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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1993

Security System Software

C Language Integration Production System (CLIPS), a NASA-developed expert systems program, has enabled a security systems manufacturer to design a new generation of hardware. C.CURESystem 1 Plus, manufactured by Software House, is a software based system that is used with a variety of access control hardware at installations around the world. Users can manage large amounts of information, solve unique security problems and control entry and time scheduling. CLIPS acts as an information management tool when accessed by C.CURESystem 1 Plus. It asks questions about the hardware and when given the answer, recommends possible quick solutions by non-expert persons.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2022

Hardware-Based Randomized Encoding for Sensor Authentication in Power Grid SCADA Systems

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems are utilized extensively in critical power grid infrastructures. Modern SCADA systems have been proven to be susceptible to cyber-security attacks and require improved security primitives in order to prevent unwanted influence from an adversarial party. One section of weakness in the SCADA system is the integrity of field level sensors providing essential data for control decisions at a master station. In this paper we propose a lightweight hardware scheme providing inferred authentication for SCADA sensors by combining an analog to digital converter and a permutation generator as a single integrated circuit. Through this method we encode critical sensor data at the time of sensing, so that unencoded data is never stored in memory, increasing the difficulty of software attacks. We show through experimentation how our design stops both software and hardware false data injection attacks occurring at the field level of SCADA systems.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS2017

Virtualized Multi-Mission Operations Center (vMMOC) and its Cloud Services

His presentation will cover, the current and future, technical and organizational opportunities and challenges with virtualizing a multi-mission operations center. The full deployment of Goddard Space Flight Centers (GSFC) Virtualized Multi-Mission Operations Center (vMMOC) is nearly complete. The Space Science Mission Operations (SSMO) organizations spacecraft ACE, Fermi, LRO, MMS(4), OSIRIS-REx, SDO, SOHO, Swift, and Wind are in the process of being fully migrated to the vMMOC. The benefits of the vMMOC will be the normalization and the standardization of IT services, mission operations, maintenance, and development as well as ancillary services and policies such as collaboration tools, change management systems, and IT Security. The vMMOC will also provide operational efficiencies regarding hardware, IT domain expertise, training, maintenance and support.The presentation will also cover SSMO's secure Situational Awareness Dashboard in an integrated, fleet centric, cloud based web services fashion. Additionally the SSMO Telemetry as a Service (TaaS) will be covered, which allows authorized users and processes to access telemetry for the entire SSMO fleet, and for the entirety of each spacecrafts history. Both services leverage cloud services in a secure FISMA High and FedRamp environment, and also leverage distributed object stores in order to house and provide the telemetry. The services are also in the process of leveraging the cloud computing services elasticity and horizontal scalability. In the design phase is the Navigation as a Service (NaaS) which will provide a standardized, efficient, and normalized service for the fleet's space flight dynamics operations. Additional future services that may be considered are Ground Segment as a Service (GSaaS), Telemetry and Command as a Service (TCaaS), Flight Software Simulation as a Service, etc.

Ido, Haisam Kassim↗
NASA NTRS2019

Quantum Technologies for UAS (QTech)

Recent advances in small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) technologies lower the barriers for use by both private and commercial entities. However, these advances are also likely to lead to greater vehicle densities, a more heterogenous mix of vehicles and equipment and greater levels of vehicle autonomy, which can increase the chance for communications disruptions. For the safe and secure operation of these vehicles, it is essential to have a robust communications network. This work is focused on harnessing the power of quantum technologies to enable this robust communications network by: (1) utilizing quantum optimization algorithms to design robust network with routing redundancy that can respond adaptively to dynamically changing real-time environment and disruptions, (2) utilize quantum optimization algorithms resource allocation for detection, localization, and tracking of mobile communication disruption agents and (3) utilize quantum key distribution (QKD) to execute secure key sharing in anti-jamming protocols for secure radio frequency (RF) communication. Efforts to map these quantum optimization algorithms to commercially available quantum annealers and soon to be available general-purpose gate-model quantum hardware architectures will be reviewed, and plans for testing the solutions to these algorithms through indoor sUAS flight tests will be discussed. Lastly, efforts to miniaturize and practically deploy Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) hardware, which could ultimately be used to securely exchange encryption keys, in sUAS networks will be reviewed.

Quantum Computing↗
DOE OSTI2025

Vedizar Fingerprinter

SAND2025-03289O Vedizar Fingerprinter simplifies the process of identifying devices on a network by analyzing traffic data. It uses a unique library to recognize different devices, making it easier for users to understand what is happening on their networks. This software is ideal for IT and operational technology environments, helping organizations monitor their networks effectively. By saving results in a database, it allows for easy access and review of device information. Users can enhance their network security and optimize performance without needing specialized hardware or technical expertise. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.

