Program Summary
The growth of the internet-of-things (IoT) and network-connected composed systems (e.g., aircraft, critical-infrastructure, etc.) has led to unprecedented technical diversity in deployed systems. From consumer IoT devices developed with minimal built-in security, which are often co-opted by malware to launch large distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on internet infrastructure, to remote attacks on Industrial Control System (ICS) devices, these newly connected, composed systems provide a vast attack surface. While the diversity of functionality and the scope of what can now be connected, monitored, and controlled over the Internet has increased dramatically, economies of scale have decreased platform diversity. Inexpensive commodity off-the-shelf (COTS) devices have largely replaced single-purpose, custom devices.
The ConSec program seeks to develop a system to automatically generate, deploy, and enforce configurations of components and subsystems for use in military platforms. These configurations should address system vulnerabilities and minimize attack surfaces while maintaining expected functionality and performance. By viewing each individual component’s configuration as elements of the composed system’s behavior and security, more secure configurations can be developed and deployed to enhance security without requiring new software development or large hardware changes. To achieve these goals, ConSec will support research in the following areas:
- Deriving a functional specification for a component and analyzing how settings in its configuration space could impact its functionality, producing useful configuration semantic models without exhaustive exploration of the configuration space, and reasoning effectively with incomplete information.
- Constructing models of intended functionality for the composed system with minimal human-in-the-loop time by understanding the operational context(s) of the composed system.
- Ingesting standard operating procedures (e.g., pilot check-lists) that describe the operator’s interactions with composed systems and mapping them into functional models of system behavior.
- Characterizing attack surfaces stemming from poorly configured or composed components, and developing approaches to remedy those weaknesses via configurations.
- Deploying secure configurations, monitoring them for changes during operation, and producing context-relevant responses in the event of an identified change.
- Designing authoritative and auditable configuration repositories that provide strong integrity protections.
ConSec: BAA
ConSec: FAQ
ConSec: CUI guide
ConSec Proposers Day: Slides
ConSec Proposers Day: Overview of Program by Mr. Jacob Torrey (Video)
ConSec Proposers Day: Q&A on Broad Agency Announcement (Video)