1. 2016 Maintenance Innovation Challenge
Cost-wise Cyber Risk Management Using Static RAM Drives
PROBLEM STATEMENT
BENEFITS
This disruptive technology will reduce cyber-risk to nearly all DoD Information Technology (IT) enabled systems at low cost.
Hardware solution is software agnostic. i.e. will work for all Operating Systems and software.
Breaks the cycle of updating legacy systems to the latest software and patching.
Provides a technical solution for risk reduction of legacy systems that are too expensive or impossible to upgrade.
Depot avionics and mechanical parts are repaired using cyber-vulnerable industrial systems. Examples include programmable chips installed on circuit cards and machines that fabricate flight critical mechanical parts. The cost to modernize legacy Operating Systems and software is expensive, recurring, and won’t yield the desired risk reduction. How can DoD Depot repair facilities ensure they are producing “Cybersafe” parts?
TECHNOLOGY SOLUTION
GRAPHIC
Develop a Static Image Random Access Memory (RAM) Drive (SIRD) as a form-fit-function replacement for a standard hard drive. Booting is only allowed from an encrypted, authenticated, validated, static image of any Operating System and software. Only files on the RAM drive are executable at boot. Any malicious software encountered during operation remains in volatile memory and will be destroyed by cycling power.