As a member of the Invincea advisory board I’ve been privileged to get periodic glimpses into virtuous technologies and mission-focused leadership at this very virtuous/positive firm. Their core focus has been in bringing innovative security to organizations through their breach prevention platform. The domain expertise they have built in this area has enabled the delivery of the first and only virtualized browser, PDF reader, Office suite, .zip and .exe solutions that seamlessly run in their own virtual environments separate from the desktop operating system. This enables protection against all types of malware threats.
Their investment in thought leadership and the computer science and engineering behind the Android operating system has resulted in Invincea winning an award from DARPA to build secure Android devices for the US Army. This work focuses on protection of these devices from cyber threats. This is a continuation of the type of the work they have done on the desktop and a continuation of work done for the Army for Android devices. Over 4000 devices are already being protected on these secure Android devices.
This video provides some context on this activity from Invincea CEO Anup Ghosh:
More from their press release is below:
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Awards Invincea $21.4 Million Contract to Create Secure Android Smartphones and Tablets for U.S. Army
Secure Android phones and tablets currently in field test in Afghanistan by U.S. Army brigade
FAIRFAX, VA – June 25, 2012 – Invincea, Inc., an innovator in advanced malware threat detection, network breach prevention, and pre-breach forensic intelligence, today announced the award of a multi-year, $21.4 million contract from Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) for the development
of secure smartphone and tablet mobile platforms for military use. Dubbed “Mobile Armour,” the project focuses specifically on driving security innovation within the Android operating system for government use. Invincea expects this development will be a forerunner of innovation to be brought to the commercial and consumer sectors as well.
Through its Invincea Labs subsidiary, the company has pioneered the development of a secure Android-based operating system for tactical mobile devices used by soldiers in forward-deployed operations in enemy terrain. Initial versions of the secure Android phone and tablets, meeting stringent military security specifications for “outside the wire” tactical use, are already being field tested by thousands of U.S. Army personnel in Afghanistan. Based on this early success, DARPA and the U.S. Army are expanding the scope of the Mobile Armour project to include significant new security enhancements to the Android platform through this award. Surging demand in the Federal Government for secure mobility is driving follow-on applications of the secure Android build for Invincea. The company is engaged with a number of federal civilian and defense agencies for the development and deployment of secure Android phones for both office and field applications.
“As mobile devices become a new fertile ground for adversaries, chief information security officers (CISOs) are increasingly placing mobile security on their strategic roadmaps. At the same time, they need to continue addressing serious problems they face today – such as an increase in spear phishing of their employees. Security vendors like Invincea that innovate to address today’s problems and drive research into future requirements such as mobile are strongly positioned to be long-term partners to government and commercial organizations,” said Wendy Nather, Research Director of the Enterprise Security Practice at The 451 Group.
“The investment by DARPA and the U.S. Army in the Mobile Armour project demonstrates the critical need for secure mobility. As government departments and agencies across the civilian and defense sectors shift their focus towards the use of mobile applications for executing their missions, they must be able to trust that these platforms are secure,” said Anup Ghosh, Founder and CEO at Invincea. “The selection of Invincea Labs by DARPA demonstrates Invincea’s innovation and leadership in the secure mobility space. The company will continue to lead the federal sector to secure mobile solutions. Invincea looks forward to carrying these innovations to the commercial sector as it has with its breach prevention platform for the enterprise.”
About Invincea, Inc. and Invincea Labs
Invincea is the premier innovator in advanced malware threat detection, network breach prevention, and pre-breach forensic intelligence. Invincea is the only solution on the market that provides enterprise networks with coverage against the largest attack surface for cyber-breach attacks aimed at end-users in the form of spear phishing, drive-by download exploits, poisoned search results and
user-initiated infections.
The company’s solutions include a desktop security software suite and threat intelligence appliance. The solutions offer a unique ability to protect networks against all types of threats directed at end-users, including zero-days, by seamlessly moving applications that render untrusted content into controlled, secure virtual environments that automatically detect and terminate threats in real time. Invincea’s platform seamlessly moves the browser, PDF reader, Microsoft Office suite, .zip, and .exe file types from the native operating system into secure virtualized environments without altering the user experience. The company, which was founded by Dr. Anup Ghosh to address the rapidly increasing security threat from nation states, cyber-crime, and rogue actors, has commercialized technology originally built under DARPA funding. The company is venture capital-backed and based in Fairfax, VA.
Invincea Labs is a wholly owned subsidiary of Invincea, Inc. Invincea Labs exists to develop new age cyber security technologies by conducting research and advanced prototyping into leap ahead approaches with market potential. Invincea Labs accomplishes this mission through its own cyber security expertise and by leveraging its relationships with university research partners and government research. For more information, visit http://www.invincea.com.
Related articles
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Awards Invincea $21.4 Million Contract to Create Secure Android Smartphones and Tablets for U.S. Army (ctolabs.com)
- US Military Working On ‘Mobile Armour’ For Android (techweekeurope.co.uk)
- DARPA fortifies soldiers’ smartphones against malware (news.cnet.com)
- Defense contracts worth billions cover network operations, cyberthreat sharing, Android security (computerworld.co.nz)
- DARPA Wants to Lock Down Android Smartphones for Military Use (eweek.com)
- Troops’ Android Devices Put In Virtual Security ‘Bubble’ (informationweek.com)
- U.S. Military Hunts for Safe Smartphones for Soldiers (bits.blogs.nytimes.com)
- DARPA pays $21m to address Android security risks (androidauthority.com)
- Demonstration of Spear Phishing and Mitigation by Invincea (ctovision.com)
This post by BobGourley was first published at CTOvision.com.
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