Intelligent Automation, Inc. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: N201-030

Description

Navy control systems (NCSs) are often very complex and consist of a complicated mixture of hardware, middleware, and software. Installation, configuration and update of tactical software on the NCS is time-consuming, operator-intensive, and error-prone. Such process may not only introduce cybersecurity vulnerabilities or misconfigurations that affect the performance and effectiveness of the NCS, but also reduce security control effectiveness when executing administrative tasks during the installation. Automated tools in industry reduce the cybersecurity vulnerabilities associated with operator-intensive installation processes. However, such tools were not designed to support the meticulousness associated with weapons safety in DoD domain. Thus, there is a critical need of an innovative solution to automate installation, configuration, and update of the tactical software on the complex NCS, as well as auditing and reporting of the system status. To meet this critical need, Intelligent Automation, Inc., along with our transition partner, proposes to develop AutoDeploy, an Automatic Continuous Deployment and Auditing system that can automate the installation, configuration, update and auditing process for the tactical software. The automated approach will reduce the need for operator-intensive interaction during deployment and auditing, ensuring a repeatable process and reducing the opportunity to introduce misconfiguration or even cyber-security vulnerabilities.