Solidcore Awarded Homeland Security Contract for Cyber-Security Development

Leading Provider of IT Control Solutions to Develop Commercial Solutions for Real-Time Response to Unknown Malware Attacks

Palo Alto, California — February 27, 2006 — Solidcore Systems, Inc., the leading provider of IT control solutions, today announced that the company has been awarded a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Solidcore will use the 18-month contract to commercialize the company's earlier Phase I efforts, specifically in the areas of improving network systems' response to previously unknown cyber-attacks that utilize malicious software (malware).

"At present, there is no feasible means for real-time response to new cyber-attacks, much less a way to accurately identify previously unseen malware so that a zero-day response is possible," said John Sebes, chief technology officer at Solidcore. "With our prior SBIR effort, we demonstrated that our core technology can in fact be used as a fundamentally accurate malware-identifier, and that our experimental extensions enabled practical network-level response. With this contract, Solidcore will extend and commercialize these capabilities, integrate them with our existing product line, and release a next-generation product for autonomic response."

The Solidcore approach is particularly applicable to adaptive defense for SCADA networks, digital control systems, or manufacturing production control systems. "Digital control systems are a well-known weak spot in our nation's critical infrastructure and attractive targets for cyber-terror, much in need of innovative new cyber-security technology," said Ian Foley of SRI International, an independent non-profit research and development organization fostering rapid technology transfer from cyber-security R&D to commercial products that offer protection for today's critical infrastructure systems. 

"Control systems are an important target for both our current products, and the next-generation adaptive products we’re developing under our contract with DHS," said Al Fox, Solidcore’s vice president of public sector operations. "Particularly for safety-critical systems where malfunctions can create devastating results, we’ve recognized the long-standing need for practical defenses that work without impairing safety critical functions — as traditional INFOSEC approaches so often have. We’re pleased to be able to further HSARPA’s mission in this area, not only for needs-targeted innovation, but also for rapid technology transfer to bring new products to market."

About Solidcore
Solidcore Systems is the leading provider of IT control solutions that facilitate an organization's ability to gain cost-effective and categorical control of its IT operations to realize immediate and tangible value in change control, compliance, and security. Fortune 500 companies and U.S. government agencies utilize Solidcore solutions to gain control in a variety of settings including enterprise datacenters, military national security systems, critical infrastructure systems, and a variety of types of embedded systems. Please call toll free (888) 210-6530 or visit www.solidcore.com for more information.

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