Investor's Business Daily November 02, 2007
With Digital Armor, U.S. Military Vehicles Have Secret Weapon
By Doug Tsuruoka
Gen. George Patton never had hassles like this.
In World War II, armored warfare was simple. A few guys in a tank clanked toward their objective with a paper map in hand. A radio operator could direct the tank from afar using map coordinates.
In 2007, weapons like Stryker armored vehicles are crammed with computers and other digital devices. They race across a battlefield using satellite data. But enemies at times try to jam, tap or otherwise infiltrate these onboard networks, much like hackers break into commercial networks.
Enemy hackers can blind a tank by cutting off information. Or they can lay an ambush by eavesdropping on plans.
The answer to the threat resembles what knights did to ward off enemy lances. U.S. and other military vehicles are starting to use "digital armor," the nickname for fancy software to ward off hackers.
Demand for such defenses creates a new opportunity for contractors that supply the Pentagon with electronic warfare devices.
General Dynamics Canada is teaming with Secure Computing Corp. (NasdaqGS:SCUR - News), a digital security firm, to develop a hardware and software firewall for tanks. The firewall blocks outside attempts to infiltrate their networks.
GD Canada is the Canadian unit of U.S. defense contractor General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - News).
"There's been a sea change in how (armored units) get their data," said Scott Montgomery, Secure Computing's vice president of product management. "That's why the military is keen on employing data protection tools."
MESHnet Firewall
Called MESHnet Firewall, the software is installed on military networks and onto computers and other digital devices inside military vehicles to monitor data flow and ensure that only authorized data is exchanged with outside parties. It's designed to stop attacks from hostile computers and attempts to sneak viruses into a tank's computers.
"Much as tanks provide physical protection with their armor, information must also be protected," Rick Bracken, project manager for GD Canada, said in an e-mail interview. "The MESHnet Firewall was designed to go where soldiers dare, and provide digital armor to safeguard data exchange."
The product can work in most any vehicle, including helicopters and Humvees.
GD made the hardware: a rugged chassis that houses firewall software made by Secure Computing. Its Sidewinder Firewall is packed onto a circuit board that fits into a slot inside the chassis.
GD says MESHnet is one of the first efforts to install a firewall in the hot, vibrating interior of a battlefield tank.
Sidewinder is an off-the-shelf civilian application that works in a military setting. Civilian technology is increasingly being used for the military because it has advanced further than military technology.
The product is a typical firewall that protects many corporate computers, but it's been adapted for the military. The special hardware chassis resists battlefield shocks. It also has slots to hold satellite imagery devices or circuit boards for other military applications.
Montgomery says any software added alongside Secure Computing's firewall is also secured against hacking. Most military communications are already encrypted against hackers. But he says the firewall provides "another layer of protection" against hacking attempts.
Hezbollah Hackers
San Jose, Calif-based Secure Computing was spun off from Honeywell (NYSE:HON - News). It's worked for the National Security Agency and the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. It went public in 1995, and 2006 sales jumped 62% to $177 million.
Some product details are classified, but Montgomery says a nation allied with the U.S. began testing MESHnet in its military vehicles last month.
Montgomery says the threat from hackers is real. He says Iran-backed Hezbollah guerillas used the tactic with lethal effect against the Israeli military during its incursion into Lebanon in 2006.
"Hezbollah managed to crack Israeli radio messages and got better battlefield data as a result," Montgomery said. "So when an Israeli tank got to coordinate X, they found an ambush waiting for them."
Montgomery says the U.S. and other nations need to secure the data inside their vehicles from allies as well as foes. "An example would be where French, German, British and Indian forces are engaged in U.N. peacekeeping operations," he said.
An Italian tank, for instance, would share some data with allies, but might want other data reserved just for the Italian military.
He says Secure Computing's firewall can ensure that only approved data is shared with outside military forces.
Efforts to equip tanks with digital armor are expected to escalate, says John Pike, head of defense research firm GlobalSecurity.org. He says the U.S., Russia, China and other nations are developing ways to infiltrate the electronic networks of tanks, ships and planes.
The busier the battlefield, the greater the risk.
"When you have all these vehicles driving around on the battlefield, there's going to be an awful lot of communication going on," Pike said. "If you're not careful, you'll wind up finding out that the Taliban hijacked your artillery battery."
© Copyright 2007, Investor's Business Daily, Inc.
