Northrop to create advanced mobile-device security technology for DHS

Northrop Grumman said late last week that it has been awarded a contract from the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate to develop advanced biometric technology to enhance security on mobile devices while nearly eliminating the need for passwords.

The company will accomplish this by combining advanced behavioral sensing and modeling techniques using two of its university research projects to authenticate user identity. In place of a password or personal identification number, user identities will be authenticated via behavioral characteristics gathered by sensors on a device.

In other words, the manner in which a user picks up or handles his or her device will be the manner by which they can access that device.

"As the government moves to a more mobile business model, this new technology mitigates risk so users can take advantage of the newest mobile applications in a trusted state," Shawn Purvis, vice president and general manager of the cyber division at Northrop Grumman Information Systems, said. "From the warfighter to the civil servant, we are integrating solutions to optimize ease and performance while layering our defense-in-depth approach to protect everything from the perimeter to the data."

Should users not be able to authenticate, mobile devices would lock or possibly be automatically wiped.

"This project is an example of how we are working with our academic research partners to integrate next-generation technologies in an innovative way to address a national security imperative," Purvis said.

Northrop Grumman's Cybersecurity Research Consortium includes Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Purdue University and the University of Southern California.

For more information, visit www.northropgrumman.com.

http://www.globenewswire.com/newsarchive/noc/press/index2.html.