DARPA awards military network security work

Lockheed Martin Corp. will seek to protect the confidentiality, integrity and security of military networks under a $31 million Military Network Protocol contract.

The award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) calls for Lockheed Martin to develop new cyber assurance procedures that will improve security, and provide dynamic bandwidth allocation and policy-based priorities at the individual and unit levels, according to the Oct. 2 company announcement.

The increasing dependence on information technology has pushed cybersecurity to the forefront as one of the most urgent challenges facing the military, Lockheed officials said.

In developing this new protocol for military networks, Lockheed Martin’s team will develop router technologies that include strong authentication and self-configuration capabilities to improve security, reduce the need for trained network personnel and lower overall life cycle costs for network management.

The giant defense contractor’s team to develop the new Military Network Protocol includes Anagran Inc., Juniper Networks, LGS Innovations and Microsoft Corp. Stanford University also will support the development effort.