RTX’s BBN Technologies Delivers Open-Source Toolkit for Hidden Communications
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RTX’s BBN Technologies has released Maude-HCS, an open-source toolkit designed to rigorously test and validate the security of covert cyber networks, funded through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s PWND2 program. These hidden communication systems conceal both the content and existence of messages within ordinary network activity and are vital for protecting journalists, armed forces, and critical infrastructure in contested environments. Maude-HCS offers an advantage by predicting key performance metrics like latency and data rate with 1% to 9% error compared to live testing, allowing for rapid validation of designs before deployment. “Maude-HCS provides users a rigorous yet practical way to validate performance-privacy guarantees of hidden communication designs before they ever touch the wire,” said Dr. Joud Khoury, principal investigator at RTX BBN Technologies, suggesting the toolkit could fundamentally alter how the national security community approaches covert communication. DARPA PWND2 Program Funds Maude-HCS Covert Network Validation The toolkit, now available on GitHub, addresses a critical need for validating hidden communications channels before deployment, offering an advantage to both cybersecurity professionals and national security interests. These networks conceal not only message content but also the very fact of communication, embedding data within ordinary network activity to appear as routine traffic; their effectiveness is paramount for maintaining secure lines for journalists and military personnel operating in hostile environments. This allows teams to assess latency, data rates, and detection risk, critical factors for mission success, without lengthy and uncertain real-world testing. The toolkit operates efficiently on standard computing hardware, scaling to handle enterprise-level traffic on a single eight-core server, and its open-source nature fosters collaboration among universities, industry, and government labs. By reducing development cycles from months to days, Maude-HCS promises to strengthen U.S. cyber defense and protect vital infrastructure, delivering measurable and verifiable performance before systems are deployed in contested environments, with related research available as a pre-print on arXiv. Maude-HCS Achieves 1-9% Error Rate with Scalable Log-Linear Performance The demand for secure communication channels is escalating, and traditional methods often fall short when facing sophisticated surveillance; consequently, researchers are increasingly focused on covert communication networks designed to conceal both content and the very fact of transmission. RTX’s BBN Technologies addresses this challenge with the release of Maude-HCS, an open-source toolkit now available on GitHub, developed under DARPA’s PWND2 program. Maude-HCS offers quantifiable performance guarantees, predicting critical metrics like latency, data rates, and detection risk with an error rate ranging from 1% to 9% when compared against controlled experimental deployments. This level of accuracy represents a significant improvement over previous validation methods, which often relied on prolonged trial-and-error approaches. The toolkit’s architecture allows it to scale log-linearly with model size, meaning it can handle enterprise-level network traffic on a standard eight-core server; this scalability, combined with its ability to deliver results in hours rather than weeks, promises to dramatically accelerate the development and deployment of secure communication systems. By fostering open-source collaboration and reducing development cycles, RTX BBN Technologies intends to strengthen U.S. cyber defense and maintain a competitive edge in increasingly contested digital environments. Maude-HCS provides users a rigorous yet practical way to validate performance-privacy guarantees of hidden communication designs before they ever touch the wire. Dr. Joud Khoury, principal investigator at RTX BBN Technologies Source: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rtxs-bbn-technologies-launches-open-source-tool-to-validate-covert-cyber-networks-302730012.html Tags: Quantum News There is so much happening right now in the field of technology, whether AI or the march of robots. Adrian is an expert on how technology can be transformative, especially frontier technologies. But Quantum occupies a special space. Quite literally a special space. A Hilbert space infact, haha! Here I try to provide some of the news that is considered breaking news in the Quantum Computing and Quantum tech space. Latest Posts by Quantum News: Researchers Report Stable Quantum Links Over Kilometers of Noisy Fiber April 2, 2026 Fixstars and University of Osaka Achieve Large-Scale Quantum Chemistry Simulation on 1,024 GPUs April 2, 2026 Quanscient and Haiqu Develop Algorithm for Scalable Fluid Simulations on Quantum Computers April 2, 2026