Provably Weird Network Deployment and Detection (PWND²) Special Notice

Background
The Provably Weird Network Deployment and Detection (PWND²) program is initiated by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under the Information Innovation Office (I2O).

The mission of the PWND² program is to develop formal models of emergent communication pathways, referred to as weird networks, to enhance the deployment and detection of robust and resilient hidden networks in real-world scenarios. This initiative aims to address the limitations faced by both internet freedom and national security communities, which currently rely on manual design and empirical testing of hidden communication systems without guarantees against user discovery.

Work Details
The PWND² program will focus on testing the hypothesis that software-defined networking combined with novel formal methods can provide provable privacy and performance guarantees for hidden communication systems at scale.

The program consists of one technical area divided into two focus areas:
1. FA1 will involve researching and developing a domain-specific language (DSL) for modeling emergent hidden communications.
2. FA2 will focus on creating analysis tools and techniques based on formal methods to evaluate hidden communication systems represented in the DSL developed in FA1. This area aims to ensure provable performance, scalability, security, and privacy guarantees. Throughout the program, teams are required to demonstrate scalability to networks with thousands of nodes. The program is structured into a single 30-month phase with experiments conducted every six months.

Period of Performance
The contract will be performed over a single 30-month phase with experiments occurring every six months.

Place of Performance
The contract work will primarily take place at locations relevant to the participating teams, with specific events held at the Executive Conference Center located at 4075 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, Virginia.