M2M cybersecurity firm Corsha has been contracted by the US Department of Defense to secure the digital backbone of an advanced defence edge manufacturing network all the way at point of need. The award has been made as part of the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Manufacturing Technology Programme’s (OSD ManTech) “Point of Need Challenge Pitch Event.”

The OSD ManTech Challenge is part of a broader Department of Defense (DoD) initiative to drive the growth and sustainment of US domestic advanced manufacturing capabilities. This initiative launched nine Manufacturing Innovation Institutes (MIIs) between 2012 and 2021, each focusing on a specific critical technology.

One of those MIIs is the ARM (Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing) Institute, which Corsha worked with to create and submit its proposal.

Corsha’s proposal, “Securing the Digital Backbone with Corsha’s Zero-Trust Platform for Machines,” was selected for funding and will address the cybersecurity and operational limitations that forward-operating bases (FoBs) face in austere environments by providing zero-trust (ZT) network access across the manufacturing network and automating cybersecurity hygiene to its fullest extent in these Industrial Internet-of-Things (IIoT) environments.

Corsha will be deploying its platform on-premise at the PoN and demonstrating regulated access to a tabletop FANUC Robotic Arm but also controlled, ZT access to a shared artefact repository. This ability to cross OT and IT networks and treat all “machines” uniformly is one of Corsha’s key differentiators, be that a robotic arm in the field, an artefact repository in a datacentre, or workload in the cloud.  As communication and data movement from OT equipment at the PoN to IT applications and the cloud and back again are becoming the status quo, and uniform cybersecurity solutions like Corsha are key to protecting an ever growing and dynamic landscape.

“We’re incredibly proud to be selected to work with our partners at ARM and the OSD ManTech  team to support our forward-deployed forces,” said Anusha Iyer, CEO & Founder of Corsha. “At Corsha, our aim is to bring these practical and innovative solutions to the field every day, help our customers tackle complex cybersecurity challenges, and take innovation forward like this to the Point of Need.”

The six project teams that won an award backed by OSD ManTech will see a total investment of nearly $2.5 million and bring in strong industry collaboration. Corsha is excited to contribute its proven technology to this initiative and continue its work to improve cybersecurity in the manufacturing sector. Project demonstrations are planned for December 2023 in a simulated cold weather environment, supported by Army DEVCOM.