Salt Typhoon hacks to influence final round of DARPA’s AI-cyber competition

This summer, seven teams will compete to craft a best-case model that uses AI to detect and fix open-source vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure. Recently discovered Chinese telecom hacks will help shape the final round, a top DARPA official said.

SAN FRANCISCO — The final round of a cybersecurity competition run by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency will take inspiration in part from a Chinese hacking campaign discovered last year that was found to have burrowed into major U.S. telecommunications systems and their wiretapping platforms.

The final round of DARPA’s AI Cyber Challenge, scheduled to run at the DEF CON conference in August, will task seven teams with crafting an AI-powered system designed to secure open-source software that underpins critical infrastructure sectors like water systems and financial institutions.

Teams will be expected to use AI to find and fix bugs in code that undergirds functions of critical infrastructure systems ...