FORWARD EDGE AI INC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: X224-ODCSO1

Description

This solution addresses the Tech Focus Areas of Microelectronics and Cybersecurity. On April 13, 2022, the Cybersecurity, and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Department of Energy (DOE), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and National Security Agency (NSA) issued a rare joint alert that Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actors had gained full system access to multiple industrial control systems including Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and IoT devices with the goal of disabling US energy infrastructure. In August 2019 Microsoft reported that hackers working for the Russian government were using printers, video decoders, and other IoT devices as a beachhead to penetrate targeted computer networks. In May 2019, the Mirai botnet was found using a total of 13 different exploits to target routers and other IoT devices. In addition, in August 2018, CNET warned that hacked appliances like air conditioners could bring down a state’s power grid. Vulnerabilities to US critical infrastructure are rooted in the limitations of existing network-protection systems; gateways and firewalls can become compromised. Static firewalls are not device-specific and cannot adapt to changing security states. Some of these challenges are due to the low-cost and high-volume nature of IoT and SCADA devices. High Assurance, NSA endorsed cryptographic products that can provide IoT/SCADA security, can range from $10K per unit to $2M per unit. As a result, it is currently not economically feasible to protect these devices against both classical and quantum level attacks. Forward Edge-AI is also augmenting a commodity chip with a Real-Time Machine Learner (Artificial Intelligence) capability to understand the patterns of life for a facility, its data network, as well as its devices and users, to identify subtle deviations indicative of an emerging attack. Isidore will also be able to defend against attacks by executing an “immune system” response to stop threatening activity as it occurs.