Blockchain becoming an integral part of some defence technology - 14th July 2017

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Blockchain is becoming another element in defence cyber security systems. Ryan Stuart

by Mark Abernethy

When the Aegis-equipped HMAS Hobart was handed over to the Commonwealth in Adelaide a month ago, it marked Australia's entry into a future of electronic warfare (EW).

The Australian Defence Force's current asset-replacement program will see land vehicles, aircraft and naval assets also connected into centralised command-and-control weapons control systems that can automate combat actions from detection to engagement.

While the power of a networked military is obvious, it also introduces cyber-security vulnerabilities that have to be resolved, and one of those responses is likely to be blockchain – best known as the backbone behind Bitcoin.

In April the huge defence prime contractor Lockheed Martin announced it was integrating blockchain features into its data systems to address threats such as manipulation in its "networked and weapons system embedded cyber physical systems".

Lockheed Martin has contracted Guardtime Federal to provide the new security systems.

"Lockheed Martin becomes the first US defence contractor to incorporate blockchain technology into its developmental processes, enabling more efficient and assured offerings to the federal government," the company announced.

"Using Guardtime Federal's Black Lantern appliances and the nationally distributed Guardtime Federal Core blockchain infrastructure, Lockheed Martin plans to realise more efficient and secure software development and supply chain risk management."

Government tight-lipped

In Australia – which relies on Lockheed Martin systems for the Air Warfare Destroyers and for the maintenance facility for the F-35 stealth fighter at Williamtown air base – the government is tight-lipped about Lockheed Martin's move into blockchain.

However, senior lecturer in cyber warfare at Australian National University Tom Worthington says the move is interesting and is in line with the amount of investment and activity the Israeli Defence Force is throwing into blockchain as a defence technology.

"I start by looking at what the Israelis are doing," says Worthington, who was formerly employed by the Australian Defence Department. "Their civilian research programs usually have a military purpose."

Deloitte's 2016 report into Israeli blockchain research, Israel: A Hotspot for Blockchain Innovation, concluded that Israel's military-civilian incubation system had positioned the nation "as a hotspot for blockchain innovation".

Worthington says blockchain's compelling element for military commanders is its distributed node system, with participants being allowed layers of activity inside a cryptographically sealed network.

Greater encryption

"The internet was developed by the military for the same reason," says Worthington. "If one node is destroyed, you don't lose everything. Blockchain builds on that idea, with a much greater level of dispersion."

He says the civilian blockchain systems being developed – mainly by banks – are highly secure because the participants and types of activity are controlled by cryptography keys.

"The system that would be used by the Americans would have much greater encryption," says Worthington. "A magnitude of 10 times the civilian strength would be their starting point."

He says blockchain is highly conducive to secure, private networks – via the "permissioned" version of blockchain – while also dispersing the data nodes. However, he says the Australian military would likely see it first in tactical applications.

"You'll see blockchain used among soldiers wearing personal communication devices on their wrists," he says. "Blockchain allows you to keep the information in a specific network. It also allows you to have your soldiers operating with allies, but the commanders can decide the information to be shared with these allies, and the information that's withheld."

(The Australian Financial Review)