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Solutions
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Researching, developing, and transitioning advances in separation architectures, model-based system engineering, and mathematical analysis.
- Safety & Security AnalysisAnalyze system models for gaps in safety and security compliance, and generate documentation to support certification requirements.
- Real-time Operating System SchedulingProvide end-to-end, system-wide schedulabilty analysis, and generate real-time operating system (RTOS) schedules and configuration information
- Embedded System Tradespace AnalysisSupport least-commitment design strategies by continuously evaluating embedded system design alternatives against diverse requirements.
- Isolation TechnologyEnable virtual security enclaves within a single physical server
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Initiatives
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What’s next: Innovative research examining hard problems of national importance.
- Weird MachinesAnticipating vulnerabilities related to computer systems that employ artificial intelligence
- Education InnovationDelivering game-based education to adolescents and young adults
- Automated Behavior AnalysisDetecting vulnerabilities in embedded systems using timed automata (VOLTA)
- Code GenerationAutomating the integration of cyber-resilient components in complex systems
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Weird Machines
Weird Machines
DECIMAL
Analyzing Complex Systems to Predict and Mitigate Vulnerability to Cyber-Attacks
Weird machines are unintended, emergent computational capabilities within a computer system making it vulnerable to be used in ways not intended by the system designers. Among other problems, this emergent execution can be exploited to enable or amplify cyber-attacks.
Adventium’s Detecting Emergent Computation In Multiple Automata Layers (DECIMAL) project, part of DARPA’s Artificial Intelligence Exploration initiative, is developing technology to identify the possible presence of weird machines in a high-level system design. Once identified, these capabilities can be blocked or mitigated. Addressing weird machines at the design stage will result in more secure systems, potentially realizing huge performance improvements and cost savings by avoiding mitigation or redesign in deployed systems.
DECIMAL’s capabilities will complement and extend the Risk Management Framework (RMF) analysis tool already available on the CAMET® Library.