CISA Directs Agencies to Shut Down Vulnerable Software Products

by  Justin Doubleday

Agencies have just over 24 hours to shut down any instances of widely used software products that were found to contain major cybersecurity vulnerabilities in January.

… In addition to disconnecting the products, CISA is telling agencies to continue threat hunting on any systems that have been recently connected to the affected Ivanti devices.

Agencies should also continue monitoring any authentication or identity management services that could have been exposed; isolate those connected systems from enterprise resources “to the greatest degree possible;” and continue to audit privilege-level access accounts, according to CISA’s directive.

 Read full story at Federal News Network…

GovCon's 'Rule of Two' Is About to Widen in Scope

by  Ross Wilkers

The White House now wants agencies to apply this golden rule of government contracting to multiple-award contracts and their task orders, all in the name of more opportunities for small businesses. It appears to at least be worth trying.

A select few rules and regulations dictate how we cover the business of federal government contracting as either a researcher or reporter, or both in my career path.

One of them is the “rule of two.” It requires agencies to reserve a contract for small businesses whenever the reasonable expectation exists that at least two responsible SBs can submit proposals worth evaluating, plus that the award can be made at fair and reasonable market prices.

 Read full story at Washington Technology…

Transportation Launches $15M AI Effort to Improve US Street Infrastructure

by  Alexandra Kelley

Transportation Launches $15M AI Effort to Improve US Street Infrastructure

The Transportation’s Small Business Innovation Research Program will spearhead the Complete Streets AI Initiative to bring AI and machine learning solutions to transportation infrastructure. The program is intended to foster decision-support tools for state and local governments that can help design and deploy a network of Complete Streets, a longstanding agency initiative to support the construction of livable, connective public streets.

 Read full story at NextGov…

4 Preventative Steps to Avoid a Home Networking Disaster

by  Alaina Yee

A few minutes now can save you hours later.

Setting up a router can be a quick and easy task—so quick and easy, in fact, that you might skip a few steps or plan to return to them later. Except later might not come soon enough, as I recently discovered after an unexpected (and much unwanted) reset of my router. In seconds, the device configuration and settings were all gone. Poof! With no recoverable backup on hand.

It serves me right, since I know better than to skip steps. … If there is anything good that can come of my missteps, it’s that I can help you avoid a similar fate. Take an extra 15 minutes and follow these four steps—and don’t put some of them off, like I did.

 Read full story at PCWorld…

New Research Combats Burgeoning Threat of Deepfake Audio

by  UC Berkeley

With every passing day, it seems like it is getting harder to trust what you see — and hear — on the internet. Deepfakes and doctored audio have become easier to create with the press of a button. New research by three School of Information students and alums will make it easy to determine the authenticity of an audio clip.

“When this team first approached me in early Spring of 2022, I told them not to worry about deepfake audio because voice cloning was just not very good and it would be a while before we had to worry about it. I was wrong, and a few months later, AI-powered voice cloning was shockingly good, revealing how fast this technology evolves,” said Professor Farid. “The team has done important work in laying out a range of ideas for detecting the new threat of deepfake audio.”

 Read full story at University of California…

Russia Hacks Microsoft: It’s Worse Than You Think

by  Preston Gralla

This time, hackers attacked corporate execs, not customers. That might finally push the US government to focus on long-ignored security concerns.

Another day, another hack of Microsoft technology. Ho-hum, you might think, this has happened before and will happen again — as surely as the sun rises in the morning and sets at night.

This time is different. Because this time the targets weren’t Microsoft customers, but rather the top echelons of Microsoft itself. And the hacker group, called Midnight Blizzard, or sometimes Cozy Bear, the Dukes, or A.P.T. 29, is sponsored by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (and has been since at least 2008).

 Read full story at Computerworld…

DOE-Funded Project to Create Subsurface Imaging for Undergrounding Lines

by  Clarion Energy Content Directors

Analysis, visualization, and reporting can take weeks or months after data acquisition, but the proposed system could produce results within minutes, DOE said, providing near real-time subsurface mapping and utility identification.

Exodigo a provider of non-intrusive subsurface imaging solutions for transportation, energy, utilities, and construction customers, has announced that it will provide the accurate, complete subsurface maps needed to improve undergrounding processes for power lines as part of the Grid Overhaul with Proactive, High-speed Undergrounding for Reliability, Resilience, and Security (GOPHURRS) program led by the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).

 Read full story at Power Grid Int'l…

Oak Ridge Public-Private Partnership Looks to Advance Quantum Tech for the Power Grid

by  Alexandra Kelley

The partnership between Oak Ridge National Laboratory and utility provider EPB aims to find ways that quantum technologies can enhance energy resilience.

Unveiled last week, the Collaborative for Energy Resilience and Quantum Science is a joint effort between ORNL and utility company EPB of Chattanooga, following a decade of prior collaboration.

Travis Humble, the director of the Quantum Science Center at ORNL, said that CERQS will address four key areas of focus: research and development in quantum sciences and technologies, energy security innovation, cultivating an adequate workforce and bringing more jobs to the East Tennessee region.

 Read full story at NextGov.FCW…

Southern Company Ranks First Among Utilities in Fortune Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies for 2024

by  Southern Company Press Release

A ranking of the world's most respected and reputable companies, the list is based on a survey of more than 3,700 executives, directors and financial analysts.

“It is an honor to be named the most-admired electric and gas utility by Fortune magazine,” said Chris Womack, chairman, president and CEO of Southern Company. “This ranking is a recognition of the 27,000 Southern Company system employees who provide exceptional service each day as we deliver clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy solutions for the benefit of our customers and communities.”

 Read full story at PR Newswire…