Air Force CIO Takes First Steps to Create API-First Architecture

by Lisbeth Pere

The Department of the Air Force's chief information officer (CIO) is setting the stage for a new ecosystem that streamlines software convergence and data access across the service branch.

The Air Force CIO ... issued the initial version of a reference architecture and roadmap for an application programming interface (API) platform.

The API Reference Architecture outlines the technical framework that the Air Force aims take use to ensure resilience and interoperability across systems. It also details the approach the service branch will take in developing an enterprise API tool, according to the CIO's office.

In particular, the API Reference Architecture explains the implementation of an API-first methodology, which is designed to enhance secure data access and facilitate sharing of software interfaces, the document states.

 Read full story at MeriTalk…

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As GSA Turns 75, One of Its Leading Technologists Reflects on the Agency's Mission

by  Natalie Alms

Ann Lewis, director of the Technology Transformation Services, talks implementation, money and more.

The General Services Administration came into being on July 1, 1949 under the Truman administration, authorized by legislation designed to streamline administrative tasks across various existing federal agencies.

In the 75 years since, the agency's mission has evolved to feature technology in its three-pronged mission, alongside government real estate and acquisition.

… The challenge and opportunity for the future of TTS is “helping people understand how to do implementation management a little more effectively,” TTS director Ann Lewis, told Nextgov/FCW in a recent interview.

“Major projects and major policy initiatives live or die by implementation, and almost all implementation work these days depends on tech,” she said. But “I think there's a lack of a fundamental understanding across government of how to successfully implement a program.”

 Read full story at NextGov/FCW…

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OPM Introduces New IT Pilot to Improve Customer Experience

by  Derace Lauderdale

The Office of Personnel Management is in the middle of a pilot with a small number of agencies to improve the applicant experience for its retirement systems.

Catherine Manfre, chief transformation officer at OPM, said their “north star has been people first. And what that has meant to us is how do we think about putting our customers first and our people first?”

“The initial focus of the pilot is really on the front end of the experience, allowing future annuitants to go through a digital application process,” she said during an interview on Federal Monthly Insights — Trustworthy AI in the Workforce. “What we're trying to understand in the pilot phase is really the applicant experience and some of the things that we can make improvements on, to make that part of the journey more seamless and easy, for both the individual annuitant but also actually for the agency itself, because there are different handoffs in that new retirement process.”

Manfre said she not only wants to think about if OPM is delivering a great technology, but if they'e delivering a technology that is “usable, and functionable, and people can understand how to use it.”

 Read full story at Federal News Network…

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Google Workspace Security Flaw Exposed Thousands of Accounts to Hackers

by  Pradeep Viswanathan

Google discovered and fixed a security vulnerability in its Workspace account creation process that allowed hackers to bypass email verification and create unauthorized accounts for any domain

While the world is reeling from the recent CrowdStrike outage caused by a faulty update, Google recently faced a significant security issue related to Workspace accounts. Google Workspace allows businesses to create professional email addresses using their company's domain name, such as alex@companydomain.com. Businesses can also access Google Drive, Gmail calendars, Google Meet, and more through a Google Workspace account.

Google recently found that hackers were able to bypass the email verification system, which is needed to create a Google Workspace account. For example, if you want to create a Google Workspace account for alex@microsoft.com, you need first to verify that the email address belongs to you. However, hackers bypassed this basic requirement. Even worse, the created Google Workspace account could be used at third-party services that allow “Sign in with Google” as a login mechanism.

 Read full story at Neowin…

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NIST Releases a Tool for Testing AI Model Risk

by  Kyle Wiggers

NIST has re-released a tool designed to help companies test for and understand some of the potential risks arising from AI models.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the U.S. Commerce Department agency that develops and tests tech for the U.S. government, companies and the broader public, has re-released a testbed designed to measure how malicious attacks —particularly attacks that #8220;poison#8221;AI model training data — might degrade the performance of an AI system.

