Lockheed Martin is expanding its work with Guardtime Federal to integrate a variety of integrity and cyber-related capabilities into Lockheed Martin aircraft products and processes.
The new contract builds on specialized mission support testing in 2015, and the integration systems and support contract related to supply chain risk and software development management in 2017. This time the focus is on further reducing the attack surface of the information supply chain that forwards information to and from operational aircraft systems.
Lockheed Martin and Guardtime Federal began working together in 2015 with demonstrations and now are progressing into more operationally oriented pilots that integrate data integrity technologies to address the threat of data manipulation in networked and weapon system embedded cyber physical systems. The new work further escalates engagement with on-going hardware and software in the loop testing to address the continued evolution of cyber-focused threats across the entire development and fielding lifecycle.
Lockheed Martin was the first U.S. defense contractor to incorporate blockchain technology into its cyber safe strategy for developmental processes, enabling more efficient and assured offerings to its customers. The new efforts will accelerate toward fielding new capabilities for mission survivability in a global cyber persistent threat environment.
"We continue to integrate new cyber security approaches across our portfolio of aeronautics programs," said Ron Bessire, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics' Engineering and Technology vice president. "Our collaboration with Guardtime Federal continues to yield fresh new approaches to solve the lingering challenges that more traditional technical solutions have not solved."
Guardtime Federal continues to evolve tools and techniques that go well beyond conventional firewall protections and focus on the integrity and origin of any digital element. The new capabilities, once integrated, will provide linked digital data attributions that revolutionize the way digital provenance is being applied, assured, and audited across the lifecycle of mission critical information flowing into operational systems.
"At Guardtime Federal we continue to appreciate the support Lockheed Martin has provided to allow us to focus on Cyber Integrity. Our goal is to provide every Soldier, Sailor, Airman and Marine the confidence that they can rely on the information they see and the equipment they operate without fear that it has been manipulated by an outside force," said David Hamilton, president of Guardtime Federal. "There is no overnight solution, but this is the objective of our work with Lockheed who shares our 'Cyber Integrity First' core value".