material decided to walk out the door with some of it, serving to highlight challenges facing the U.S. intelligence community as it seeks to implement, and in some cases create, next generation insider threat programs. Former U.S. intelligence officials tell CyberScoop the rudimentary nature of these incidents makes it extremely difficult to create programs that keep material secure without negatively impacting workforce morale. “It’s impossible to totally stop from what I can see,” said a former U.S. intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss their experience. “There’s just way too many people walking in and out for nothing to get stolen.” Newly released court documents provide details about recent leaks of classified documents to The Intercept, a national security focused news publication known for its work with Edward Snowden. A transcript of an interview with […]

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Trump’s decision to elevate Cyber Command will be a boon for defense contractors

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With President Donald Trump’s move to elevate U.S. Cyber Command to a unified combatant command, the Fort Meade-based outfit is on track for additional funding dollars and a bump in acquisition authorities, which experts believe will translate into the development of new programs and therefore a cadre of opportunities for private defense contractors. It’s not so much that Cyber Command has been poorly funded in the past, explained Michael Sulmeyer, a former senior U.S. defense official during the Obama administration, but rather that the Combatant Command designation and continued maturation of the organization will position it with an “equal seat at the table” to vie for future funding dollars and pursue innovative technologies. “I think it’s interesting that Trump’s statement mentioned funding, because I am not aware of any budgetary shortfalls faced by the cyber mission. Cyber Command will continue to receive the resources it needs,” said Sulmeyer. “The Defense […]

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The US Government must work with tech companies if it wants to remain competitive in AI

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 U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis is concluding his tech tour of the West Coast today with a visit to Google’s Mountain View campus. Mattis spent time at Amazon and the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, earlier in the week. His key takeaway from all the socializing with tech leaders is that the Department of Defense needs to embrace technology coming out of the private sector… Read More Continue reading The US Government must work with tech companies if it wants to remain competitive in AI→

New infosec products of the week​: June 23, 2017

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API Behavioral Security: Detecting and blocking attacks targeting API infrastructures Elastic Beam unveiled its flagship solution, API Behavioral Security (ABS), the first AI-powered software platform able to detect and block cyberattacks that target APIs to compromise corporate data and systems – in public clouds, hybrid clouds, or on premise. ABS requires no predefined policies, security rules, or attack signatures, and can stop attacks that are new and constantly changing. Its API activity reporting simplifies forensic … More → Continue reading New infosec products of the week​: June 23, 2017→

After a long fight, Raytheon wins $1 billion cybersecurity contract with Homeland Security

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Finally ending a long battle over a major contract, Raytheon won — again — a $1 billion, five-year cybersecurity contract from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for a project called DOMino, short for Development, Operations and Maintenance. The contract was first awarded in 2015 but was quickly protested by Northrup Grumman. After another protest in 2016 alleged flawed evaluations and conflicts of interest because Raytheon hired a former DHS official, this latest award, made June 9, represents a significant win for Raytheon’s cyber business. The Massachusetts-based company, long one of the world’s largest military contractors, will be “the prime contractor and systems integrator” to defend the .gov domain in support of DHS’s National Protection and Programs Directorate, a company press release explained Monday. The project tasks them with defending more than 100 federal government departments and agencies as part of DHS’s next generation National Cybersecurity Protection System (NCPS). NCPS is known operationally as EINSTEIN, a DHS tool […]

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Recruitment and retention of ‘cyber ninjas’ doesn’t have to be a dark art, report says

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Those on the front lines of the cybersecurity workforce crisis are dogged by one question above all others: how to recruit and retain the highly technically skilled personnel they need. Now, thanks to the SANS Institute, they have some fresh answers — at least in the government contracting sector. The institute, an information-security training provider and research clearinghouse, analyzed a list of the top 100 U.S. government contractors, and identified the eight companies which score highest on two indices reflecting metrics developed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank last year. The eight firms are all major U.S. defense and intelligence  contractors, called systems integrators because they build IT and other business systems for the government by assembling hardware, software and services from multiple vendors. According to the SANS analysis, the eight companies have had “remarkable success” in recruiting and retaining the highly technically skilled individuals that the CSIS report dubbed “cyber […]

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Advantages of quantum processing shown in head-to-head race

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A prototype quantum processor repeatedly beat a traditional, classical processor in a race to solve a puzzle, figuring out a secret combination up to 100 times faster by using exotic physics to sort through data that was deliberately packed with errors. The quantum processor at Raytheon BBN Technologies in Cambridge, Massachusetts A step forward for quantum computing The experiment, detailed in a new academic paper by scientists from Raytheon and IBM, marks a small but … More → Continue reading Advantages of quantum processing shown in head-to-head race→

Cyber business continues to solidify at U.S. military contracting giants

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While stocks and profits at the biggest U.S. military contractors are driving up across the board under the saber-rattling of President Donald Trump, first-quarter financial results for industry giants like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman show that cybersecurity is a growing if still relatively small part of their businesses. Forcepoint, Raytheon’s cybersecurity division and the company’s smallest segment by far, grew sales by 4 percent to $144 million last quarter. That tops the company’s overall 3.4 percent sales growth on $6 billion of sales but comes in well behind the 8 percent sales increase to $1.55 billion total in Space and Airborne Systems — a number driven largely by new spending on electronic warfare. Forcepoint’s profit margins declined, which Raytheon chief financial officer Anthony O’Brien credited to long-term investments being made in the business’s infrastructure. Forcepoint was acquired by Raytheon in 2015 when it was named Websense. The company has a decades-long history of selling censorship technology — with a customer […]

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U.S. Air Force invests millions this month on cyberweapons projects

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Three of the United States’ largest military contractors each won multimillion-dollar projects in the last month to boost American offensive power in the cyber domain. Raytheon, Northrop Grunman and Booz Allen Hamilton have all seen their stock prices rise 10 to 20 percent since the November 2016 U.S. election. Investors sprinted to military contractors based on Trump’s promises for higher spending on — among other warfighting capabilities — the cyber domain. Many of the world’s biggest weapons manufacturers are expanding aggressively into offensive and defensive cybersecurity in search of the same level of profitability found in building conventional weapons systems. Raytheon will build the Air Force’s newest Cyber Command and Control Mission System (C3MS) operating location — at San Antonio’s Lackland Air Force Base — after winning an $8.5 million contract this week. Lackland is home to the 24th Air Force, the organization tasked with operating and defending the Air Force’s networks. It’s […]

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