FA864924P0613

Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) Phase II

Unified OT / IoT Security and Monitoring for Decentralized Communications Networks in Support of AFSOC Decentralized Communications Networks

Nozomi Networks provides unified security, visibility and monitoring at scale across the entire Operational Technology (OT) & Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure. Using a passive no touch monitoring approach, all OT & IoT devices and behaviors are seen on the network. Nozomi s Guardian is effective as an early warning indication of a peer adversary campaign. There are no other American cyber security solutions capable of providing the scalable holistic OT/IoT protection that Nozomi offers today to commercial customers. Current doctrine inadequately addresses Industrial Control Systems (ICS) security and as a result, the service is improperly organized and trained to secure missions across the space and cyberspace domains. While the Air Force is postured well to assure the mission for routine system failure as it relates to back-up power, redundant systems, on-call maintenance personnel, etc, ICS and its myriad cyber vulnerabilities could render current provisions ineffective. The Guardian system reduces the time to detect, time to investigate and time to remediate OT & ICS security vulnerabilities within the DAF. Increasingly, the line between physical and cyber has blurred as ICS has become a key factor in enabling mission assurance. Unfortunately, most of the OT infrastructure in place throughout the DoD was installed long before the focus on its cybersecurity. Now the DoD is playing catchup with the IT world, trying to achieve the same level of capability in defending cyber networks. The DAF can employ Nozomi's solutions to bridge the gap. As of 2021, the average time to detect a network intrusion for OT was over 180 days. That is 6 months for an adversary to gain full access to the setup and impacts of changes to an Air Force/DOD OT network. Using Nozomi Network s product, Guardian, the DAF can monitor the data on that network and identify behavioral changes whether in a device or human using the network to detect intrusions within seconds of when they occur and identify where the attack is coming from shortly thereafter. Using Nozomi s Guardian as a security overwatch for the network, defense clients can arm their cyber defense teams with the tools and information needed to prepare, prevent, detect, and respond to OT and ICS based network vulnerabilities. Like all defense agencies, the Air Force needs enhanced cybersecurity, especially for its Defense Critical Infrastructure Program (DCIP) critical assets. Per Executive Order (EO) 14208-Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity, [t]he scope of protection and security must include systems that process data (information technology (IT)) and those that run the vital machinery that ensures our safety (operational technology (OT)). Nozomi's technical solutions and Guardian platform directly address EO 14208 and fill the critical OT & ICS cybersecurity gaps currently affecting the DAF.

The goal of phase II is to continue the R&D efforts initiated in Phase I. Funding is based on the results achieved in Phase I and the scientific and technical merit and commercial potential of the project proposed in Phase II.

AFX244-DPCSO1

F2D-10424

X24.4

Meghan Scott