The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) – which operates within the Defense Department (DoD) to accelerate the military’s adoption of leading commercial technologies – is seeking industry help to develop tools that DoD can use to hunt for cyber threats on Pentagon networks.
The solicitation for the Advanced Rapid Analysis of Cyber Hunt Network Infrastructure Data (ARACHNID) program seeks to develop cyber threat hunting tools that can help DoD locate potential threats on DoD and partner-owned networks.
Responses to the solicitation are due by Nov. 17.
“Preferred solutions will allow for the ingestion of Layer 2 and Layer 3 network device configuration files, PCAP files, and flow logs versus taking an active scanning approach,” DIU said in the solicitation.
DIU said that possible solutions “must not require Internet access or cloud resources while operating,” and should “address the particular use case of a team hunting as an invited guest on a network versus managing their own enterprise cybersecurity.”
The solicitation will prioritize firms that are based in the United States, and whose employees are all U.S. citizens.
The solicitation comes as DIU begins to take steps into its DIU 3.0 phase, which focuses on scaling commercial technology across the Defense Department and military service branches.
