Government

What Is DARPA‘s New ’Plan X’ and What Does It Have to Do With Cyberwarfare?

DARPA Announces Proposers Workshop for Its Plan X Program to Research Cyberwarfare Tactics

In this March 8, 2012 photo, Norwich University student Adam Marenna, of Belair, Md., works on computers in Northfield, Vt. Deep in the bowels of a building on the campus of the nation’s oldest private military academy, students from across the globe are being taught to fight the war of the future. (Photo: AP/Toby Talbot)

With an increased pressure on both the defensive and offensive fronts of cyberwarfare, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) is moving forward with a new classified program — Plan X — that will “create revolutionary technologies for understanding, planning, and managing cyberwarfare in real-time, large-scale, and dynamic network environments.”

Or, to put it more simply, DARPA says Plan X will develop the necessary tools to “dominate the cyber battlespace.” Wired’s Danger Room has more on what this involves:

That means building tools to help warplanners assemble and launch online strikes in a hurry. It means, under Plan X, figuring out ways to assess the damage caused by a new piece of friendly military malware before it’s unleashed. And it means putting together a sort of digital battlefield map that allows the generals to watch the fighting unfold, as former Darpa acting director Ken Gabriel told the Washington Post: “a rapid, high-order look of what the Internet looks like — of what the cyberspace looks like at any one point in time.”

This article from the Washington Post earlier this year describes Plan X as a subset of the larger $1.54 billion cyber budget funded for 2013 through 2017.

Continued movement for Plan X is underway with a Proposers’ Day Workshop, which will cover the areas DARPA hopes to involve in its research and system architecture of the program as whole, planned for September. Wired reports the plan is funded with $100 million for five years but the workshop notice states “the Plan X program is explicitly not funding research and development efforts in vulnerability analysis or cyberweapon generation.” Essentially, this means Plan X will not be building the weapons themselves.

Here are the four areas of research that DARPA wants Plan X to cover, according to the workshop announcement:

  • Understanding the cyber battlespace: This area focuses on developing automated analysis techniques to assist human operators in planning cyber operations. Specifically, analyzing large- scale logical network topology characteristics of nodes (i.e., edge count, dynamic vs. static links, usage) and edges (i.e. latency, bandwidth, periodicity).
  • Automatically constructing verifiable and quantifiable cyber operations: This area focuses on developing high-level mission plans and automatically synthesizing a mission script that is executed through a human-on-the-loop interface, similar to the auto-pilot function in modern aircraft. This process will leverage formal methods to provably quantify the potential battle damage from each synthesized mission plan.
  • Developing operating systems and platforms designed to operate in dynamic, contested, and hostile network environments: This area focuses on building hardened “battle units” that can perform cyberwarfare functions such as battle damage monitoring, communication relay, weapon deployment, and adaptive defense.
  • Visualizing and interacting with large-scale cyber battlespaces: This area focuses on developing intuitive views and overall user experience. Coordinated views of the cyber battlespace will provide cyberwarfare functions of planning, operation, situational awareness, and war gaming.

Wired goes on to include online operations analyst for the Center for Strategic and International Studies saying Plan X is meant to give the military the tools to handle cyberwarfare “to the point where it’s a part of routine military operations.”

Check out more details of Wired’s analysis of Plan X here.

Comments (20)

  • billo
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 6:49pm

    It’s not comforting to know that if WE THE PEOPLE are reading about stuff like this, our enemies know far more.

    Report Post »  
  • lukerw
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 2:55pm

    SkyNet!

    Report Post » lukerw  
    • Two Sheds
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 8:53pm

      “Plan X” That’s the best they can do? Sounds like an Ed Wood movie. I thought DARPA was supposed to be the best of the best and brightest. Apparently they aren’t very clever.

      Report Post » Two Sheds  
  • SamIamTwo
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 1:08pm

    Prob awarded to google. LMAO

    Report Post » SamIamTwo  
  • SamIamTwo
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 1:07pm

    Sounds like it is not a dual purpose project to me…DARPA’s charter is to award contracts that would benefit both the government and the commercial world.

