Rockwell Collins has been selected by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to use mathematics-based techniques to secure land, air and sea platforms from cyberattacks.
The mathematics-based methods were developed by Rockwell Collins and its partners in DARPA’s high assurance cyber military systems (HACMS) programme, which seeks to create technology for the construction of high-assurance cyber-physical systems.
These techniques are designed to ensure cyber resilience by eliminating important classes of system vulnerabilities.
Rockwell Collins Advanced Technology Center vice-president John Borghese said: “In today’s highly connected world, land, air and sea platforms can fall victim to cyberattack.
“HACMS provides peace of mind and high assurance that these systems are resistant to a cyberattack.”
Rockwell Collins' HACMS team, including Galois, Data 61, HRL, and the University of Minnesota, have developed technologies that will help achieve a high level of cyber-resilience.
Each of these technologies, which include architectural modelling and analysis, a secure microkernel and automatic generation of the application code, use mathematical reasoning to ensure the absence of vulnerabilities that can be exploited in a cyberattack.
Rockwell said that the technologies were successfully demonstrated on an unmanned helicopter, a small unmanned air vehicle, and an enhanced soldier vision helmet at a HACMS demonstration earlier this month in Sterling, Virginia, US.
The HACMS technologies will be initially applied to support the US Navy programmes, under the newly-awarded DARPA contract.
Image: DARPA selects Rockwell Collins to apply cyber-security technology to new platforms. Photo: courtesy of Rockwell Collins.
