(July 17, 2019) -- UTSA has launched Galahad, an open source revolutionary user computer environment (UCE) for the Amazon Cloud. The technology, which is named after the Arthurian knight that ultimately secured the Holy Grail, will fight to protect people using desktop applications running on digital platforms such as Amazon Web Services (AWS). Galahad will leverage nested virtualization, layered sensing and logging to mitigate cloud threats. These layers will allow individual users to host their applications seamlessly and securely within the cloud avoiding both known and unknown threats.
Galahad takes a holistic approach to creating a secure, interactive UCE. The software leverages role-based isolation, attack surface minimization practices, operating system (OS) and application hardening techniques, real-time sensing, and maneuver / deception approaches to reduce the risk associated with cloud deployments. Galahad makes no attempt to establish trust, nor does it require specialized, more costly services provided by AWS, e.g., dedicated servers. Instead, the software impedes the ability of adversaries to operate within the AWS by making it more difficult to co-locate (either through the use of insiders, compromised hypervisors, witting or unwitting peers, or remote access) with targets, while also requiring adversaries consume more resources. Such an increase in complexity and cost means Galahad also increases the accuracy, rate, and speed with which threats are detected.
With the use of role-based isolation and real-time sensors, Galahad will integrate machine learning to develop unique user profiles that will immediately help spot malicious activity or other anomalies like malware in a typical workload. This determination will be based on log events and user actions at the application, virtual machine and hypervisor level.
“Galahad can develop a profile of how each application is used so if an instance of Microsoft Word or Outlook uses an unusually high amount of network bandwidth, we can determine if something has been infected,” said James Benson, a technology research analyst at the UTSA Institute for Cyber Security (ICS).
The Galahad software will be deployed to AWS and provides a nested hypervisor on AWS instances. There, it will monitor role-based virtual machines virtually across all levels of the application stack including the docker container: the basic unit of software that packages an application to run quickly between computing environments.
Galahad’s strengths include the use of migration, where cloud applications are dynamically moved to different hosts.
“It’s almost like frequency band hopping,” said Benson. “If your host is compromised in the AWS environment but you keep on moving, the malicious actor will only get snippets of you at most.”
Farhan Patwa, ICS assistant director and chief architect, added, “With Galahad, you’re now a moving target.” Patwa will oversee the deployment of Galahad at UTSA.
Galahad is one of four solutions built by industry through the sponsorship of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), a division of the Office of National Intelligence. UTSA, which is home to the nation’s top cybersecurity program, was selected to host Galahad to increase its adoption by the wider cyber defense research community.
In 2017 IARPA tapped industry leaders such as Star Lab Corp. to develop Virtuous User Environments (VirtUEs), a dynamic cloud-based environment that reduces threats while serving as a secure place to migrate government user applications. Star Lab developed Galahad and transitioned it to UTSA on at the end of May of this year for further development and research.
Now, researchers at UTSA are seeking other academic partners to make the system an advanced research platform. The UTSA researchers want to innovate additional protection capabilities in field areas such as user access control, privilege chains, decision engines, and blockchain or “smart contracts” that run distributed across different virtual machines. It’s believed that Galahad can also be leveraged toward better integration of IoT systems, and securing Linux operating systems and hypervisors, which make virtual machine computing environments a possibility.
“Galahad is here to be a research ecosystem,” said Patwa.
Like Arthur’s round table, Galahad will be a platform that seeks collaboration with those that are motivated by the single goal to run applications securely in the cloud.
Learn more about Galahad.
Learn more about the UTSA Institute for Cyber Security.
Celebrate UTSA’s 50th Anniversary and share social media posts about the 50th using the hashtag #UTSA50.
Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
Enjoy snacks while connecting with Adobe reps and student ambassadors. Download or log into the Adobe Express app to snag swag and unlock exclusive back-to-school templates. It’s a fun, fast way to get creative and start the school year with bold moves.
Central Plaza, Main CampusCelebrate the merger of UTSA and UT Health San Antonio with a pop-up featuring free t-shirts, exclusive swag, and interactive photo opportunities. Open to all students, faculty and staff. Supplies are limited!
Sombrilla Plaza, Main CampusHuddle Against Hunger is a fundraising competition with Texas State that benefits our Roadrunner Pantry. Donations this week will help UTSA earn additional prize monies provided by RBFCU.
In-Person and VirtualJoin UTSA Libraries for an update on federal public access policies and how the library can assist with compliance.
Virtual EventWe invite you to join us for Birds Up! Downtown, an exciting welcome back event designed to connect students with the different departments at the Downtown Campus. Students will have the opportunity to learn about some of the departments on campus, gain access to different resources, and collect some giveaways!
Bill Miller PlazaThere are many citation managers. Which one is right for you? This workshop will explain what a citation manager is and how it can help you organize your citations, insert citations as you write your paper, and generate your bibliography.
Virtual EventPubMed is an essential database for anyone conducting biomedical or health-related research. This workshop will teach attendees how to effectively navigate this free resource and locate peer-reviewed articles using advanced search features, MeSH subject headings, and Boolean operators.
Virtual EventThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.