US-Israel R&D Foundation to Fund Four Infrastructure Cybersecurity Projects

The BIRD Foundation, which was established by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Israel National Cyber Directorate, announced on Thursday the approval of four projects under the foundation’s BIRD Cyber Program.

The DHS Science and Technology Directorate, INCD and the BIRD Foundation’s Board of Governors screened the projects, with the approved proposals receiving a total of $3.85 million. The program approval will also leverage private-sector funding and boost the project’s value to about $10 million, the BIRD Foundation said.

According to Aviram Atzaba, INCD’s executive director for international cooperation, the approved joint projects in the program’s first year address key challenges in industrial control systems and maritime and airport cybersecurity.

Launched in 2022, the program also focuses on cybersecurity projects for unmanned aerial systems and advanced first-response technologies. The BIRD Foundation awards conditional grants of up to $1 million to approved projects.

The approved projects include the proposal from Tel-Aviv, Israel-based Rescana and Irving, Texas-based Trend Micro for the development of a solution for cyber risk maritime decision-making.

Funding approval was also granted to Rehovot, Israel-based Salvador Technologies and Fayetteville, Arkansas-based Bastazo, which partnered to develop a solution countering ICS cyber-attacks.