BBN Technologies, a division of RTX, has been selected by DARPA to help lead a new wave of innovation in cybersecurity under the INGOTS (Intelligent Generation of Tools for Security) program.
The core objective of INGOTS is to automate and scale threat detection, moving beyond manual, time-intensive methods that can no longer keep pace with evolving digital threats.
To support this, BBN will develop STALAGMITE, a sophisticated testing environment designed to simulate real-world Android-based exploits across both physical and virtual platforms. This setup will allow researchers to observe attack vectors and defense mechanisms in controlled, repeatable experiments — a significant advancement over today’s fragmented testing processes.
STALAGMITE is expected to become a critical enabler of rapid vulnerability research, streamlining how cybersecurity patches are tested, validated, and deployed. The integration of multiple testing components will allow teams to anticipate and counter threats proactively, minimizing potential damage.
The broader INGOTS effort aligns with urgent national security goals as threats to critical infrastructure escalate. With CISA reporting over 1,300 actively exploited vulnerabilities, DARPA’s focus is on developing systems that can automatically generate, model, and assess exploit chains — the complex pathways attackers use to penetrate networks.
Spanning three phases over 36 months, INGOTS will deliver scalable tools and applied research to help protect everything from consumer devices to military systems, reinforcing the digital resilience of US infrastructure.
