Cyber Assured Systems Engineering at Scale

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Presented at High Confidence Software and Systems Conference 2022 by

Darren Cofer

Formal methods tools that provide mathematical proof of system properties have improved dramatically in their power and capabilities. As part of DARPA's Cyber Assured Systems Engineering (CASE) program, our team has developed a model-based systems engineering environment called BriefCASE that integrates formal methods at all levels of system design. Our methodology and tools enable systems engineers to address cybersecurity concerns early in the development of complex high-assurance systems. We track the satisfaction of cyber requirements throughout the design process by creating an assurance case that is integrated with an AADL model of the system architecture. In this talk we will describe the application of the BriefCASE tools and workflow to the mission computing system in a military helicopter. The demonstration system integrated wireless devices for pilots and soldiers with the existing avionics networks. BriefCASE tools were used to implement a new high-assurance gateway based on the seL4 secure microkernel, including new components for monitoring messages to and from the wireless devices. Remote attestation was also added to ensure that any devices that attempt to join the wireless network are running trustworthy software.