Cyber-threats are rapidly shifting and privacy-related breaches are increasing in frequency and impact.

To address these concerns, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), a multiple Platinum Honoree in the 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program, has awarded a total of $1,149,900 to the Regents of the University of Colorado, and Galois, Inc., to develop new research and development (R&D) capabilities to enhance the management of privacy threats and vulnerabilities.

“Threats in cyberspace are constantly evolving and the frequency and impact of privacy-related breaches are increasing,” explains William N. Bryan, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Under Secretary for Science and Technology.

“Innovative solutions are needed to safeguard the privacy of critical information and data, as well as to prevent, mitigate and recover from the adverse effects of privacy incidents.”

“S&T is developing solutions to ensure the government end-user’s data privacy is protected and consistent with outlined laws, policies and mission.”

The Data Privacy project, provides the Department’s operational components and other stakeholders with the R&D expertise and resources needed to enhance the privacy of their critical data.

The project focuses specifically, on privacy risks related to connected sensor devices and platforms, mobile computing, automation and autonomous systems and the delivery of digital services.

The University of Colorado

• The Board of Regents University of Colorado, of Boulder, Colorado, was awarded $750,000 to develop the DronePD drone intrusion detection and tracking system.
  • Drones (also known as Unmanned Aerial Systems or UAS’s), whether authorized or unauthorized, pose increasing threats to the protection of sensitive data and activities of individuals, businesses and authorities as these devices can be used to infringe on privacy and interests.
  • Detecting the presence of these drones is the first crucial step towards protecting sensitive data and activities.
  • While drone detection systems currently exist, they are prohibitively expensive or require a dedicated radio frequency band to perform active scanning—making them ill-suited for civilian use.
  • DronePD will provide a cost-effective, passive and easy-to-use drone detection and tracking system solution to help manage privacy risk.

(Learn More about CU Engineering. Eric Few, Associate Professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences Department, established an interdisciplinary research program based on overlapping areas of interest that include: autonomous flight of heterogeneous unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), guidance and control of unmanned aircraft in complex atmospheric phenomena, optimal distributed sensing by mobile robots, miniature self-deploying systems, and field robotics. Courtesy of CU Engineering and YouTube. Posted in August 2018.)

Galois, Inc.

• Galois, Inc., of Portland, Oregon, was awarded $399,900 for FIDes Utility and Risk Assistant (FIDURA), which adds risk and utility profile support for the Framework for Information Disclosure with Ethical Security (FIDES) platform.
• FIDES is a scalable, fine-grained, technical disclosure control system for datasets, prototyped under the DHS Information Marketplace for Policy and Analysis of Cyber-risk & Trust (IMPACT) program.
• The FIDES platform reduces risk for data providers by keeping non-anonymized data cryptographically secure for its entire lifetime, while also providing high utility for analyses that require direct access to sensitive details in the data.
• FIDURA extends FIDES to offer two novel, inter-related capabilities: support for data providers and data analysts to specify the risk profile of allowing access to shared data, and support for data users to specify the utility profiles from that data to produce useful analytic results.
• FIDURA enables rapid decision-making that considers legal and technical elements of responsible data sharing in concert, a feature that is largely lacking in current privacy technologies.

(Learn More. Courtesy of Galois and YouTube. Posted in June of 2015.)

“These additions to S&T’s Data Privacy portfolio address critical capability gaps for Homeland Security practitioners and instill trust in emergent technologies,” said S&T Physical and Cyber Security Division Director Mary McGinley.

“Support for these initiatives demonstrates how S&T is fostering responsible innovation to protect the nation’s people, infrastructure and assets while also protecting privacy.”

The awards were made through the DHS S&T Long Range Broad Agency Announcement.

S&T’s cybersecurity mission is to enhance the security and resilience of the nation’s critical information infrastructure and the internet by developing and delivering new technologies, tools and techniques to defend against cyberattacks.

S&T conducts and supports technology transitions and leads and coordinates R&D among the R&D community, which includes DHS customers, government agencies, the private sector and international partners.

The Annual ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program is specifically designed to honor distinguished government and vendor solutions that deliver enhanced value, benefit and intelligence to end users in a variety of government, homeland security and public safety vertical markets.

Over 130 distinguished guests representing National, State and Local Governments, and Industry Leading Corporate Firms, gathered from across North America, Europe and the Middle East to be honored among their peers in their respective fields which included:

• The Department of Homeland Security Federal Protective Service (FPS)
• Argonne National Laboratory
• The Department of Homeland Security
• The Department of Justice
• The Security Exchange Commission Office of Personnel Management
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection
• Viasat, Hanwha Techwin, Lenel, Konica Minolta Business Solutions, Verint, Canon U.S.A., BriefCam, Pivot3, Milestone Systems, Allied Universal, Ameristar Perimeter Security and More!

The Annual ‘ASTORS’ Awards is the preeminent U.S. Homeland Security Awards Program highlighting the most cutting-edge and forward-thinking security solutions coming onto the market today, to ensure our readers have the information they need to stay ahead of the competition, and keep our Nation safe – one facility, street, and city at a time.

The 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program was Proudly Sponsored by ATI Systems, Attivo Networks, Automatic Systems, Desktop Alert, and Royal Holdings Technologies.