Jacobellis, John [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), L↗
NASA NTRS2015

R2U2: Monitoring and Diagnosis of Security Threats for Unmanned Aerial Systems

We present R2U2, a novel framework for runtime monitoring of security properties and diagnosing of security threats on-board Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). R2U2, implemented in FPGA hardware, is a real-time, REALIZABLE, RESPONSIVE, UNOBTRUSIVE Unit for security threat detection. R2U2 is designed to continuously monitor inputs from the GPS and the ground control station, sensor readings, actuator outputs, and flight software status. By simultaneously monitoring and performing statistical reasoning, attack patterns and post-attack discrepancies in the UAS behavior can be detected. R2U2 uses runtime observer pairs for linear and metric temporal logics for property monitoring and Bayesian networks for diagnosis of security threats. We discuss the design and implementation that now enables R2U2 to handle security threats and present simulation results of several attack scenarios on the NASA DragonEye UAS.

Formal Methods↗
DOE OSTI2021

Tikiri—Towards a lightweight blockchain for IoT

Internet of Things (IoT) platforms have been deployed in several domains to enhance efficiency of business process and improve productivity. Most IoT platforms comprise of heterogeneous software and hardware components which can potentially introduce security and privacy challenges. Blockchain technology has been proposed as one of the solutions to realize IoT security by leveraging the (a) Immutable ledger, (b) Decentralized architecture and (c) Strong cryptography primitives. However, integrating blockchain platforms with IoT based applications presents several challenges due to lack of (a) acceptable performance on resource-constrained devices, (b) high transaction throughput, (c) keyword-based search and retrieve, (d) transaction back pressure operations, and (e) real-time response. In this paper, we propose a lightweight blockchain platform, “Tikiri”, for resource-constrained IoT devices. Tikiri uses Apache Kafka for the consensus and proposes new blockchain architecture to handle real-time transaction execution on the blockchain. Tikiri is characterized by functional programming and actor-based smart contract platform that realizes concurrent execution of transactions in the blockchain. Tikiri realizes a lightweight and scalable blockchain that can provides performance on the resource-constrained IoT devices.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS2002

Enabling Earth Science: The Facilities and People of the NCCS

The NCCS's mass data storage system allows scientists to store and manage the vast amounts of data generated by these computations, and its high-speed network connections allow the data to be accessed quickly from the NCCS archives. Some NCCS users perform studies that are directly related to their ability to run computationally expensive and data-intensive simulations. Because the number and type of questions scientists research often are limited by computing power, the NCCS continually pursues the latest technologies in computing, mass storage, and networking technologies. Just as important as the processors, tapes, and routers of the NCCS are the personnel who administer this hardware, create and manage accounts, maintain security, and assist the scientists, often working one on one with them.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2022

Ransomware Security Threat Modeling for Photovoltaic Systems

Ransomware attacks are one of the most dangerous cyber-attacks which can disrupt the operation of photovoltaic (PV) systems and incur an enormous economic loss. This paper introduces a ransomware security threat modeling method that identifies potential vulnerabilities, threats, and impacts of ransomware attacks targeting a PV system. Here, the security threat modeling consists of three steps: 1) system identification, 2) threat modeling that finds existing vulnerabilities, 3) attack modeling that designs attack profiles to succeed ransomware attacks, and 4) penetration testing that performs authorized cyber-attacks and analyzes impacts of the ransomware attack profiles using a real-time hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) PV system security testbed.

attack modeling↗
DOE OSTI2024

Sentinel

Network intrusion detection systems (NIDS) are commonplace in network security but they frequently employ algorithms that are computational demanding requiring hardware and software with significant power requirements. Two examples of such resource-intensive algorithms used for network security are regular expression matching and broader signature pattern matching which are commonly used in deep packet inspection (DPI). Network security algorithms that have large power requirements may be a challenge for low-power internet-of-things (IoT) environments, which generally lack the power resources to implement complex security measures like computationally expensive DPI at the edge. Furthermore, IoT environments incorporating 5G standalone networks have network latency constraints beyond just power that make DPI at the edge even more difficult. Programmable logic is ideally suited for machine learning inference for DPI because of its deep instruction level parallelism and single-cycle memory access. Machine learning approaches for DPI have been explored before using the programmable logic of field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) as a potential solution for NIDS approaches that would be power-suitable for IoT. However, those previous programmable logic NIDS approaches utilize either a supervised or unsupervised learning model. Sentinel utilizes the ensemble of these two machine learning approaches known as a semi-supervised approach which has shown promise in NIDS implementations. Sentinel provides a programmable logic implementation of a semi-supervised approach for DPI which operates at much lower power and latency than a GPU implementation with negligible loss of accuracy due to quantization through a logistic regressor.

