Short Takes – 12-21-22

Senate trudges toward vote on $1.7T spending bill amid conservative pushback. Politico.com article. Snow storm as a political tool. Pull quote: “Senate Republican leadership is stopping short of projecting how many of their members will ultimately vote for the bill, which will need 10 GOP votes to pass. And across the Capitol, Republicans are expected to oppose it en masse after pushing for a short-term punt into early next year; House GOP leadership formally whipped against the spending bill on Tuesday.”

DHS Seeks Ideas for Automated Cyberattack Detectors in Annual Notice. NextGov.com article. Pull quote: “The Department of Homeland Security is seeking applications from small businesses to address seven “technology needs” as part of the department’s fiscal year 2023 Science and Technology Directorate Small Business Innovation Research—or SBIR—program, including for proposals to “develop a hardware-assisted real-time accurate detector of cyberattacks on networked and edge electronic devices.” See below for more information.

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Solicitation. SAM.gov solicitation. Pull quote:

“The following are the topics for the FY23 S&T Directorate’s SBIR Program:

“DHS231-001 - Accurate and Real-time Hardware-assisted Detection of Cyber Attacks

“DHS231-002 - Air Cargo Manifest Analysis to Aid Screeners

“DHS231-003 - First Responder Digital Badges

“DHS231-004 - Machine Learning Based Integration of Alarm Resolution Sensors

“DHS231-005 - Mission Critical Services Server-to-Server Communication, voice communications, 3GPP-Standards

“DHS231-006 - Reduced Order Modeling of Critical Infrastructure Protect Surfaces”

Community voices concerns over American Chemical Society magazine. ChemistryWorld.com article.  Pull quote: “‘When we got word as an advisory board in 2021 that C&EN was moving from publications to the communications division, it set off a lot of red flags,’ says inorganic chemist Matt Hartings, who helped organise the open letter. ‘As an advisory board, we are particularly aware of the need for independence – if you’re doing reporting, your reporting needs to be trusted by the people you’re reporting for. And you don’t want to be reporting for the same person who does [public relations] for the society. So, there’s all sorts of conflicts of interest.’”

Protected Critical Infrastructure Information: Technical Amendments. FederalRegister.gov final rule. Summary: “This final rule amends the Protected Critical Infrastructure Information regulations to provide non-substantive technical, organizational, and conforming updates that are intended to improve the accuracy of these provisions. This action is editorial in nature and does not impose any new regulatory requirements on affected parties.”

Hazardous Materials: Enhanced Safety Provisions for Lithium Batteries Transported by Aircraft (FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018). FederalRegister.gov final rule. Summary: “This final rule revises the Hazardous Materials Regulations for lithium cells and batteries transported by aircraft and is consistent with the previously published Interim Final Rule, which responded to congressional mandates; prohibited the transport of lithium ion cells and batteries as cargo on passenger aircraft; required lithium ion cells and batteries to be shipped at not more than a 30 percent state of charge aboard cargo-only aircraft when not packed with or contained in equipment; and limited the use of alternative provisions for smaller lithium cell or battery shipments to one package per consignment.”