Short Takes – 11-18-22

TSA administrator says new cyber requirements in the works for aviation industry. FCW.com article. Pull quote: “Speaking at the Aspen Cyber Summit, TSA chief David Pekoske said that the administration is following a similar method of developing the forthcoming cybersecurity rules as it did for the oil and gas pipeline sector, when it released a series of security guidelines in 2021 following the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack.”

NASA launches website to keep track of Artemis I. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: “The Artemis I mission lifted off in the early morning when the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion capsule took to the skies. In the wake of the launch, NASA has set up the Artemis Real-time Orbit Website or AROW for people to keep track of the spacecraft.” Site not working as of 0721 EST.

The End of Vaccines at ‘Warp Speed’. NYTimes.com article. Pull quote: “But as a third pandemic winter begins in the United States, its vaccine-making effort has lost steam. Efforts to test and produce next-generation Covid vaccines are bogged down by bureaucratic problems and funding shortfalls. Foreign rivals have raced ahead in approving long-awaited nasal-spray vaccines, including one invented in St. Louis, creating a scenario in which Americans would have to travel abroad for the latest in American vaccine technology.”

Contractors’ Reluctance to Work With Pentagon on Cybersecurity Is Leaving Vulnerabilities, DOD Official Says. GovExec.com article. Voluntary cybersecurity compliance still not happening. Pull quote: “McKeown listed various ways the Defense Department’s cyber experts can help its vendors, free of charge: on-site network assessments, sharing threat intelligence, shoring up email security, providing protective DNS, and more. But vanishingly few companies take advantage of the offerings: around 1 percent of DOD’s hundreds of thousands of contractors, he said.”

Offshore Oil and Gas: Strategy Urgently Needed to Address Cybersecurity Risks to Infrastructure. GAO report. Pull quote: “The Department of the Interior—which is responsible for overseeing the infrastructure—has taken few steps to address cybersecurity risks. We recommended that Interior immediately develop and implement a cybersecurity strategy.”

The US military is scrambling to build more ammo for itself and for Ukraine, but old Army paperwork could get in the way. BusinessInsider.com article. Pull quote: “"The Army faces challenges in managing the procurement and production of conventional ammunition," the Government Accountability Office warned in a study published in October.”

UConn Researcher’s Work Will Feature in International Space Station Mission. Uconn.edu article. Pull quote: “Associate Professor Yupeng Chen and his team of six graduate and eight undergraduate students will work with astronauts aboard the ISS doing experiments aimed at advancing in-space manufacturing concepts for the production of potentially marketable biomaterials for use in therapeutic and regenerative treatments here on earth for arthritis, cancer, and neurological diseases. The $1.86 million contract is one of eight winning proposals submitted in response to a NASA Research Announcement seeking space production applications for three low-Earth orbit (LEO) missions scheduled over 27 months.”

Senior Chemical Security Inspector. USAJobs.gov job listing. 4 GS-14 CFATS vacancies (Chicago, Boston, Dallas, and Seattle). Positions close 11-24-22.