Enterprise PKI API to Enable Successful Execution of DAF CIO ICAM Strategy

Within three months, SHE BASH will conduct the research necessary to confirm the applicability of their Department of the Air Force Enterprise Public Key Infrastructure (DAF ePKI) solution to determine how the capabilities of the technology can address well-defined defense needs and conduct outreach with empowered and committed USAF Customers and End-Users to plan a SBIR Phase II prototype effort. Enterprise-ready ICAM encompasses all activities related to identity and access: it automatically ensures the right user–whether a person or a non-person entity–has access to approved resources anytime, anywhere. Today the DAF does not have an automated way to supply certificates to non-person entities. A perhaps surprisingly large number of problems in cyberspace depend on persona and identity intelligence, as well as related topics. User authentication and behavior-based attribution fall in this category. The DAF implemented ICAM principles to protect the network and resource access at varying organizational levels. However, to date, the DAF has failed to deploy these measures in a uniform and integrated manner across the enterprise resulting in an unnecessary increase in operational risk, reduced efficiency and effectiveness, and fiscal unsustainability. SHE BASH proposes to research the ability of their custom solution running on the HashiCorp Vault to address the needs identified within the 2021 DAF ICAM, the USCYBERCOM 2020 Tech Challenge Problems, and needs identified by potential customers. She Bash will also develop initial requirements for integration of their custom solution and extensions of it that may enable it to better address the needs of DAF in the context of modern computational realities, and the adoption of cloud architectures.