Army turns to industry for better cyber capabilities
The Contracting Command is seeking white papers from contractors that can develop new cyber capabilities and approaches.
The Army isn’t just beefing up the size of its cyber forces, it’s also looking to give them better cyber capabilities to work with.
The Army Contracting Command-Aberdeen Proving Ground is looking for ideas, seeking white papers to identify potential sources for the procurement of cyber capabilities, according to a Request for Information solicitation posted to the FBO website.
More specifically, the Army is studying industry feedback on cyber approaches that could be used for future strategic and protected cyber needs, according to the solicitation. Those approaches would focus on existing technical capabilities for defense against capabilities that exploit, deny or manipulate.
The Army is requesting white papers that demonstrate the contractor’s ability to develop and perform those cyber capabilities.
The material received from the sources sought announcement is to be reviewed by an Army subject matter expert team comprising officers, non-commissioned officers and engineers. The Army intends to increase knowledge of possible technologies and conduct market research.
The final response date for the RFI is Oct. 6, 2014.
The Army has continued to expand its cyber forces, and recently activated a Cyber Protection Brigade. The Army is also looking to launch an entirely new cyber branch as early as next month as the service works to double the size of its cyber workforce through 2016.