Completed Computing & AI Engineering

High security communications infrastructure using peer-to-peer Mesh VPN

Funder UKRI
Recipient organisation Cyberhive LTD
Funding £2.2M
Period Mar 2022 — Mar 2025

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

A hardware-enforced MeshVPN built on Arm’s Morello architecture will make digital infrastructure harder to attack by layering encryption that resists both current and future quantum computer threats. The problem is that conventional network security often fails once an attacker gains a foothold inside a system. This project tackles that gap by combining hardware-enforced memory protection—built into the processor itself—with the Rust programming language, which prevents common software bugs that attackers exploit. The result is a network where even if one device is compromised, the rest remain sealed off. If successful, the MeshVPN could protect critical infrastructure such as power grids, connected medical devices, and industrial control systems that require both low-latency performance and strong security. Public and private sector organisations would gain a network that is resilient to remote takeover and data theft without sacrificing speed. The project also delivers a development framework so other programmers can build secure applications on the Morello platform, potentially shifting how processors are designed for security in the long term.

View original technical description
100 Percent IT will develop a project demonstrator and supporting framework of development tools to help digital computing infrastructure to become more resistant to attack both in the UK and beyond. The solution, a hardware-enforced MeshVPN based on Arm's Morello prototype architecture, could radically change the way we design and program processors in future, to enable better built-in security. 100 Percent IT will also develop innovative new methods to secure the data being transmitted by applying layered encryption resistant to attack by quantum computers that is thus more resilient to near-term and future cyber-threats - making it harder to attack and infiltrate network infrastructure or endpoints and remotely take control or extract sensitive information. The project also aims to deliver a framework to allow other developers to use the Rust programming language to develop applications on the Morello platform, providing the combined benefits of hardware security in parallel to the security benefits inherent in the Rust programming language. The adoption of this secure MeshVPN technology also provides performance and usability benefits for numerous applications in public and private sector organisations, along with use-cases for IoT and industrial applications, e.g. protecting critical infrastructure, connected medical devices, and other applications where the low-latency network performance and resilience in conjunction with security is a key factor.

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Related Research

Grants with similar aims, by meaning.

MoatE (Morello at the Edge)
Soteria - Demonstrating the Security Capabilities of the Morello System in the e-commerce Vertical Industrial Segment
SIPP - Secure IoT Processor Platform with Remote Attestation
Secure Networking by Design (SNbD)
MOJO - A Robust Java Virtual Machine for Morello

Original classification

Collaborative R&D

Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.