DHS S&T awards $10.4m contracts to improve mobile security research

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has awarded $10.4m in cybersecurity Mobile Technology Security (MTS) research and development (R&D) contracts to improve the security of mobile devices for the federal government.

The contract is part of the Mobile Device Security (MDS) R&D project and will look at four technical areas such as mobile device instrumentation, transactional security methods, mobile security management tools, and mobile device layer protection.

The MTS R&D award is aimed at increasing the adoption of secure mobility by government and private sector organisations.

According to DHS, mobile security has grown as the use of mobile technology continues to expand in everyday activities such as banking and customer service.

Currently, the mobile technology industry has expanded with new devices and applications which enables people to simplify how and where business is conducted.

The deal is aimed at ensuring that the sensitive information is not at risk to current and emerging cyber threats.

DHS Under Secretary for Science and Technology Dr Reginald Brothers said: "Enabling a mobile and secure Federal workforce is essential to achieving mission success.

"S&T is working to develop innovative and affordable technology solutions that align with government policies and standards while protecting sensitive information from cyber adversaries."

The DHS noted that the goals of the mobile device instrumentation and mobile security management tool research areas are to develop user authentication and identity methods, such as learning user behaviours, and incorporating identity into a mobile device to keep it secure.

The transactional security method research area will develop technologies to obtain data on a mobile device or over a network security system, allowing organisations to offer oversight on their devices.

The mobile device layer protection research area will create new tools to secure the layers of mobile devices such as firmware, the operating system, applications or identity against infections by malicious applications.

As part of the contract, eight awardees across the four technical topic areas of research will work closely with S&T to create and provide new R&D solutions that can then be adopted into the government and private sector marketplace.

The awardees include HRL Laboratories; Kryptowire; Northrop Grumman; United Technologies Researcher Center; Rutgers University; IBM Research; University of North Carolina; and Intelligent Automation.