14 DAY TRIAL // The Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency(DARPA) came to the conclusion that the networks which encapsulate the most sensitive information the United States has to offer are highly vulnerable in front of cyberattacks, so they decided to have a meeting to discuss the ways in which this infrastructure can be best protected.
In their own terms, they seek the “elite of the cybercommunity,” including visionary hackers, professionals and academics from all sorts of businesses. In other words, anyone who thinks they can help.
“Few revolutionary strategic advantages resulted from operating in a vacuum,” said Daniel Kaufman, office director of DARPA’s Information Innovation Office at the time when the meeting was announced.
“The pace, impact and reach of cyber demands collaboration. That’s why DARPA has invested heavily in cyber research that spans the performer spectrum and makes it easier for those with ground-breaking innovative cyber solutions to work with us.”
On November 7 the “frank discussion” took place, around 700 people taking part at the meeting, but according to Wired, there were more representatives of the security industry than hackers.
Many security experts already had their chance to prove they can properly protect the government's assets but most of them failed and that's why DARPA is looking for someone who's been on the other side and came back.
They are asking Congress for $208 million (145 million EUR) each year to fund their hunger for a watertight cyber security, and the sum is expected to grow in the next five years.
Hackers are already working for the agency, such as the well-known Peiter “Mudge” Zatko of the L0pht Collective, but it will remain to be seen if others are willing to join.
On the other hand, if we think of the sums involved, some visionaries might turn up to put all their knowledge on the state's table.