US Navy launches blockchain security technology ‘PARANOID’ in private sector

The U.S. Navy is seeking a private sector partner for a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to help advance its proprietary “PARANOID” blockchain technology.

PARANOID (Strong Authentication Framework Applicable to Naval Operational Flight Program Integrated Development) is a blockchain-based system for protecting software from cyberattacks during development and deployment.

The Naval Air Warfare Center’s Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) in Lakehurst, New Jersey, invented and developed PARANOID to protect the U.S. Navy’s avionics software, but soon realized it was applicable to any security-critical software development effort.

PARANOID protects software throughout the development process by verifying files across nodes at every step via blockchain. Every action a developer takes is registered as an entry on the PARANOID blockchain, providing a ledger of activities.

If a malicious actor attempts to hijack or hack the software during development by editing, replacing, or deleting code or files, these changes will fail verification against the PARANOID system’s immutable database on the blockchain.

According to a blog post from TechLink, a “technology transfer partner” for the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Navy is making the PARANOID system available to the private sector willing to support further research and development.”

Per Nida Shaikh, Senior Technical Manager at TechLink, said:

“Ideal CRADA partners are companies interested in developing solutions for software supply chain security. This includes companies in the software development space who want to install and test PARANOID for feedback and scalability.”

While this appears to be the first proprietary blockchain invention to be commercialized by the U.S. Navy, it is not the U.S. military’s first foray into the technology itself.

The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy have signed a deal with SIMBA Chain, a Notre Dame-incubated data exchange that uses blockchain technology to secure historical supply lines.

Related: US Navy awards $1.5 million jet fighter contract to blockchain project