DARPA invites hackers to break hardware to make it more secure

guest · Jun 8, 2020

DARPA invites hackers to break hardware to make it more secure
June 8, 2020
https://www.cyberscoop.com/darpa-bug-bounty-hardware-synack/

For more than two years, the Pentagon’s research arm has been working with engineers to beef up the security of computer chips before they get deployed in weapons systems or other critical technologies.

Now, the research arm — the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) — is turning the hardware over to elite white-hat hackers who can earn up to $25,000 for bugs they find. The goal is to throw an array of attacks at the hardware so its foundations are more secure before production.

To find those specialized skills, DARPA is calling in Synack, a Silicon Valley-based penetration testing company that will run a tryout to weed out less-talented hackers. Those who make the cut, along with Synack’s own vetted hackers, will participate in the bug bounty program, which lasts from July to September.

“It’s not about patching the vulnerabilities, it’s about preventing the exploit,” Synack CTO Mark Kuhr told CyberScoop. Among other techniques, Kuhr’s hackers will be modifying existing exploits to see if the DARPA-backed hardware can block them.
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Joe FitzPatrick, an Oregon-based hardware security instructor, said the bug bounty’s program’s success will hinge on its ability to attract people with the talent and time to focus on breaking the DARPA hardware.

“While there may be thousands of bounty hunters capable of finding software issues, the deep architectural stuff they’re looking for takes an uncommon skillset,” he said.
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