Anderson, MatthewW [Idaho National Laboratory (INL↗
DOE OSTI2020

A physical unclonable neutron sensor for nuclear arms control inspections

Abstract Classical sensor security relies on cryptographic algorithms executed on trusted hardware. This approach has significant shortcomings, however. Hardware can be manipulated, including below transistor level, and cryptographic keys are at risk of extraction attacks. A further weakness is that sensor media themselves are assumed to be trusted, and any authentication and encryption is done ex situ and a posteriori. Here we propose and demonstrate a different approach to sensor security that does not rely on classical cryptography and trusted electronics. We designed passive sensor media that inherently produce secure and trustworthy data, and whose honest and non-malicious nature can be easily established. As a proof-of-concept, we manufactured and characterized the properties of non-electronic, physical unclonable, optically complex media sensitive to neutrons for use in a high-security scenario: the inspection of a military facility to confirm the absence or presence of nuclear weapons and fissile materials.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗
DOE OSTI2025

Designing FAIR Workflows at OLCF: Building Scalable and Reusable Ecosystems for HPC Science

High Performance Computing (HPC) centers, such as the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF), provide advanced infrastructure that enables scientific research at extreme scale. These centers operate with unique hardware configurations, specialized software environments, and elevated security re quirements that differ substantially from what most users encounter on their local systems. As a result, users often develop customized digital artifacts that are tightly coupled to the specific configuration of a given HPC center. Although necessary, this practice can lead to significant duplication of effort as multiple users independently create similar solutions to common problems.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS2002

Ethernet for Space Flight Applications

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is adapting current data networking technologies to fly on future spaceflight missions. The benefits of using commercially based networking standards and protocols have been widely discussed and are expected to include reduction in overall mission cost, shortened integration and test (I&T) schedules, increased operations flexibility, and hardware and software upgradeability/scalability with developments ongoing in the commercial world. The networking effort is a comprehensive one encompassing missions ranging from small University Explorer (UNEX) class spacecraft to large observatories such as the Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST). Mission aspects such as flight hardware and software, ground station hardware and software, operations, RF communications, and security (physical and electronic) are all being addressed to ensure a complete end-to-end system solution. One of the current networking development efforts at GSFC is the SpaceLAN (Spacecraft Local Area Network) project, development of a space-qualifiable Ethernet network. To this end we have purchased an IEEE 802.3-compatible 10/100/1000 Media Access Control (MAC) layer Intellectual Property (IP) core and are designing a network node interface (NNI) and associated network components such as a switch. These systems will ultimately allow the replacement of the typical MIL-STD-1553/1773 and custom interfaces that inhabit most spacecraft. In this paper we will describe our current Ethernet NNI development along with a novel new space qualified physical layer that will be used in place of the standard interfaces. We will outline our plans for development of space qualified network components that will allow future spacecraft to operate in significant radiation environments while using a single onboard network for reliable commanding and data transfer. There will be a brief discussion of some issues surrounding system implications of a flight Ethernet. Finally, we will show an onboard network architecture for a proposed new mission using Ethernet for science data transport.

Webb, Evan↗
DOE OSTI2020

5G Enabled Energy Innovation: Advanced Wireless Networks for Science (Workshop Report)

