£1m innovation funding to predict and counter cyber attacks

Courtesy DASA / MoD

Three lead organisations, in collaboration with three additional organisations, have been awarded funding in Phase 2 of the DASA ‘Predictive Cyber Analytics’ competition.

This work will develop, adapt and merge the novel approaches explored in Phase 1 of the competition, to proactively defend deployed UK military systems and networks from the rapidly growing threat of offensive cyber action from aggressive adversaries.

Project manager Rebecca Duncan said: "Cyber security has been in an arms race for decades, with hackers continuously exploiting new vulnerabilities while developers race to patch them.

"This DASA competition looks to get the UK ahead of these threats and better prepare us against – and even predict - future cyber-attacks.

"As our understanding of adversaries and attack patterns improves, increased computing power and data growth continues to drive the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution with multiple new possibilities emerging to keep the UK safe and prosperous."

DASA delivery manager Robert Hammond-Smith said: "This DASA competition is bringing together the best minds in industry and academia with the brightest Government scientists and talent from the Armed Forces to innovate for a safer future for everyone in the UK."

Phase 2 seeks to further develop and enhance the predictive approaches while adapting them to the military environment. The work will allow MoD to better anticipate and mitigate the impact of cyber-attacks.

The organisations being funded are:

• Bristol-based RiskAware Ltd who are awarded around £450,000 in collaboration with the University of Southampton
• Vauxhall-based decisionLab who are awarded nearly £240,000 in collaboration with DIEM Analytics and Actica
• Gloucestershire-based Montvieux Limited who are awarded nearly £250,000

Seven proposals received nearly £1 million in funding during Phase 1 – bringing the total funding to about £2 million.

DASA finds and funds exploitable technology and innovative solutions to give UK defence and security a strategic advantage over adversaries while boosting UK prosperity.