    Report Post » SamIamTwo  
  • marybethelizabeth
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 12:30pm

    Is James Sexton on the job investigating this treasonous “leak”?

    Report Post » marybethelizabeth  
    • A.D.Hominem
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 2:19pm

      Clas•si•fied: adjective, circa. 1889, “withheld from general circulation for reasons of national security”, as in “classified information.” Merriam Webster Dictionary.

      For example, the Stuxnet infection of Iran’s Siemens PLC controlled centrifuges was covert and classified; brilliant, too, but that’s beside the point. Nobody knew who was responsible until certain narcissistic blabbermouths wet the national security bed. General DARPA program information is public domain and available at http://www.darpa.mil/default.aspx

      The only “leak” this article, and your trollish comment thereto, poses is exposing your liberal ignorance. Cry baby schmuck. Drippy dippy diaper wearing hippie. Marybethelizabeth’s brain – now, that’s a leaky, rotten and stinky stew.

      Report Post »  
  • Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 12:04pm

    Novel idea here, but if we declare war on a country like we are supposed to rather than endless harassment, then we could simply blow up all of the servers and wi-fi service providers. Just saying.

    Report Post » Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve  
  • Dismayed Veteran
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 12:02pm

    Hardware and software will be made in China.

    Report Post » Dismayed Veteran  
    • Alduin
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 12:35pm

      It already has been made there

      Report Post »  
    • PubliusScipio
      Posted on August 23, 2012 at 1:40am

      It’s kind of hush-hush, but Cisco has already had problems with this. The Chinese engineered backdoor gates into the designs given them by Cisco for production, which would allow the Chinese to access the information being stored on a server or transmitted through a router. Cisco has started doing tests on the units when they arrive instead of letting them sit in a warehouse unboxed until sale.

      Either way, it makes me angry.

      Report Post »  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 11:48am

    So how long until Obama betrays this system to our enemies; assuming he has not already done so?

    Cyberwarfare, according to accounts and research of the Strategic Studies Institute is something many nations, terror groups and anarchist/criminal groups are taking seriously; but the US of course under Obamas madness will only use it to ensure the dictatorial control he seeks over the people as his own socialist insanity grows more and more by the day.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • woodyee
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 11:59am

      “So how long until Obama betrays this system to our enemies; assuming he has not already done so?”

      My thoughts; exactly.

      Report Post » woodyee  
    • RJJinGadsden
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 12:06pm

      Snow, that was my exact thought too, as I was reading the article. None of our secrets are safe while this man is in office. Only his secrets seem to be safe.

      Report Post » RJJinGadsden  
    • Ghandi was a Republican
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 12:06pm

      Me too– Just before “Last Month” entered my mind. The hipster dufus has given away a $Trillions dollar advantage in technology and defense secrets. Anyone who doubts that is ‘owned’ by the propaganda machine.

      Report Post » Ghandi was a Republican  
    • 3rdRockArchangel
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 8:50pm

      I wonder if Obeyme.s smart phone suffers?

      Report Post »  
  • v15
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 11:33am

    All of our national security classified info and intel is being leaked anyways. The intelligence community stood up to President Obama and he has the nerve to say “I really don’t take these people seriously”. Obama is a domestic terrorist and it’s staggering how many people support his methods. Like I’ve said before, if he won‘t leave office then I’m all for a military coup (if that’s what it takes) to stop his administration from destroying this country more than it already has. I think the whole administration should be tried in court and either shot or hanged as traitors.

    Report Post » v15  
  • watersRpeople
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 11:27am

    Hmm, if everyone ends up broke or near broke, what cyber-space will there be to patrol?

    Report Post »  
    • marybethelizabeth
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 12:34pm

      The economic plans of Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney will ensure that everyone is near broke, chained to a desk, monitoring such endeavors for an elite few.

      Or anyway, those near broke that have escaped useless eater status.

      Report Post » marybethelizabeth  
    • Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 1:12pm

      @Mary

      So what you’re saying is that they will continue the status quo. Got it.

      Report Post » Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve  

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