Rapidly expanding, new telecommunications infrastructure based on 5G technologies will disrupt and transform how we design, build, operate, and optimize scientific infrastructure and the experiments and services enabled by that infrastructure, from continental-scale sensor networks to centralized scientific user facilities, from intelligent Internet of Things devices to supercomputers. Concurrently, 5G will introduce, or exacerbate, challenges related to protecting infrastructure and associated scientific data as well as to fully leveraging opportunities related to expanded infrastructure scale and complexity. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science operates scientific infrastructure, supporting some of the nation’s most advanced intellectual discoveries, spanning the country and including 30 world-class user facilities from supercomputers to accelerators. Along with field experiments and remote observatories, every aspect of DOE’s scientific enterprise will be affected by 5G, which amounts to a complete renovation of the underpinnings of the nation’s information infrastructure. In this report we explore the scientific opportunities and new research challenges associated with 5G, ranging from scalability to heterogeneity to cybersecurity. The rapid commercial deployment of 5G opens the opportunity to rethink and reinvent DOE’s scientific infrastructure and experimentation, from intelligent sensor networks at unprecedented scales to a digital continuum of cyberinfrastructure spanning low-power sensors, high-performance computing embedded within and at the edge of the network, and DOE’s large-scale user instrument and computing facilities. New programming paradigms, workflow and data frameworks, and AI-based system design, operation, and autonomous adaptation and optimization will be necessary in order to exploit these new opportunities. Field deployments and centralized scientific instruments can also be revolutionized, moving (without traditional performance penalties) from wired to wireless connectivity for data and control systems, improving flexibility, and opening new sensing modalities, including the use of the 5G electromagnetic spectrum itself as an environmental probe. For DOE science, in contrast to commercial 5G applications and settings, devices will be deployed in extreme environments such as cryogenically cooled instrument control systems and in remote settings with harsh conditions, requiring the design of new materials for RF communication and edge processing to operate in these regimes. Concurrently, 5G infrastructure comprises both hardware and sophisticated software systems - currently closed and proprietary. The cybersecurity challenges to 5G-empowered reinvention mirror the complexity and variety of new 5G features, from virtualization to private network slices to ubiquitous access. Research is also needed in order to accelerate the development of secure and open 5G software infrastructure, reducing reliance on hardware and software produced outside the United States and providing the transparency and rigorous evaluation and testing afforded through open software. Twelve broad research thrusts are laid out in four chapters, with a companion fifth chapter (and three additional research thrusts) underscoring the needs and opportunities for an aggressive testbed program co-designed by networking experts and scientists involved in the 15 research thrusts. The urgency of undertaking this research is fueled by a global, accelerating deployment of new telecommunications infrastructure that is designed for entertainment and commercial applications - barely scratching the surface of what 5G can do to extend U.S. leadership in scientific discovery.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cyber Protection of Grid-Connected Devices Through Embedded Online Security

Cybersecurity research regarding the electric power grid has primarily been focused on protecting the communication layer of grid-connected devices against cyber-attack threats. Although many developed methods have greatly reduced the effects of a cyber-attack on the vulnerabilities of grid-connected devices, discovering new vulnerabilities is inevitable and a constant threat. As a result, the overall reliability and security of network communications with regard to grid-connected devices is a concern. Here, this paper proposes a method that further secures a system by focusing on the control and hardware layer of grid-connected devices. The device’s controller firmware will be validated and authenticated using integrated device emulation resources prior to being activated to control the grid-connected device. This verification process is performed while the controller is online and actively controlling power flows related to the device. Therefore, an attack to the system through a malicious firmware patch would be detected by the online security and rejected while safely maintaining continuous and stable control of the device. This method integrates the concepts of firmware hot-patching, digital twins, and active monitoring into an overall cybersecurity protection system.

cybersecurity↗
DOE OSTI2026

DISARM: Target Electronic Device Informed Mitigation of Software Runtime Side-Channel Vulnerabilities

Program runtime/timing attacks exploit variations in a program’s execution times to extract sensitive information from the program (e.g. encryption keys, sensitive variable data, intellectual property). State-of-the-art solutions to runtime side-channel attacks attempt to balance the execution time of the sensitive code for different control flow paths to eliminate the timing leakage. However, during the mitigation process, most techniques do not consider the underlying hardware/device on which the target program is supposed to run on. This can lead to over-fixing (unnecessary extra operations), under-fixing (not solving the imbalance properly), and even failures. Here, we propose DISARM, a joint hardware-software methodology (unlike any existing solution) for mitigating runtime side-channel vulnerabilities that utilizes timing values from real embedded devices to generate targeted software fixes. We implement DISARM to support C/C++/Java source codes and validate it across 22 standard benchmarks. DISARM outperforms state-of-the-art solutions such as PENDULUM and DifFuzzaR in terms of execution time overhead, code size overhead, and correctness on five different embedded/edge devices.

Timing/runtime side-channel↗
DOE OSTI2024

BeyondFingerprinting: AI-guided discovery of robust materials & processes

BeyondFingerprinting was a 2021-2024 Sandia Grand Challenge LDRD exploring the potential to develop new resilient materials and manufacturing processes by taking an artificial-intelligence (AI)-guided approach that integrates human-subject-matter expertise with algorithms enriched with physics-based constraints to unearth process-structure-property correlations. Such algorithms, trained on high-throughput experiments and simulations, are shown to serve as surrogate models that efficiently detect key “fingerprints” in materials data, prognose material performance, and guide effective process improvements. To accelerate broader adoption across mission areas, this AI-guided approach was demonstrated with three complex process-centric exemplars: electroplating, physical vapor deposition, and laser powder bed fusion. Together, these exemplars impact nearly every hardware component relevant to DOE and NNSA national security missions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Roxana Paramo Ramirez: MSIIP 2025-2026 Internship [Poster]

At Sandia National Laboratories, there is a high level of importance placed on identifying and developing solutions to the nation’s current and future security problems. One of these problem would be hardware electronics validation and verification.

42 ENGINEERING↗