Threat Countermeasures

In areas lacking trustworthy communications infrastructure, deployed servicemembers rely on wireless devices to perform double duty: they not only provide access to the network; they are the network. Protocols for these networks require nodes to coordinate among themselves to manage resources, such as spectrum and power, and determine the best configurations to enable sharing of information. A problem with these protocols is that they implicitly trust all information shared about the security and operational state of each node, and the network as a whole. Consequently, inaccurate control or security information can quickly render the network unusable. This shortcoming could put productivity and mission success at risk as use of military wireless systems increases.

It may not be obvious to humans, but the life of a plant is full of peril. Viruses, pests, fungi, herbicides, drought, pollution, salinity, flooding, and frost—the plants that we depend on for food, clean air, and materials are challenged by myriad threats, natural and man-made. By extension, human populations are put at risk when food security is challenged and the agricultural underpinnings of our economies are destabilized, especially when threats emerge rapidly or unexpectedly.

DARPA’s Biological Technologies Office is hosting a Proposers Day meeting to provide information to potential applicants on the structure and objectives of the new Insect Allies program. Insect Allies will seek to develop vector-mediated modification technologies for mature plants to rapidly counter environmental and biological threats to crops. DARPA believes that the high specificity of genetic modification coupled with quick plant gene uptake could allow crops to be protected from threats within a single growing season.

Defense forces rely on electromagnetic dominance for command, control, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and related applications that use the electromagnetic spectrum. Similarly, spectrum use by our adversaries, and extensive unaffiliated commercial uses result in an increasingly congested, space, time and frequency environment. Severe pressure on available spectrum from all spectrum users creates a situation demanding significant adaptivity and flexibility of our communications systems to communicate successfully and achieve mission goals.

The rapid pace of innovation in software and hardware over the past three decades has produced computational systems that, despite security improvements, remain stubbornly vulnerable to attack. Although clean-sheet design can produce fundamental security improvements that gradually diffuse into the installed base, this process can take years.