Air Force seeks better system for getting cyber data
By
Nick Wakeman
The Air Force wants to develop what it calls a knowledge portal for collecting and using cyber data, analysis and other reports needed for its cyber command and control system.
The Air Force wants to develop what it calls a knowledge portal for collecting and using cyber data, analysis and other reports.
The Air Force wants the portal for operators of the Cyber Command and Control Mission System or C3MS. According to a new request for information, C3MS operators need collected cyber data, data analysis, mission and intelligence reports and open source reports for operation planning and execution. They need the information “to ensure desired cyber effects are achieved,” according to the RFI.
Currently, this information comes together in an ad hoc basis, in a variety of formats and through different channels. Pulling the information together into a useable format is labor intensive. The Air Force wants a standard, automated solution.
It will also need to interoperate and be accessible to other Air Force systems that have similar data requirements.
The Air Force also wants the solution to be commercial or government off the shelf or some combination.
In response to the RFI, the Air Force is looking for cost estimates. They also want a self-assessment that the solution can meet 50 percent of the requirements off-the-shelf. They also want to know the time it would take to bring the solution up to 75 percent and up to 100 percent of the requirements.
The Air Force wants to conduct a demo of the solution. Once the proof of concept is established, it will move on to operations, according to the RFI.
Some of the requirements of the system include:
- At least 30 operators can perform queries, retrieve data and make entries simultaneously. The ultimate object is for 300 users to be in the system at the same time.
- The solutions shall be presented as a web-service to other applications and users.
- Common Access Card and PKI enabled
- Role-based access
- Virtual machine support
- Data important and export capabilities in .cvs and .xls formats. Ultimate objective is also to support pdf, .doc, and .ppt formats.
The RFI also describes requirements for data attributes, sources, management and operational analysis. There are query and workflow requirements as well.
The contract will also include training, engineering support, supportability and operational suitability requirements.
The RFI also lists several vendors that the Air Force is aware of that have potential solutions. These include Anomali’s Threatstream product, Palisade from Leidos, ThreatConnect, ThreatQuotient, RT Incident Management from Lockheed Martin, Soltra and ElectricIQ.
Responses are due Jan. 30 and should be no more than 30 pages long. The solicitation number is 01092017.