The Defense Innovation Unit awarded a $45 million to a Silicon Valley-based tech startup to perform cybersecurity testing on Defense Department weapon systems\u2019 applications, the company announced May 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company, ForAllSecure, has been prototyping its cybersecurity testing platform, known as Mayhem, with DoD components for more than three years. DIU made the award on the five-year contract April 23, a ForAllSecure spokesperson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ForAllSecure is working with the Air Force 96th Cyberspace Test Group, the Air Force 90th Cyberspace Operations Squadron, the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) and the U.S. Army Command, Control, Communication, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center (C5ISR).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The same DoD users have worked with ForAllSecure throughout the prototyping process for the company\u2019s platform, which finds bugs in applications and shows the user how they can be triggered. The platform will allow for a continuous testing for vulnerabilities in weapons systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne of the problems that [the department] run[s] into is this idea that there\u2019s a point in time when you\u2019re done” with cybersecurity,” said David Brumley, chief executive officer of ForAllSecure. “It all comes down to how quickly can you test and retest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the last few years of prototyping, the company went through 10 iterations of Mayhem. One significant piece the company added to those iterations were cybersecurity tutorials for users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ForAllSecure\u2019s work on Mayhem started before a troubling report from the Government Accountability Office that highlighted several cybersecurity challenges and shortfalls that the Defense Department\u2019s weapons systems faced in light of potential advanced cyberattacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you look at the GAO report, they simply weren\u2019t embedding cybersecurity testing in the process at all,” Brumley said. \u201cSo this is adding this common sense measure and it\u2019s automating it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2016, the company\u2019s Mayhem platform won the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency\u2019s Cyber Grand Challenge, an automated defensive cybersecurity competition. That victory came with a $2 million prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since that victory, Brumley said that the company has run into a few unique challenges working with other DoD components, particularly around installing the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen DARPA has their contest, it really only has to work for the developers,\u201d Brumley said. \u201cWhen you go to a product, you have to go to an unknown site, you have to install. You have to repeatedly do that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Defense Innovation Unit award a contract for weapons system cybersecurity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":10078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":7522,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7522],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3340],"class_list":["post-16723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyber"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"VHFDPTAO7JBNDCMKJBFE5ZZG5A","arc_canonical_url":"\/dod\/2020\/05\/12\/diu-awards-45m-contract-for-weapon-systems-cybersecurity\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n