Kudu Dynamics to support Air Force cyber ops

Kudu Dynamics, a collection of white-hat hackers, has beat out 23 other companies to acquire a large Air Force contract. The service awarded the company $36.8 million for software and software development. Terms state that Kudu will support offensive and defensive cyber operations.

Contract specifics, however, are unknown. Nor is there much information about Kudu. Kudu’s website mission statement says the company promises to “to turn our proverbial swords into plowshares by raising the computer network defensive bar; and to maintain our national capabilities far in excess of said bar.”

The company’s only notoriety stems from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contract it won last year. When DARPA announced the contract, the agency initially spelled out the tasks Kudu would perform.

 According to Motherboard, the program in question — called the Internet Cyber Early Warning of Adversary Research and Development — instructed the hackers to investigate advanced cyber warfare threats. The secretive agency withdrew these details after several journalists mistook the program as an attempt to spy on security researchers.

 Work will be performed at Kudu’s headquarters in Chantilly, Virginia. It is expected to be complete by May 2021. The Air Force obligated $3.2 million of the funds at the time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, New York, is the contracting activity.