USCIS Extends Cyber Support Contract with LinkTec
LinkTec LLC will receive a potential one-year task order from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to continue to provide the agency cybersecurity support in response to a breach in 2020 conduced via the SolarWinds software compromise. LinkTec is helping the agency meet eviction parameters required by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency through Emergency Directive 21-0 to improve cybersecurity posture and recover from the breach. The value of the task order, which has a six-month base period and two three-month options, was redacted.
Paravision Receives R&D Contract to Detect Deepfake Videos
Paravision says it has received a one-year contract from a Five Eyes government partner to develop software to detect deepfake videos by detecting digital face manipulations. The San Francisco-based company says that deepfake videos use artificial intelligence to replace the likeness of a person or individuals with that of other people, with the most sophisticated abuses nearly impossible to detect. “Deepfake technologies pose significant new threats to democracy, national security, identity and personal privacy,” the company says. “They contribute to an atmosphere of uncertainty and distrust that can be exploited by malicious actors.” The value of the research and development contract wasn’t disclosed nor was the customer. The Five Eyes partners include the U.S., United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Paravision’s face recognition technology is highly ranked and in the recent Department of Homeland Security Biometric Technology Rally the company said it delivered 100 percent matching accuracy across all demographics.
DHS S&T to Award Smiths Detection Contract for EDS Detection Characterization
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate says it plans to award Smiths Detection a contract to conduct a characterization study of the company’s currently deployed explosive detection systems (EDS) that are compliant with the version 7.0 detection standard to see how well they compare to the Transportation Security Administration’s new 8.0 standard. EDS systems automatically screen checked bags for explosives at airports. S&T says that TSA is unsure how well the currently deployed EDS systems will fare against the new 8.0 standard. The results will “help delineate new research and development gaps and requirements for S&T and TSA to address over the next few years,” S&T says.