Raytheon has entered a deal with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) worth $9 million. As part of this deal, Raytheon will help build new technologies to protect the United States' power grid against cyber-attacks.
The contracts were awarded to Raytheon BBN Technologies, the research and development division of the Waltham-based defense contractor. The deal is part of DARPA's Rapid Attack Detection, Isolation and Characterization Systems program, which has a $77 million budget.
DARPA's project was announced in December 2015. The main purpose of the project is to create new technologies that will help utility companies recover quickly in case of a cyber-attack. Experts said that the current state of the power grid's defense system would take it roughly several weeks to recover from a cyber-attack. The program aims to cut that recovery time down to just seven days.
In a statement acquired by Boston Business Journal, Raytheon BBN Technologies vice president for networking and communications, Jason Redi, said, "During the last two decades, industrial control systems have evolved so that most are now connected to the Internet, making them vulnerable to cyber-attack."
Raytheon is expected to work on developing new technologies to help shield utility grids from such attacks. The company's project will cover several aspects of power grid protection including building an early warning system for potential attacks and a creating a secure communication line to connect to affected utility companies.
Raytheon has been building its cyber-security division for the past several years now. As part of this effort, the company invested $1.9 billion in security software firm Websense in 2015.
Aside from the recent power grid contracts, Raytheon has worked with several government agencies in the past and has provided key technological developments. Recently, the Pentagon said that Raytheon is making progress in the development of new ground control stations for next-generation GPS satellites, according to Reuters.