Modus Operandi Awarded U.S. Air Force Contract to Develop Formal Framework for Secure Mashup Technologies

Modus Operandi, a leading software and information integration technology company, has been awarded a contract by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Information Directorate in Rome, N.Y. to develop a formal framework for secure mashup technologies, which enable users to combine information in unique ways that meet their specific needs. On the internet, Web 2.0 mashup services are widely available today. In order to provide similar functionality to users on classified networks, concerns regarding confidentiality, integrity, and availability must first be addressed.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is beginning work on an advanced secure mashup project known as “SMASHUP”. Through this contract, Modus Operandi will use mathematical logic to create a secure framework for the project, and provide flexible tools that enable users to create tailored applications from content aggregated from multiple sources. It is specifically designed to protect against insider threats and disclosure of sensitive information. An advantage of this approach is it provides a formal means for controlling the usage of information resources within highly complex secure mashups.

The availability of the SMASHUP system will provide tremendous advantages to DoD decision makers engaged in analysis of critical situations, rapid-response, and long-term planning scenarios. The system is expected to play an integral role in future situation analysis and battlefront planning operations by U.S. military personnel around the world.

“SMASHUP will allow the warfighter to securely pull together content from many different sources using Web 2.0 technologies in an efficient and highly secure manner,” said Dr. Mark Heileman, senior scientist, Modus Operandi. “Users will be able to fuse intelligence information from various sources in order to discover links between information and enhance decision-making.”

The Phase II contract is sponsored by the AFRL through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.