DHS Wants Boeing to Test a Brain Chip in Firm’s Self-Destructing 'Black' Spyphone
DHS Wants Boeing to Test a Brain Chip in Firm’s
Self-Destructing 'Black' Spyphone
By Aliya Sternstein September 22, 2015
The Department of Homeland Security is funding a Boeing
company to create a "brain chip" for its self-destructing Black
smartphone that could be adapted for any device, DHS officials say.
The technology powering the devices potentially could identify
the user’s walking style, for example. Officials would be alerted if the gait
does not match the authorized user’s walk – a red flag the phone might have
fallen into the wrong hands, officials said.
The "secret sauce" of the mobile device is a so-called
neuromorphic computer chip that simulates human learning, Vincent Sritapan, the
program manager for DHS' mobile device security program, told Nextgov.
Gait recognition -- driven by the phone's accelerometer,
GPS and the chip -- is but one of many kinds of continuous ID verification
intended to tighten access controls on mobile devices.
Boeing and HRL Laboratories, a software firm jointly
owned by Boeing and General Motors, are partnering under a DHS project worth
$2.2 million over 2.5 years.
The companies "pretty much are leveraging user
behavior information" from data gathered by sensors found on any standard
consumer smartphone, Sritapan said. Those feelers could include microphones,
cameras and touchpads, he added. The artificial intelligence could help
agencies determine, “Are you who you say you are, and do we give you access to
enterprise resources like email?” he said.
Homeland Security chose the Boeing Black for
experimentation, because the company was willing to embed the chip into its
device, Sritapan said.
"I would call this a high-risk, high-reward type of
project," he added. "If successful, this technology can go into any
device the manufacturers are willing to integrate it with" and would meet
military, DHS and other federal agency information security specifications.
Referring to the Black as "the test body," he
said the government purchased the brand for "specific uses," such as
secure voice calls.
Smartphone as Test Tube
It remains to be seen whether DHS itself will buy brain
chip-embedded Blacks for operations in the field. If the chip is successful at
the end of a 2-year research and development period, DHS and Boeing will share
the cost of a 6-month pilot program, Sritapan said.
State Department staffers apparently plan to or are
currently using the Black.
"Boeing's team will provide a two-consecutive day
Discovery Workshop that includes a Boeing Black product overview, technical
deep dives and a security requirements analysis," department officials
said in a solicitation for a Boeing Black Secure Voice Workshop released
Monday.
Other players in the military-grade smartphone space
include the similarly-named Blackphone made by Silent Circle, an encrypted
communications provider co-founded by the inventor of PGP encryption and a
former Navy Seal. Android-based Samsung smartphones running the firm’s Knox
security software are another option for Pentagon components.
Defense Department Chief Information Officer Terry
Halvorsen has previously said DOD plans to test top-secret smartphones in the
fall.
The smartphone AI under development also would
continuously track unusual digital transactions, like an app meddling with the
operating system or a spike in network traffic, DHS officials said.
MIT Technology Review describes the way neuromorphic
chips understand the world as basically cognition: "Like the neurons in
your own brain, those on HRL’s chip adjust their synaptic connections when
exposed to new data. In other words, the chip learns through experience."
Their low-power consumption makes the chips especially
attractive for smartphones that sap batteries, experts say.
Last fall, HRL Laboratories test-piloted a miniature
drone with a Defense-funded prototype neuromorphic chip inside. The unmanned
aircraft learned to recognize three different rooms it had never entered before
by memorizing their wall patterns.
A Black-Blackberry Connection?
The phone in which the thinking-chip will be tested is
straight out of a James Bond movie. The Black completely erases itself if it
detects human or technical tampering. It looks like a common, touchscreen
Android smartphone, but the hardware and software inside can be custom-tailored
to an agency’s or company's specific needs. In the DHS model, the hidden
innards will consist of the neuromorphic chip and associated software.
Government smartphone stalwart BlackBerry – stepping back
from device production – announced last year it will provide software services
for Black. BlackBerry this month bought Good Technology, a mobile security
software provider widely used in the public sector. Good and BlackBerry
combined represented 19 percent of the $1.4 billion mobile management software
sector last year.
On Tuesday, Boeing officials said in an emailed
statement, "Boeing has developed a secure, mobile solution that is
designed to meet the needs of defense and security customers. Due to customer
sensitivities, we cannot disclose who is currently using the device or
considering a purchase."
Comments
Post a Comment