Qrypt proudly announces it has been selected by AFWERX for a SBIR Phase 1 focused on quantum hardening of Mattermost secure chat to address ChatOps data privacy and encryption, a mission imperative for the Department of the Air Force (DAF).
The Air Force Research Laboratory and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) process by accelerating the small business experience through faster proposal to award timelines, changing the pool of potential applicants by expanding opportunities to small business and eliminating bureaucratic overhead by continually implementing process improvement changes in contract execution. The DAF began offering the Open Topic SBIR/STTR program in 2018 which expanded the range of innovations the DAF funded and now, Qrypt will start its journey to create and provide innovative capabilities that will strengthen the national defense of the United States of America.
The United States Department of Air Force, U.S. Space Force, and the Department of Defense Platform One all use Mattermost for chat communications. Based on this public knowledge, Qrypt developed a cryptographic enhancement plug-in for Mattermost that utilizes a one-time pad (OTP) cipher to encrypt Mattermost chat sessions. OTP is an information-theoretic secure cryptosystem. A cryptosystem is considered to have ‘unconditional security’ if the system is secure against adversaries with unlimited computing resources and unlimited time. OTP is a mathematically proven, quantum-secure encryption available today.
This SBIR Phase 1 Award leverages Qrypt’s core technologies, including Qrypt’s Quantum Secure Key Generation technology (BLAST) and Qrypt’s Quantum Random Number Generators created in cooperation with Los Alamos and Oak Ridge National Laboratories. Qrypt’s Mattermost plug-in provides additional cryptographic hardening, ensuring the protection and integrity of chat communications against current and future attacks.
“Commercial messaging and file transfer applications are essential modern communication tools. They are equally prevalent in classified environments, but military cybersecurity requirements are much greater and the stakes higher. Integrating Qrypt solutions vastly improves security and eliminates any single point of compromise on the network. We look forward to supporting the warfighter and are honored to be awarded,” shared Qrypt CTO Denis Mandich.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. government.
About Qrypt
Qrypt, US-founded and operated, protects the world’s data with its peer-reviewed, patented, and published technology, developed in partnership with Los Alamos and Oak Ridge National Labs. Qrypt protects against the quantum threat through the seamless integration of quantum entropy hardware with cryptographic key generation software. When traditional encryption algorithms become obsolete, every byte of harvested data will be exposed. Qrypt eliminates “harvest now, decrypt later” (HNDL) risk and guarantees data privacy. Qrypt is available as-a-service, on-premises, or on any device, making integration seamless, cost-effective, and scalable. For more information and to learn more about Qrypt, visit www.qrypt.com.
About Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)
The Air Force Research Laboratory is the primary scientific research and development center for the Department of the Air Force. AFRL plays an integral role in leading the discovery, development, and integration of affordable warfighting technologies for our air, space and cyberspace force. With a workforce of more than 12,500 across nine technology areas and 40 other operations across the globe, AFRL provides a diverse portfolio of science and technology ranging from fundamental to advanced research and technology development. For more information, visit www.afresearchlab.com.
About AFWERX
As the innovation arm of the DAF and a directorate within the Air Force Research Laboratory, AFWERX brings cutting-edge American ingenuity from small businesses and start-ups to address the most pressing challenges of the DAF. AFWERX employs approximately 325 military, civilian and contractor personnel at six hubs and sites executing an annual $1.4 billion budget. Since 2019, AFWERX has executed 4,697 contracts worth more than $2.6 billion to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base and drive faster technology transition to operational capability. For more information, visit: www.afwerx.com.
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