AFRL awards info assurance contract

The Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Information Directorate, Rome, N.Y., recently awarded an 18-month contract to Dolphin Technology Inc. to provide solutions designed to meet the information assurance needs of the military and law enforcement communities.

The agreement, worth more than $2.8 million, is part of a $4 million congressional funding action to the Justice Department's National Institute of Justice (NIJ).

The objective of the contract, called Cybersecurity Collaborating with Information Technology via the Cyber Science Laboratory, is to "identify and develop information assurance technologies to meet current and projected needs to counter cyberthreats," said Chester Maciag, program manager in the AFRL Information Directorate's Defensive Information Warfare branch.

Dolphin and its subcontractors also will implement a process for transferring information assurance technologies to the defense and law enforcement communities, Maciag said, adding that the work will be performed at the Cyber Science Laboratory of the NIJ's National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center in Rome.

The lab has a charter for cybersecurity and cyberterrorism training, education and outreach to law enforcement, he said.

Fred Demma, Dolphin's vice president for special programs, said part of the contract will deal with reassessing the cyberthreat, "from users with authorized access to a network and the outside threat from hackers."

With special emphasis on identity-theft awareness, Dolphin also will oversee the development of a model for the transition of computer forensic tools to state and local law enforcement agencies, Demma said.

Dolphin also will work on enterprise protection planning, "which will provide an overall cyber awareness plan to minimize threats to business and academic networks," he said.