Quick Hits

*** The Department of Health and Human Services is looking to partner with the Defense Information Systems Agency to test DISA's continuous multi-factor authentication solutions. In a June 5 "fireside chat" at ACT-IAC's Emerging Technology Forum, HHS CIO Jose Arrieta said his department is well positioned to build on DISA's early pilots and that an exploratory meeting is set for later this month. DISA has tested the mobile device, and "they have the behavioral capability to actually determine identity with a high-level confidence score," Arrieta said. "Now they need a network of nodes to test that."

*** The Defense Department's Joint Artificial Intelligence Center has its eye on autonomous cyber defenses. Mark Beall, JAIC's chief of strategic engagement and policy, said cyber defense is one of the JAIC's top project areas to solve due to robust acquisition and partnership interest and a "tremendous amount of data".

"It's an area that's a very manual process today," he said at ACT-IAC's Emerging Technology Forum. "Those three things that come together through that come together actually lend itself to a more clear path forward," he said.

Beall anticipates AI to be used to help detect anomalous activities on DOD networks, account misuse, and network mapping, which will help operators understand the guts and edges of a network. "the in- and out-roads of a network."

One of the JAIC's core functions is to facilitate the development of a "common foundation" across the department, military services, and agencies. Beall said the common foundation will become increasingly important as the organization expands and he envisions it as a one-stop app store-like capability.