Sponsorship Opportunity: DARPA’s Red-C Cybersecurity Challenge

The Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity (CLTC) is excited to announce a $10,000 sponsorship opportunity for a UC Berkeley team interested in developing a proposal for DARPA’s Redefining the Compute Stack (Red-C) program. Teams must be led by a Principal Investigator (PI) with an active UC Berkeley research affiliation. 

Applications to CLTC are due March 3, 2025 (additional details follow).

CLTC is offering this sponsorship to support the research expenses for one team to develop and submit a proposal to DARPA by April 10, 2025 in response to the Broad Agency Announcement HR001125S0005 “Reclaiming Bus-based Systems During Compromise (Red-C).” This program pushes the boundaries of cybersecurity by developing self-healing firmware capable of detecting, responding to, and recovering from cyberattacks in real-time. Red-C research questions include but are not limited to:

• Can we instrument critical components on a bus to monitor one another cooperatively, creating independent forensic records?
• Can we develop distributed algorithms to allow those critical components to detect and recover from attacks independently, with realistic (i.e., limited) computational resources and bus bandwidth?
• Can we demonstrate online bus reclaiming and firmware retrofitting to eliminate cascading implicit trust flaws in modern buses?

 The program focuses on two technical areas:

• TA1 (Instrumentation): Developing ways for components to generate Forensic Observation Data (FOD) that can inform detection, repair, and inoculation
• TA2 (Response): Creating distributed approaches to detect attacks, repair systems, and remove vulnerabilities

This opportunity is made possible through CLTC’s Cal Cybersecurity Research fund.

How to Apply

To apply, teams must submit a concept note to CLTC (outlined below) detailing their plan for the DARPA proposal. CLTC will give preference to submissions demonstrating a well-developed idea and prior work, though teams with novel, early-stage concepts are encouraged to apply. 

Eligibility Requirements:

• Teams must be led by a Principal Investigator (PI) with an active UC Berkeley research affiliation. 
• All team members must be UC Berkeley-affiliated at the time of application.
• Additional team members may include undergraduate students, graduate students, and/or postdoctoral scholars.
• Final disbursement of funding is contingent on Berkeley PI submitting a proposal to DARPA by DARPA’s April 10 deadline.

Relevant Links:

• https://sam.gov/opp/6d7d9e282e31451684a0da0430d12ac5/view
• https://www.darpa.mil/research/programs/red-c-reclaiming

Submission Requirements:

1. Letter of Interest (1 page max), including:
   • Project title and abstract
   • Research concept and methodology
   • Expected impact and outcomes
   • Prior related work (if any)
     
2. Appendix (not included in page limit):
   • CVs for PI(s) and each team member

Deadline & Submission

Submit your proposal using this form by Monday, March 3 at 11:59PM (PST): https://forms.gle/C1F2NqU6scM5YStZ9

Why Apply?

This is a unique opportunity to engage in cutting-edge cybersecurity research, receive financial support, and contribute to solutions that could redefine the future of cyber defense. We look forward to your innovative ideas!

For inquiries, please contact cltcgrants@berkeley.edu.