Perspecta Labs Participated in DARPA-led U.S. Power Grid Cybersecurity Exercise

CHANTILLY, Va., Jan. 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Perspecta Inc. (NYSE: PRSP), announced today that its innovative research arm, Perspecta Labs, played an integral role in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Liberty Eclipse Phase II exercise in collaboration with the Department of Energy and the Department of Homeland Security to test grid recovery tools during a staged, multi-faceted cyberattack on a U.S. power grid. The event took place on Plum Island, N.Y.

The realistic exercise actually replicated a cyberattack and monitored its recovery in real-time.  Liberty Eclipse Phase II is the fourth and largest thus far in a series of exercises under DARPA's Rapid Attack Detection Isolation and Characterization Systems (RADICS) research program. The RADICS objective was to develop technologies for detecting and responding to cyberattacks on critical U.S. infrastructure, with an ultimate goal of enabling cyber and power engineers the ability to restore electrical service within seven days in the event of a major attack.

"We are proud to have played such a significant role in this critical exercise," said Mac Curtis, president and CEO of Perspecta. "At Perspecta, we are driven by a passion for innovation, which fueled our research lab, Perspecta Labs. It is through exercises like this that we are able to transform our research into real solutions to not only solve our customers' most unique and complex challenges, but keep our nation safe as well."

During the seven day exercise, performers on the RADICS program were tasked with using performer-developed tools to provide comprehensive grid situational awareness, restore supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and network infrastructure, cleanse substations and defeat active adversaries to establish two diverse paths in order to re-energize, interconnect and synchronize two utility operators in a black start scenario. 

"Our experience with developing solutions to protect the power grid gave us unique qualifications to support DARPA during this exercise," said Petros Mouchtaris, Ph.D., president of Perspecta Labs.  "As leaders in cybersecurity awareness, monitoring and assessment services, we were able to validate the success of our research and tools while assisting our customer, DARPA, in achieving this major program milestone."

In the exercise, Perspecta Labs tested various technologies transitioning to commercial use under the company's SecureSmart offering, including: the SHERLOC cyber-weapon hunting system featuring a new grid state consistency analyzer called Jolt that integrates ground truth feeder state from Advanced Meter Infrastructure as a telemetry source; and the MANTESSA cyber-physical early detection and situational awareness system, featuring novel machine intelligence techniques and statistical inference of out-of-band measurements, field reports and other data sources. Perspecta Labs also supported BAE Systems on the set up of a Secure Emergency Network. The company's Distributed Assured and Dynamic Configuration (DADC) tool was used to efficiently generate error-free configurations for that network.

As a result of the exercise, the Perspecta Labs team gained actionable insight from utilities, observers and participants to improve the usability, expand the capabilities and continue the transition of its SHERLOC and MANTESSA solutions. As a leader in smart grid security and monitoring, the company has been a major contributor on the RADICS program, conducting research and delivering technologies in three of five technical areas for situational awareness, secure communications, and threat detection and characterization.

About Perspecta Inc.

At Perspecta (NYSE: PRSP), we question, we seek and we solve. Perspecta brings a diverse set of capabilities to our U.S. government customers in defense, intelligence, civilian, health care and state and local markets. Our 260+ issued, licensed and pending patents are more than just pieces of paper, they tell the story of our innovation. With offerings in mission services, digital transformation and enterprise operations, our team of 14,000 engineers, analysts, investigators and architects work tirelessly to not only execute the mission, but build and support the backbone that enables it. Perspecta was formed to take on big challenges. We are an engine for growth and success and we enable our customers to build a better nation.  For more information about Perspecta, visit perspecta.com.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of Perspecta and are subject to significant risks and uncertainty. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Perspecta undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Although Perspecta believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements involve a variety of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from what may be expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Perspecta Inc.

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