DHS calls for cybersecurity white papers

The Homeland Security Department is initiating an ambitious Cyber Security Research Development Center program that entails soliciting input from industry, government labs and academia on how to protect data against the latest threats and intrusions.

The Science & Technology Directorate published a 43-page broad agency announcement seeking white papers on topics such as botnet and malware protection, composable and scaleable systems, cyber metrics, data visualization, routing security, process control security, real-time assessment, data anonymization and insider threat detection and management.

White papers on technologies to address the threats and strengthen protections are due on June 27. Final proposals will be due on Sept. 17.

The directorate will award up to $4.5 million for research related to technologies proposing solutions in nine topic areas.

"A critical area of focus for DHS is the development and deployment of technologies to protect the nation's cyber infrastructure, including the Internet and other critical infrastructures that depend on computer systems for their mission," the announcement states. The goals of the program are to assist in cyber security research, develop technologies and transfer those technologies to the nation's critical infrastructure in an urgent fashion.

The technologies can be mature, a prototype or new, and eligible parties include academic and government research labs, individuals and corporate research entities. The department expects the offerer to test and prove the effectiveness of their proposed technologies.