RTX business BBN Technologies, a company offering technology research and development for national security, has secured a contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to bolster the cyber resilience of the Department of Defense.
The company said Thursday the contract supports DARPA’s Compartmentalization and Privilege Management, or CPM, program, which aims to strengthen the DOD’s cyber defenses by compartmentalizing software systems. Under the contract, BBN will develop a tool that protects software systems during infiltration by subdividing them into smaller, secure sections. This helps contain initial breaches and prevents them from escalating into a full-blown cyberattack.
Analysis and Restructuring for Containment Tool
The Analysis and Restructuring for Containment, or ARC, tool is designed to automatically analyze large code bases and create smaller, secure compartments. The ARC leverages the principle of least privilege, ensuring that each code base has only the minimum access necessary to function.
The ARC is intended to enable the software system to still function efficiently while being compartmentalized. This method allows system administrators to prioritize security measures for the most critical areas, without compromising the overall performance of the system.
RTX BBN Cybersecurity Capabilities in the ARC Tool
The ARC tool will integrate cybersecurity capabilities developed by BBN. This includes automated program analysis, verifiable program restructuring and automated reasoning.
Aaron Paulos, BBN principal investigator, remarked, “Today’s complex attack surfaces and increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks mean that even a single point of vulnerability can compromise an entire system. Our solution will enhance the security of critical software systems while preserving performance, which is essential for maintaining operational readiness.”
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