Northrop Grumman Wins Research Contract from DHS to Strengthen Mobile Security Applications
September 25 2015 - 9:00AM
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) was awarded a contract from
the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology
Directorate to develop advanced biometric solutions that will
enhance mobile security for users while virtually eliminating the
need for a password.
Northrop Grumman will combine advanced behavioral sensing and
modeling techniques, derived from two of its university research
projects, to authenticate user identity. Instead of a password or
pin, behavioral characteristics gathered by sensors on a device
will authenticate user identity. Simply put, how a user picks up
and handles a device – a highly secure and irreproducible function
– will permit access.
"As the government moves to a more mobile business model, this
new technology mitigates risk so users can take advantage of the
newest mobile applications in a trusted state," said Shawn Purvis,
vice president and general manager, cyber division, Northrop
Grumman Information Systems. "From the warfighter to the civil
servant, we are integrating solutions to optimize ease and
performance while layering our defense-in-depth approach to protect
everything from the perimeter to the data."
Under a $1.7 million Mobile Technology Security (MTS) research
and development (R&D) award, Northrop Grumman is leveraging a
research project on threat behavior modeling originally developed
through its Cybersecurity Research Consortium partner Carnegie
Mellon University's (CMU) cybersecurity institute, CyLab. In this
approach, sensors on the device track and capture user behavior and
compare that data against a user profile automatically derived
through machine-learning techniques. This technology has since spun
off into a company called Zense Inc. (www.zense.io), now a teammate
on this project.
Enhancing this feature is another project on mobile challenge
response techniques that the company sponsored at Iowa State
University through the Security and Software Engineering Research
Center (S2ERC), an NSF-sponsored Industry/University Cooperative
Research Center. To authenticate a user, the device simply
generates a curve on the display that the user must then trace on
the touch screen. As the user swipes across the screen, unique
pressure points are calibrated that cannot be replicated across
users, thus ensuring another level of security and authenticity. If
a user is not able to authenticate, the device will lock or, in
extreme situations, be wiped automatically.
Added Purvis, "This project is an example of how we are working
with our academic research partners to integrate next-generation
technologies in an innovative way to address a national security
imperative."
Northrop Grumman's Cybersecurity Research Consortium includes
Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Purdue University and the University of Southern California. Formed
in 2009, the consortium aims to advance research and develop
solutions to counter the complex cyber threats that face our
economy, our freedom of information, and our national security.
Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing
innovative systems, products and solutions in unmanned systems,
cyber, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to government and
commercial customers worldwide. Please visit
www.northropgrumman.com for more information.
CONTACT: Marynoele Benson
703-556-1651
marynoele.benson@ngc.com
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