The first female head of the Pentagon's research wing will join Google in the coming weeks, according to a report from Wired. Google confirmed that Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Director Dr. Regina Dugan has accepted a senior executive position with the search giant. A DARPA spokesman told Wired that Dugan felt she couldn't say no to such an innovative company. Under her leadership, DARPA shifted some of its focus to projects with more immediate applications on and off the battlefield.

Dugan served DARPA as a program manager between 1996 and 2000, earning the honor of program manager of the year in 1999. She also co-founded Dugan Ventures, a private investment firm, which in turn founded RedXDefense, which develops solutions for combating explosives. The Pentagon Inspector General is investigating contracts awarded to RedXDefense under Dugan's tenure. The spokesman said the probe has nothing to do with her decision to leave.

Critical Infrastructure Is Sticking Point in Cyber Debate: The two sides in the Senate cybersecurity debate haven't budged since a group of Republican senators declared their opposition to any new security regulations last week. The senators, including John McCain, R-Ariz., and several ranking Democrats on major committees, oppose the provisions in the Lieberman-Collins-Rockefeller bill (S 2105) that would task DHS with establishing baseline security standards for private industries deemed critical to the nation's economic or physical security. The critics released their own legislation (S 2151), which omits any new regulations, prompting the sponsors of the comprehensive bill to dig their heels in further on the issue of covered critical infrastructure.

A Senate Democratic aide said Monday that the bills have a lot of common ground, except the McCain bill does nothing to address critical infrastructure. According to the aide, most security experts say a bill that fails to address critical infrastructure would not be a serious effort at cybersecurity legislation. The aide said the sponsors and Democratic leadership are open to other approaches besides regulation, such as market incentives or placing the military in charge, but emphasized that Republicans must come to the table willing to do something about critical infrastructure. The aide said those conversations have yet to take place, but expressed optimism about the progress made to date.

Yahoo Sues Facebook: Yahoo filed a massive patent infringement lawsuit against Facebook on Monday, the latest salvo in the escalating patent wars that have taken hold of Silicon Valley. Yahoo is one of many previously formidable tech firms that have fallen on hard times and turned to patent lawsuits as a means to combat newer and more nimble competitors. Several reports attribute the decision to new CEO Scott Thompson, who was appointed just after the new year.

Yahoo accused Facebook of violating 10 patents, arguing Facebook's entire business model is based on social networking technology patented by Yahoo. Yahoo first threatened Facebook with legal action last month, echoing a tactic it used against Google just before it filed for an initial public offering in 2004. Google gave Yahoo $300 million in stock to settle that lawsuit. Facebook is preparing for an IPO this year that could value the firm at more than $100 billion.

Quotable: "We're disappointed that Yahoo, a longtime business partner of Facebook and a company that has substantially benefited from its association with Facebook, has decided to resort to litigation. Once again, we learned of Yahoo's decision simultaneously with the media. We will defend ourselves vigorously against these puzzling actions." — Facebook spokesman. Delays Expected for Port Worker IDs: CQ's Jennifer Scholtes reports that an oft-delayed secure ID program for port workers is likely to miss a deadline for deployment later this year. The Transportation Worker Identification Cards (TWIC) contain biometric data for verifying employees' identities; the Transportation Security Administration began issuing them in 2007 and has handed out more than 1.5 million to date.

But the cards are set to expire in October, even though Homeland Security Department officials say the card readers, originally scheduled for completion last year, won't be ready until next year at the earliest. Without the readers, TWIC is just a basic ID badge, according to Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., and one that costs workers $132.50 to renew. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., introduced legislation a year ago (HR 1105) that would extend the expiration dates of the TWIC cards until 2015 to prevent workers from having to renew before the card readers are installed.

Senators Speak to Broadcasters: The National Association of Broadcasters State Leadership Conference kicks into high gear today, with Sens. Scott Brown, R-Mass., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., among the scheduled speakers.  Senate Judiciary Chairman Leahy has championed the content industries; he was the primary sponsor of the Protect IP Act (S 968), which would have allowed copyright holders and the government to force Web firms to delete links to foreign rogue websites. The bill and its companion, the Stop Online Piracy Act (HR 3261), were scuttled earlier this year after massive online protests from web firms and users. Leahy's comments will be watched closely to see if he plans to take up the issue of online piracy again: Stay tuned for full coverage. Tech Prom Tonight: The tech and telecom policy wonks should be out in force tonight at the Center for Democracy and Technology's annual Tech Prom, which features Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Brad Burnham of Union Square Ventures as keynotes speakers. Wyden led the charge against SOPA and PIPA, earning him widespread acclaim from  privacy advocates. His "letter to the Internet" after the bills were defeated was widely cited by the web community and earned him praise as a champion of digital rights. If you can't make it, the hashtag to follow on Twitter is #techprom. Obama to Meet Future Scientists: President Obama will meet with the finalists of the Intel Science Talent Search 2012 this morning at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, fulfilling his pledge to recognize scholastic achievement in the same manner as athletic success. The 40 students in the prestigious high school research competition were narrowed down from 1,839 entrants and will be competing for a top prize of $100,000. This post was updated at 10:49 a.m.