San Diego, Calif. – July 28, 2021 – ObjectSecurity, The Security Automation Company, today announced that it has been selected for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from the US Air Force. As stated in the original solicitation entitled, “Assurance of Trusted AI/ML Systems Pitch Day for Trusted Artificial Intelligence”, the Phase II SBIR focuses on developing innovative tools, techniques, and methods necessary to support the development of trusted AI systems at speed and scale within modern development pipelines.
The project, carried out by ObjectSecurity LLC, aims for successful technology development and transition that will result in addressing trusted Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) at scale.
As stated in the solicitation, “A key element of trust in AI is our ability to impart and assess the classical security attributes of developed AI systems. Confidentiality, integrity, and availability of systems remain a key concern as we move toward increased AI, especially as such systems are imparted with the levels of autonomy necessary for speed and scale of action required for future missions. This need for assurance in our AI-based software must be weighed against the benefits (and risks) of agile, rapid development pipelines, such as continuous integration / continuous development (CI/CD) and integrated Development – Security – Operations (DevSecOps) approaches to development. Such pipelines often rely on external security measures, which may contain systemic failures and lack engineering rigor. Rectifying these competing concerns requires the development of comprehensive security engineering approaches that effectively reduce the introduction and exploitation of vulnerabilities in modern AI and AI-enabled developments.”
“The award of this Phase II SBIR award is an important milestone for ObjectSecurity and underscores the strength of our science innovation that underwent rigorous peer review. It allows us to prioritize research efforts into needed features for the Air Force and others,” said Ulrich Lang, CEO of ObjectSecurity. “SBIR contracts allow us to research and develop advanced concepts that feed into rapid product development, enabling us to commercialize next-generation innovative products that will bring tremendous value to the Air Force, and our customers across all industries. Most of our solutions leverage state-of-the-art approaches such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML). We are committed to leading this initiative with the Air Force to protect the Air Force’s systems from adversaries by delivering advanced next-generation technology solutions.”
The federally-funded Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program is a highly competitive program that encourages domestic small businesses to engage in research and development that has significant potential for commercialization of innovative products, and their eventual transition into Air Force programs. The program’s chief role is to bridge the gap between the performance of basic science and the commercialization of resulting innovations.
About ObjectSecurity
ObjectSecurity LLC is The Security Automation Company. A privately held company based in San Diego, CA, ObjectSecurity’s mission is to reduce cybersecurity effort, complexity, and cost through innovative cybersecurity automation technologies, including security policy automation, supply chain risk analysis automation, and vulnerability assessment automation.
- “AI hacker” automation: ObjectSecurity VAPTBOX, an ongoing commercialization of the just-funded SBIR Phase II, is an intelligent automated vulnerability assessor and penetration tester that uses artificial intelligence to adapt. In 2019, we received a multi-million, multi-year government investment to fully develop VAPTBOX.
- Supply chain risk analysis automation: ObjectSecurity SCRAMS analyzes procurement data and microelectronics for supply chain risks. In 2019, we added analysis support for SAP, and circuit board risk analysis as a finalist at an AFWERX Challenge.
- Security policy automation: ObjectSecurity OpenPMF offers powerful yet manageable technical security policy implementation. In 2019, we improved user and dev experience and increased the reach of our consistent “umbrella” platform – covering people, processes, tech layers, and policies (ABAC & more). ObjectSecurity was selected “Cool Vendor” by Gartner for OpenPMF.
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