Perspecta Labs to Improve 5G Security for DARPA

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Perspecta Inc., announced that its innovative applied research arm, Perspecta Labs, received two awards on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Open, Programmable, Secure 5G (OPS-5G) program for work to improve security of 5G networks. The awards, which represent new work for the company, have a combined ceiling value of $25 million and a four-year period of performance if all options are exercised.

The expected deployment of 5G networks poses a significant security risk due to the proliferation of foreign and untrusted hardware devices. The OPS-5G program aims to improve 5G security through the creation of an architecture that decouples hardware and software ecosystems. This allows for secure operation over untrusted hardware and reduces the risk of supply chain attacks. OPS-5G also aims to provide security at scale for the growing number of sensors and other Internet of Things (IoT) devices that are part of 5G networks. On the program, Perspecta Labs will design, develop, integrate and demonstrate a security solution that scales for devices ranging from IoT sensors to servers, and will incorporate a set of techniques to deliver real-time, distributed defense in depth cybersecurity for 5G, 6G and beyond.

"While emerging mobile wireless networking technologies are poised to revolutionize industries from manufacturing, retail and medicine to critical infrastructure, transportation and defense, they also increase risks of supply chain attacks and other malicious cyber exploits," said Petros Mouchtaris, Ph.D., president of Perspecta Labs. "Perspecta Labs looks forward to expanding its leadership in the development of secure 5G networks by developing a portable, standards-compliant network stack for 5G that is open, plug-and-play and secure by design."

Perspecta Labs' solution implements a zero-trust, distributed security architecture that operates across the entire scale of IoT and network devices, with emphasis on reducing the burden of remote attestation and cryptographic computation on resource-constrained endpoints. The Perspecta Labs solution will also leverage in-line programmable network elements and virtualized network functions to enable real-time, distributed defense against cyberattacks through the programmable mitigation of distributed denial of service attacks, real-time response and restoration and proactive deception-based defenses.