[Infowarrior] - SAIC to Put Attack-Simulation Tools on the Web

[Richard Forno]

SAIC to Put Attack-Simulation Tools on the Web

By Doug Beizer
Special to The Washington Post
Monday, January 1, 2007; D04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/31/AR2006123100
801_pf.html

With the motto "Making the World Safer," the Defense Threat Reduction Agency
uses computer models to play out doomsday scenarios, forecasting what might
happen if an attack were launched and what could be done to minimize its
effects.

The models cover biological, chemical, nuclear and other kinds of weapons.

San Diego-based Science Applications International Corp. won a contract
worth up to $53.9 million from the agency to put modeling and simulation
tools on the Web for first responders and government agencies.

The system of computer models, called the Integrated Weapons of Mass
Destruction Toolset, has been in development since 2004.

Making the tools adhere to Web-based standards is a key part of the
contract, said Michael Chagnon, a senior vice president with SAIC. "So
anybody that has a Web browser, a laptop, connectivity and permission would
be able to access these tools to do their job. And those types of users
would include war fighters or could include civil first responders as well."

The agency builds physics-based models to simulate situations such as
particle dispersion. In a nuclear detonation model, for example, conditions
such as winds, terrain and the location of the device are taken into
account. The model shows how the radiation would spread and indicates how
that could affect people.

Similar modeling tools would show how a plume of chemicals might disperse.

"First responders could use that information to determine exactly what type
of medical response would be required and the number of people that might be
affected," Chagnon said. "So it's being able to publish data that could be
of use to others, as well as being able to subscribe to data -- such as
weather data updates -- that would enable the toolset to make more
up-to-date calculations as well."

War fighters can use the tools to predict the possible effects of various
kinds of attacks on U.S. and allied troops and help determine how troops
should be moved or what precautions they should take.

The tools run on a suite of classified and unclassified servers. The toolset
is also available on a laptop in case a potential user does not have
connectivity. The data from that laptop can later be synchronized with the
servers.

Under the new contract, SAIC will further refine standards in the toolset's
architecture to make it available to a wider variety of computer systems.

"That interoperation with other systems and the ability to share information
with other systems is the key to enhancing the value and the utility of the
tool suite," Chagnon said.

Doug Beizer is a staff writer with Washington Technology. For news on this
and other contracts, go towww.washingtontechnology.com.