Information Technology

Summary

Over the course of nearly 45 years, SSAI has built and expanded a state-of-the-art IT support team that specializes in IT governance, operations, and hardware/software infrastructure. Our range of IT support is far-reaching, and we offer computing system services to hundreds of users across multiple agencies for a wide variety of desktop and mobile platforms. Furthermore, SSAI manages high-performance computing and networking systems, as well as collecting data, performing audits, and reporting on system security.  User problems are resolved through efficient, ticketed help desk support; while system issues are monitored and addressed by a team of qualified IT specialists.

Major Accomplishments

As of January 22, 2021, SSAI is proud to announce that for the second year in a row, NASA’s Langley Research Center (LaRC) has granted an authorization to operate (ATO) for the STARSS Science Support Network (S3N), supported largely by SSAI staff. 

NASA LaRC requires that all external systems processing and/or NASA data storage are to be assessed annually by an independent third-party assessment organization, or 3PAO for short, which looks at over 100 different security controls, spanning from administrative policies and processes to technical controls, to ensure that IT systems have a basic level of cyber hygiene. 

2020 brought many challenges arising from the global pandemic and, with it, the need for SSAI to make human health and safety its highest priority.  To meet these new challenges, the SSAI IT team worked diligently to change the IT landscape to better secure and protect our internal customers and mission partners. Such changes included installation of a new cloud-managed anti-virus software—SentinelOne—that detects threats remotely; and other system improvements that enable remote system monitoring and control.  SSAI’s rapid response and innovative solutions were instrumental in NASA LaRC’s decision to grant an ATO for the S3N environment.