Science and technology organisations in the UK, US and Canada are partnering to enhance cybersecurity research in support of defence and security.
The collaboration will pursue research, development, testing, and evaluation of technologies for artificial intelligence (AI), cyber, resilient systems, and information domain-related technologies.
The methodologies, algorithms, capabilities, and tools created as part of the research will be exploited by developing new operations concepts that focus on real-world challenges.
Cybersecurity research is crucial for new challenges
The collaboration has been driven by the rapid pace of technology development and future challenges in an ever-changing geopolitical environment.
This effort will further leverage relevant cybersecurity research programmes among all nations and reduce duplication of efforts.
Dr Nick Joad, Director of Science and Technology at the UK Ministry of Defence, said: “Our international research collaborations with both the US and Canada are some of our most vital and enduring partnerships.
“This agreement cements our collective commitments to advancing emerging cyber technologies such as cybersecurity and artificial intelligence to enhance the defence and security of our nations.”
DARPA Director Stefanie Tompkins added: “The trilateral collaboration is a big step toward enhancing our understanding in the outlined research and development thrust areas.
“Working with our international partners on science and technology helps us all leverage each other’s individual strengths in order to develop much greater collective capability.”
Reducing technological risks
In addition to strengthening international partnerships, the goal is to continue reducing technological risks so new capabilities can transition into operational use as quickly as possible.
One research project already underway is the Cyber Agents for Security Testing and Learning Environments (CASTLE) programme, which trains AI to autonomously defend networks against advanced persistent cyber threats.
Other research and development areas of interest include:
- Human-AI teaming, including military medical triage.
- Defining and creating trustworthy AI systems, even in the face of attacks by skilled, high-resource adversaries.
- Protecting, detecting attacks on, and measuring the health of the information domain.
- Producing tools and techniques that result in more resilient and secure systems, such as rapid certification of software.
Collaboration in these and other topics was deepened at a symposium convened by DARPA in summer 2024 which included representatives from across the UK, US and Canadian governments.