The U.S. Navy is inviting private sector companies to participate in a collaborative research and development agreement (CRADA) to further enhance its innovative “PARANOID” blockchain technology.

Developed by the Naval Air Warfare Center’s Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) in Lakehurst, New Jersey, PARANOID (Powerful Authentication Regime Applicable to Naval Operational Flight Program Integrated Development) is a blockchain-based system designed to secure software against cyberattacks throughout its development and deployment stages.

Image source: US Navy.

Initially created to safeguard avionics software for the Navy, PARANOID’s robust security features have broader applications in any software development context where security is critical. The system ensures the integrity of software development by verifying files across multiple nodes using blockchain technology, logging every developer action as a ledger entry. This process creates an immutable database, thwarting attempts by malicious actors to alter, replace, or delete code without detection.

In a recent TechLink blog post, the U.S. Department of Defense’s technology transfer partner announced that the Navy is offering the PARANOID system to private sector entities for further research and development. Nida Shaikh, senior technology manager at TechLink, highlighted the ideal CRADA partner as a company focused on developing solutions for securing the software supply chain. Such a partner would install and test the PARANOID system to provide feedback and explore its scalability.

While this marks the first commercial application of a proprietary blockchain technology from the Navy, it is not the U.S. military’s initial venture into blockchain. Both the U.S. Air Force and Navy have previously collaborated with SIMBA Chain, a blockchain-based data exchange incubated at the University of Notre Dame, to secure their supply lines.

This initiative underscores the Navy’s commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technology to enhance cybersecurity and foster innovation through public-private partnerships.

Source: Cointelegraph