Government's new defence unit will seek alternatives to cryptology
The Military Systems Information Assurance unit will provide different levels of funding depending on a proposal's maturity
The UK Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) has launched a new unit named Military Systems Information Assurance (MSIA), as part of a broader effort to enhance UK cybersecurity capabilities and provide an information advantage to UK defence forces.
DASA created MSIA as part of its new Innovation Focus Area (IFA), with an intent to recognise, develop and accelerate technical solutions for information assurance within the military.
MSIA will be funded as part of the UK government's integrated review of security, defence, development and foreign policy. DASA says the new unit will look for approaches and technologies that may be an alternative to cryptology - the traditional solution for information assurance.
Proposals submitted under MSIA will need to account for the distinct and hostile demands placed on military information systems.
Examples of proposals that will be considered include innovative methods for authentication, new ways to secure information in a cloud environment, and novel ways of securing data at rest.
Solutions that provide uninterrupted information flow during low bandwidth and intermittent communications will also be considered.
On the financial side, MSIA's funding will be split by technical readiness level (TRL).
A less mature, lower TRL proposal will be considered as an Emerging Innovation. DASA advises these types of proposals to bid for funding of up to £150,000. Such proposals will be required to provide a proof of concept within a six month contract.
More mature, higher TRL proposals will be considered as a Rapid Impact. They can bid for funding up to £350,000, and will be required to provide a concept demonstrator within a 12 month contract.
The deadline for submitting applications is 5th January 2022.
The announcement of DASA's new focus area follows the launch of another IFA in August, aimed at developing technologies to cut Ministry of Defence (MoD) systems' exposure to cyber attacks.
As part of the programme, the MoD paid bounties to white hat hackers for discovering security bugs in its computer networks, to raise security across its networks and devices.
US-based HackerOne, which specialises in bug bounty competitions and effectively outsources pen-testing, ran the programme with the MoD.
The programme followed the government's publication of its integrated review of security, defence, development and foreign policy in March, which highlighted the need for greater resilience and capabilities to tackle cyber threats.