Defense
Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI authorized for IL6 Defense operations
Microsoft’s artificial intelligence offerings are now available at the highest impact level classification for the Department of Defense.
US needs to fast-track AI to counter China, DOD’s former AI lead says
When it comes to continued U.S. leadership in the AI space, former Pentagon chief digital and artificial intelligence officer Radha Plumb said “I worry sometimes that it’s passing us by.”
Contractors could hack back against adversaries, top cyber Democrat says
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said the federal government can’t protect everyone and the concept of asking private sector security companies to conduct offensive cyber operations is worth exploring.
Intelligence officials remain defensive on Signal debate
House testimony followed release of full group-chat transcript — including attack times and weapons.
Phishing campaign seeks to siphon Ukraine war intelligence from defense contractors
Nearly 880 spoofed domains of worldwide IT, defense and aerospace firms were identified between December and March, DomainTools Investigations says.
Insights & Reports
DOD cuts $580M in programs, contracts and grants
The latest round of Pentagon spending cuts — which include a delayed HR software program — brings the department’s running total of eliminated programs to $800 million since the start of the Trump administration.
Air Force CIO announces retirement
Venice Goodwine is stepping down after more than 30 years of federal service.
Agentic AI adoption is a top priority for defense and intelligence leaders. Here’s why
The integration of AI agents will become increasingly critical across the national security space.
Weeks after CISO announcement, Katie Arrington moves into DOD CIO role
A defense official said that Arrington, who was previously accused of disclosing classified data, does not concurrently have the role of DOD CISO.
Hegseth orders suspension of cyber, information operations planning against Russia
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Sunday that new U.S. foreign policy configurations “largely coincides with our vision.”
Katie Arrington announces she is DOD’s new CISO
Arrington, who was once accused of disclosing classified data, was a major proponent of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program used for DOD contractors.
‘I know what I don’t know,’ SecDef pick says at confirmation hearing
Hegseth faced questions about his inexperience and fitness as a leader.
Featured eBooks
High-quality government software starts with efficacy, not efficiency
How will the government deliver high-quality, secure software that creates measurable outcomes? Not simply through efficiency.
DOD announces completion of pilot to identify medical AI vulnerabilities
The Pentagon’s red teaming effort identified more than 800 “potential vulnerabilities and biases” in the use of large language models for clinical note summarization and for a medical advisory chatbot.
Congress approves 2025 NDAA with important cyber provisions
Left out was language that would have helped clarify the scope and reach of a controversial surveillance power that was renewed in April.
Dems push ‘right to repair’ mandate after proposal was stripped from NDAA
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., want servicemembers to be able to repair hardware without needing to depend on contractors to make fixes.
FY2025 NDAA angles to enhance DOD’s AI and quantum sciences capabilities
The FY2025 National Defense Authorization Act again stipulates more AI and quantum information sciences programming for a variety of U.S. military operations.
Senators call for investigation of DOD’s comms following Chinese telecom breach
“DOD’s failure to secure its unclassified voice, video and text communications with end-to-end encryption technology has left it needlessly vulnerable to foreign espionage,” Sens. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., wrote to the Pentagon’s inspector general.
NIST sets up new task force on AI and national security
The Testing Risks of AI for National Security Taskforce will bring federal expertise to test artificial intelligence models in critical use cases.
DOD issues private 5G deployment guide for military bases
The Department of Defense said it anticipates most military installations will use commercial 5G solutions but that “under certain circumstances, commercial networks may not fulfill an installation's requirements.”
