REG - Narf Industries PLC - $1.8m US Healthcare Cyber Security Contract

Narf IndustriesAnnouncement

09/10/2023 07:15

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RNS Number : 0517P  Narf Industries PLC  09 October 2023

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9 October 2023

 

NARF INDUSTRIES PLC

 

Awarded $1.8 Million US Healthcare Cyber Security Contract

Proactive Approach to Malware Risk in Electronic Health Records ("EHR")

 

Narf Industries plc ("Narf", the "Company", or the "Group"), (LSE: NARF)
(OTCQB: NFIN.F) the cybersecurity group specializing in high-end threat
intelligence and critical infrastructure security, is pleased to announce that
it has been awarded a $1.8 million contract from the US Government's Advanced
Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H).

 

Under this contract awarded by ARPA-H, NARF will work on the Digital Health
Security (DIGIHEALS i  (#_edn1) ) programme titled "Electronic Health Record
Format for Interoperable Secure Transformation (EHR-FIST)".  This work
leverages NARF's cutting-edge capabilities developed under its multi-million
dollar SAFEDOC's contracts sponsored by another leading government agency, the
Defense Advanced Research Project Agency ("DARPA").

 

The DIGIHEALS initiative supports innovative research that aims to protect the
U.S. health care system's electronic infrastructure against hostile threats.
SAFEDOCS has the same goal, but focused on standard business document formats,
like PDFs.  The complexities in these file format create opportunities for
attackers to hide malicious code. In the case of DIGIHEALS, the hundreds of
health care management software applications that process EHR are vulnerable
to these advanced threats and put hospitals and patients at risk from
ransomware and disruption of health services.

 

NARF is advancing innovative capabilities that detects malware risk buried
deep within complex document structures before its launched and used by
applications that can then infect critical infrastructure networks.  Under
these research agency funded contracts, NARF owns the intellectual property
(IP) for commercial purposes and is constructing an array of disruptive
advanced threat detection capabilities to form a next generation threat
intelligence platform.

 

Dr. Michael Locasto, Director, NARF Government Research and Development
(GR&D) Sector commented.  "These research agencies rely on NARF's game
changing approaches to keep pace with evolving threats.  This is our
inaugural contract with ARPA-H and we are now working to expand our
relationships across the many other government and private research agencies
involved in critical infrastructure security."

 

Steve Bassi, CEO of NARF commented: "It's the cumulative value and synergistic
nature of these incremental research awards that's important to recognize in
NARF's strategy to leverage non-dilutive research work into commercial
products.  Over 75% of this year's revenue, multi-million dollars, is
directly contributing to our IP pipeline and creating the foundation for a new
generation of threat intelligence and vulnerability solutions."

 

 

 

 

 

For further information on the Group please visit www.narfgroup.com
(http://www.narfgroup.com/)  or contact:

 

 John Herring                                    NARF                 jh@narfgroup.com
 Catherine Leftley/Paul Dulieu /Isabel de Salis  St Brides Partners   narf@stbridespartners.co.uk
 Peter Krens                                     Tennyson Securities  Tel: +44 (0)207 186 9030

 

About NARF Industries plc

 

Narf Industries (LSE: NARF)(OTCQB: NFIN.F) is a US based leading provider of
cybersecurity research, solutions, and services to government entities. With a
steadfast commitment to protecting national security and critical
infrastructure, it offers comprehensive expertise in addressing the evolving
cyber threats faced by its clients.

Narf works with various US government agencies including the Department of
Defense ("DoD"), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ("DARPA"), and
the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS"). The Group often collaborates with
world renowned private research companies and leading educational
establishments in the performance of contracts.

Narf's strong track record of successful contract performance underscores its
ability to deliver results. It understand the critical nature of the work
performed by these agencies and the importance of maintaining the
confidentiality and integrity of their missions.

With NARF's industry-leading expertise, advanced technologies, and unwavering
commitment to excellence, it provides the US government with the confidence
and peace of mind it needs to navigate the complex and ever-changing
cybersecurity landscape.

The Group's strategy leverages government funded research and business to
create and fund innovative and disruptive products for billion-dollar
commercial cybersecurity markets and it has two key business areas:

Government Research and Development ("GR&D")

·    The Group has a successful history of tendering for, and winning,
government R&D contracts for groundbreaking technologies, predominantly
from DARPA. Its research work is focused on  three, multi-billion
cybersecurity market segments:  critical infrastructure protection;
open-source software (OSS) vulnerabilities; and threat intelligence.

·    For these contracts, the Government agency retains government purpose
rights, but the Group has the sole right to sell new solutions using the
intellectual property (IP) to the government (i.e., GS&S business). For
commercial markets the Group owns the IP rights.

·    The GR&D contracting process may range from 9 to 15 months and,
once awarded, performance can range up to 18 months or longer. The Group
projects stepped growth in its GR&D business targeting synergistic
research areas that complement its current rich IP portfolio.

Government Solutions and Services ("GS&S")

·    The Group develops solutions and performs services for various US
government agencies. Its software solutions address immediate cybersecurity
mission needs. These needs continually evolve as the nature of cybersecurity
threats change, so it also provides on-going services supporting the
operations of the delivered software solution.

·    The Group enjoys a unique competitive position with GS&S work
through a recently renewed 5-year omnibus contract.  This streamlines
government procurement cycles and gives multiple agencies access to the
Group's solutions and services.  Agencies execute task orders, many with
awards justified on a sole source basis.

·    The timing from ideation of task to award is 3 to 6 months.  Tasks
performance typically range from 6 to 12 months to complete, at which time
software is delivered and integrated into an operational system.

 i  (#_ednref1) https://arpa-h.gov/engage/digiheals/

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