The Washington Post is out with an article today about the Pentagon’s “accelerating efforts to develop a new generation of cyberweapons capable of disrupting enemy military networks even when those networks are not connected to the Internet”: Last year, to speed up the development of cyberweapons, as well as defensive technology, then-Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III and Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright, then vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, placed $500 million over five years into the budget of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), one of the Defense ­Department’s premier research organizations.   The agency also has launched new ­cyber-development initiatives, including a “fast-track” program.   […]

Late last month, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Guidance, seeking public comment on proposed changes to single audit, cost principles, and administrative requirements for Federal grants and cooperative agreements. According to OSTP, “In many instances (e.g., indirect-costs-setting policy), multiple options are outlined [in the advance notice], reflecting a range of approaches likely to be attractive to different sectors of the grants community.” In particular, the Advance Notice specifies the reform ideas outlined below: