The US Army Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC) has operationally tested a system designed to protect ground vehicles from cyber attacks.
The GVSC assessed the MIL-STD-1553 Bus Defender Intrusion Defense and Prevention System against simulated cyber attacks during a September 2021 exercise at Yuma Proving Ground.
Operational Test
Project Lead Mustafa Hamood said the exercise’s goal was “to demonstrate cyber resiliency and survivability by detecting, logging, mitigating, and defending against remotely triggered simulated cyber threats to a ground combat systems data bus from various distances, while simultaneously collecting data for forensic analysis.”
According to the center, the system “successfully defended against the threats, while maintaining full functionality and availability of the system.”
Vehicle Systems Security
Developed by GVSC and Peraton Labs under the Vehicle Systems Security (VSS) initiative, the bus defender system demonstrated its capabilities on a range of vehicles in 2019 and 2020 before being operationally assessed.
The VSS develops cyber defensive technologies for military ground vehicles whose technologies were not designed with an eye on today’s evolving cyberattacks, making them vulnerable in a cyber-contested battlespace.
The announcement comes months after another intrusion detection system was unveiled by the Texas-based Southwest Research Institute. Developed in collaboration with the GVSC, the system utilizes algorithms and digital fingerprints to detect any potential threat in ground combat vehicles’ communication systems.