Military to use Alphatech to stop denial-of-service attack

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2003/1103/web-alpha-11-07-03.asp

By Frank Tiboni 
Nov. 7, 2003 

The Air Force awarded a $12.9 million contract to Alphatech Inc. to 
develop a quarantine defense for military networks against 
large-scale, denial-of-service attacks, a Defense Department contract 
statement said.

The privately-held company located in Burlington, Mass., will provide 
software and deliver it by November 2006 to Arlington, Va., according 
to a DOD statement released Nov. 6. Although the contract was awarded 
to Alphatech, the company last week changed its name to Alphainsight." 

The likely destination is the Defense Information Systems Agency, 
which resides in the Washington, D.C., suburb. DISA also houses the 
Joint Task Force-Computer Network Operations, the military's computer 
network defense and attack organization.

Alphatech's top information assurance product is the Alphatech Light 
Autonomic Defense System, which protects networks and key nodes by 
detecting, diagnosing, countering and recovering against 
malicious-code attacks such as worms.

It wasn't immediately clear if Alphatech's products provide a 
so-called active network defense, something that JTF-CNO sought since 
2000. Active defenses track down hackers with techniques that trace 
the origin of the attacks. They include the use of mobile agents that 
scour routers linking networks, survey probes that scan data passing 
through networks for clues about ongoing or attempted intrusions, and 
beaconing and tagging programs that detect suspicious activity in data 
packets and trace their origin.

JTF-CNO's request to deploy active network defenses may cross both 
technological and legal boundaries, since an active defense can be 
considered a matter of law enforcement that goes beyond mere security.
 
 

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