DARPA ISO Sponsored Research

2000 Project Summary
Randomized Failover Intrusion Tolerant Systems (RFITS) 
Architecture Technology Corporation
Project Website: 
 http://www.atcorp.com -- Additional project information provided by the performing organization 
Quad Chart: 
 Link to Quad Chart   provided by the performing organization
Objective:
 The overall objective of the proposed research effort is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the RFITS architecture for building robust systems of processing and network elements that are capable of providing continued service at an acceptable level in spite of intrusion-induced denial of service (DOS) attacks. With this goal in mind, we will accomplish the following technical objectives:
  1. Show the generality of RFITS architecture and design techniques by analyzing their application to a generic set of typical military systems. 
  2. Implement one of the designs generated in 1 above, (e.g., a RFITS-based surveillance processing system) in a laboratory testbed environment. Use the system to perform experiments to establish and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed techniques.
  3. Use the results of initial testing to improve on the RFITS concept. Develop performance parameters to assess the effectiveness of the RFITS mechanisms. 
  4. Perform joint experimentation with other IA and S efforts to further validate the effectiveness of RFITS mechanisms and to integrate RFITS with other techniques, if requested.
Approach:
 There is a need to be able to handle intrusion containment/recovery in more than just generic computing environments; we need to be able to cope with intrusion problems in specialized, mission-critical military systems. These include real-time surveillance, communication, fire control, and intelligence gathering systems. Such systems exhibit unique characteristics that must be considered in limiting the impact of intrusions. 

The primary focus of our research is to develop an architecture that identifies intrusion tolerant mechanisms and their use in real-time, military systems. We will develop: 

  • An intrusion resistant method for exchanging data between processing enclaves 
  • An intrusion-tolerant means of distributing work among redundant processors 
  • An integrated set of intrusion detection/recovery schemes for military systems, including wireless environments. 
  • A handbook for applying the schemes to create a layered, intrusion tolerant architecture 
Recent FY-99 Accomplishments:
 This is a new start.
FY-00 Plans:
 We will accomplish the following during FY-00:
  1. Develop and document a comprehensive list of RFITS-based design techniques for building intrusion tolerant systems.
  2. Develop a system engineering methodology for combining these design techniques to derive a layered intrusion tolerant architecture.
  3. Demonstrate the generality of the RFITS approach by applying it to a variety of technical architectures for mission-critical, real-time systems.
Technology Transition:
 The transferable technology resulting from this effort includes validated design techniques for building a robust intrusion tolerant system. We will pursue three avenues for transferring this technology into fielded systems in the military as well as the civilian domain, i.e., strategic alliances with DoD primes, collaboration with DoD technology transition organizations, and publication of the results of the research in open forums. 
Principal Investigator:
 PI: Dr. Ranga S. Ramanujan
Architecture Technology Corporation 
9971 Valley View Road, Eden Prairie, MN 55344 
Phone: (952) 829-5864 x120 
Fax : (952) 829-5871
email : ranga@atcorp.com

Admin Contact: Rick Edin 
Architecture Technology Corporation 
9971 Valley View Road, Eden Prairie, MN 55344 
Phone: (952) 829-5864 x107 
Fax : (952) 829-5871
email : redin@atcorp.com