Defense News in Brief: First Newly-Appointed Senior Military Acquisition Advisors Report to ASN RDA

Source: United States Navy

WASHINGTON — The Department of the Navy’s first Senate-confirmed Senior Military Acquisition Advisors (SMAA) joined the Assistant Secretary of Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition) staff this month. This program established in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2018 is designed for senior officers within the acquisition community to provide strategic, technical, and programmatic advice to their Service Acquisition Executive with the option of serving as adjunct professors at Defense Acquisition University.

Defense News in Brief: USS Gettysburg Crew Observes Memorial Day at their Namesake

Source: United States Navy

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64) Sailors visited their ship’s namesake city May 30-31, where they were special guests and participants at several Memorial Day observances while also spending time building relationships with the local residents and walking through the hallowed ground of the Gettysburg National Military Park. Part of the crew stayed overnight on the battlefield in the still bullet riddled “Sherfy House” that withstood the onslaught of rifle and cannon fire of Pickett’s Charge on the final day of the three-day battle.
 

Security News in Brief: Justice Department Announces Court-Authorized Seizure of Domain Names Used in Furtherance of Spear-Phishing Campaign Posing as U.S. Agency for International Development

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

On May 28, 2021, pursuant to court orders issued in the Eastern District of Virginia, the United States seized two command-and-control (C2) and malware distribution domains used in recent spear-phishing activity that mimicked email communications from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). This malicious activity was the subject of a May 27, 2021 Microsoft security alert, titled “New sophisticated email-based attack from Nobelium,” in which Microsoft attributed the activity to a nation-state group.