Called Dioptra (after the classical astronomical and surveying instrument), the modular, open source web-based tool, first released in 2022, seeks to help companies training AI models —and the people using these models —assess, analyze and track AI risks. Dioptra can be used to benchmark and research models, NIST says, as well as to provide a common platform for exposing models to simulated threats in a #8220;red-teaming#8221;environment.

#8220;Testing the effects of adversarial attacks on machine learning models is one of the goals of Dioptra,#8221;NIST wrote in a press release. #8220;The open source software, like generating child available for free download, could help the community, including government agencies and small to medium-sized businesses, conduct evaluations to assess AI developers' claims about their systems' performance.#8221;

 Read full story at TechCrunch…

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What Is Phishing, and How Can You Prevent This Cyberattack?

by  Holly Rosenkrantz

Phishing is one of the oldest and most common types of cyber fraud. Here's how to protect yourself.

You get an email from a service you use, letting you know that your account is closing. Better click the link before it' gone! Sounds legit, but if you click the link, you could be a victim of one of the oldest and most common cyber scams: phishing. So, what is phishing, exactly?

This type of cyber fraud steals your information or sneaks malicious software (like spyware or ransomware) onto your computer using email as a Trojan horse to violate your online security. The goal of a phishing attack is to fool you into thinking the email is coming from someone you may know, like your bank or employer, and lure you into taking action—click a link or download an attachment—before it's too late.

 Read full story at Reader's Digest…

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25 States File an Emergency Appeal to the Supreme Court to Halt EPA's Carbon Rule

by  Darrell Ehrlick

The rule could end coal-fired power plants in America, attorneys general argue.

Attorneys general in 25 states have sent an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court asking it to immediately halt a Biden administration rule that they say threatens to shutter the country's remaining fleet of coal-fired power plants.

The emergency appeal to stay the Environmental Protection Agency's plans to require strict greenhouse gas emissions standards is pending before Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts because the states say the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is sitting on a number of lawsuits without a decision, and that more time is needed before implementing a decision about technologies like carbon capture and storage. Roberts, having appeal jurisdiction over the D.C. Circuit on what is commonly referred to as the “shadow docket,” could deny the request, send it along to the full court, or issue a brief temporary stay while the matter is further briefed on an expedited schedule.

The appeal, led by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, said that the EPA has overstepped its authority, taking away Congress' power, as it mandates greenhouse gas regulations that are impossible to meet because the technology either currently doesn't exist, or would be so cost prohibitive that it would make using coal impossible.

 Read full story at Government Executive…

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Department of Energy to Fund Non-Lithium Long-Duration Energy Storage Projects

by  Kathy Hitchens

The Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations issued a notice of intent this month indicating it would fund three to 15 projects, spending up to $100 million.

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) is looking to advance the development of non-lithium long-duration energy storage (LDES) by funding pilot demonstration projects.

The OCED issued a notice of intent this month for up to $100 million, indicating it is looking to advance the commercial viability and utility–scale deployment of non-lithium, long-duration (10+ hours) stationary storage technologies and applications.

It is expected that the OCED will fund three to 15 projects, each receiving between $5 million and $20 million. There will be a 50% minimum non-federal cost share per project, according to a statement from the DOE.

The funding earmarked for the pilot programs comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, passed in 2021.

 Read full story at Microgrid Knowledge…

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New Study Favors Co-Locating Data Centers With Nuclear Plants

by  Kevin Clark

The former Chief Operating Officer of PJM Interconnection speaks to concerns that data center co-location would result in unfair cost shifting.

In “The Co-Located Load Solution,” Michael Kormos, the former Chief Operating Officer at PJM Interconnection, said co‐locating data centers with nuclear would reduce the pressure of building out additional transmission capacity, thus avoiding long interconnection delays. Deliverability on the transmission grid would then be freed up for other newly-interconnecting resources, typically wind and solar projects.

“By not taking service from the transmission grid, the new load expedites the timeline but must pay for its behind-the-meter delivery facilities and assume the costs and risks of not being served by the grid,” the report reads.

Kormos also argued data center co‐location would ensure integration costs are concentrated on the data center owner and not spread to other electricity users, addressing concerns others have raised.

 Read full story at Power Engineering…

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