RTX’s BBN Technologies has been selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to contribute to the agency’s new cybersecurity initiative known as INGOTS (Intelligent Generation of Tools for Security). The program is designed to improve the detection and analysis of complex exploit chains, which remain a persistent challenge in modern cybersecurity defense.
Exploit chains, (sequences of vulnerabilities leveraged together to penetrate systems) continue to grow in complexity. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) currently lists over 1,300 known exploited vulnerabilities, reflecting the scale of the issue across both public and private networks.
Existing vulnerability assessments often rely on manual processes that are time-intensive and require specialized knowledge. DARPA’s INGOTS program seeks to introduce automation into the modeling, testing, and analysis of exploit chains, allowing for quicker and more scalable detection and mitigation.
Under the contract, BBN will develop a test and evaluation platform called STALAGMITE (System Test of Android at Large scale Accelerating Generation and Modeling for INGOTS Test and Evaluation). The system will support INGOTS goals by providing high-fidelity testing environments that replicate both virtual and physical Android-based infrastructures.
According to RTX, STALAGMITE will offer the following capabilities:
Simulation of realistic threat environments: Accurate emulations of Android vulnerabilities in hybrid environments. Integrated response testing: Incorporation of INGOTS tools to evaluate mitigation strategies. Scalable and automated testing: Infrastructure to support reproducible research into software vulnerabilities and defenses.While the project focuses on Android systems, DARPA expects the tools and techniques developed under INGOTS to have broader applications, including use in commercial, governmental, and military cybersecurity efforts.
BBN will carry out the work in collaboration with Assured Information Security. Project activities will take place across sites in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Columbia, Maryland; and Rome, New York.
