The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) can today announce
nearly £1m to further develop technology that predicts and
counters cyber-attacks.
Three lead organisations, in collaboration with three additional
organisations, have been awarded funding in Phase 2 of
the DASA ‘Predictive Cyber
Analytics’ competition.
This work will develop, adapt and merge the novel approaches
explored in Phase 1 of the
competition, to proactively defend deployed UK military
systems and networks from the rapidly growing threat of offensive
cyber action from aggressive adversaries.
Project manager Rebecca Duncan said:
Cyber security has been in an arms race for decades, with
hackers continuously exploiting new vulnerabilities while
developers race to patch them.
This DASA competition looks to get the UK ahead of these
threats and better prepare us against – and even predict -
future cyber-attacks.
As our understanding of adversaries and attack patterns
improves, increased computing power and data growth continues
to drive the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution with
multiple new possibilities emerging to keep the UK safe and
prosperous.
DASA delivery manager Robert Hammond-Smith said:
This DASA competition is bringing together the best minds in
industry and academia with the brightest Government scientists
and talent from the Armed Forces to innovate for a safer future
for everyone in the UK.
Phase 2 seeks to further develop and enhance the predictive
approaches while adapting them to the military environment. The
work will allow MOD to better anticipate and mitigate the impact
of cyber-attacks.
The organisations being funded are:
- Bristol-based RiskAware Ltd who are awarded around £450,000
in collaboration with the University of Southampton
- Vauxhall-based decisionLab who are awarded nearly £240,000 in
collaboration with DIEM Analytics and Actica
- Gloucestershire-based Montvieux Limited who are awarded
nearly £250,000
Seven proposals received
nearly £1m in funding during Phase 1 – bringing the
total funding to about £2m.
DASA finds and funds exploitable technology and innovative
solutions to give UK defence and security a strategic advantage
over adversaries while boosting UK prosperity.
