 | |
| Company type | 501(c)(3)not-for-profit corporation |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1958; 67 years ago (1958) |
| Headquarters | Bedford, Massachusetts andMcLean, Virginia, United States |
Key people | Mark Peters (President and Chief executive officer) Rodney E. Slater (Chairman) |
| Revenue | US$2.37 billion (2023)[1] |
| Total assets | 558,250,000 United States dollar (2011)  |
Number of employees | 9,000+ (2022)[2] |
| Website | www |
The Mitre Corporation (stylized asThe MITRE Corporation andMITRE) is an Americannot-for-profit organization with dual headquarters inBedford, Massachusetts, andMcLean, Virginia. It managesfederally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) supporting various U.S. government agencies in the aviation, defense, healthcare,homeland security, andcybersecurity fields, among others.[3][4]
MITRE formed in 1958 as a militarythink tank, spun out from theradar andcomputer research at theMIT Lincoln Laboratory. Over the years, MITRE's field of study had greatly diversified. In the 1990s, with the winding down of theCold War, private companies complained that MITRE had an unfair advantage competing for civilian contracts; in 1996 this led to the civilian projects being spun off to a new company, Mitretek. Mitretek was renamedNoblis in 2007.
The name MITRE was created byJames McCormack Jr., one of the originalboard members. The name is not an acronym,[5] although various claims that it is can be found online.[6] Originally always seen inupper case, MITRE began using normal capitalization around the time of the Mitretek spinoff, but both forms can still be widely found as of 2023[update].
In 2023, Simson Garfinkel forMIT Technology Review studied hundreds of archival documents and could not determine the origin of MITRE’s name. Howard Murphy, a historian at the State University of New York at Oneonta, was quoted in Technology Review as saying that the company’s incorporators chose the name “MITRE” because it was the French spelling of the English word “miter,” a smooth joining of two pieces.[7]
MITRE was founded inBedford, Massachusetts in 1958,[8] spun off from theMIT Lincoln Laboratory.[9] MITRE's first employees had been developing theSemi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system andaerospace defense as part of Lincoln Labs Division 6. They were specifically engaged in MIT's research and engineering of the project.[5]
MITRE's early leadership has been described as "a mix of men" affiliated with theFord Foundation, theInstitute for Defense Analyses,RAND Corporation,System Development Corporation (SDC), and theUnited States Armed Forces, includingHorace Rowan Gaither,James Rhyne Killian,James McCormack, andJulius Adams Stratton.[10]
In April 1959, a site was purchased in Bedford, Massachusetts, nearHanscom Air Force Base, to develop a new MITRE laboratory, which MITRE occupied in September 1959.[11] MITRE established an office in McLean in 1963,[9] and had approximately 850 technical employees by 1967.[12] MITRE registered the first.org domain on July 10, 1985, which continues to be used by the company.[13][14] During the 1980s, the German hackerMarkus Hess used an unsecured MitreTymnet connection as an entry point for intrusions into U.S.Department of Defense,Department of Energy, andNASA computer networks.[15] By 1989, the company had thousands of employees in Bedford and McLean; approximately 3,000 employees in the "command, control, communications and intelligence" ("C3I")[9] division oversaw military projects, while non-military projects were handled by the civilian METREK division, which had approximately 800 employees based in McLean.[16]
In 1966, MITRE was one to the first companies to be part of theDollars for Scholars program. At the beginning the students would godoor-to-door for donations, then in 1985 it became a Phone-a-thon. MITRE hosted the Phone-a-thon from 1996 until 2020, where it then in 2021 and 2022 due toCOVID-19 became a Mail-a-thon.[5]
By the 1990s, MITRE had become a "multifaceted engineering company with a wide range of clients," according to Kathleen Day ofThe Washington Post.[9] MITRE worked onneural network software, the long-distance telecommunications serviceFTS2000 for theGeneral Services Administration, and a new computer system for theU.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.[16] On January 29, 1996, Mitre divided into two entities: The MITRE Corporation, to focus on itsFFRDCs forDoD andFAA; and a new company established in McLean, called Mitretek Systems until 2007 and now calledNoblis, to assume non-FFRDC research work for other U.S. Government agencies.[9]
MITRE restructured itsresearch and engineering operations in mid 2020, forming MITRE Labs. Approximately half of MITRE's employees work under the unit, which seeks to "further extend the parent organization's impact across federally-funded research-and-development centers and with partners in academia and industry".[17]
The nonprofit foundation MITRE Engenuity (or simply Engenuity) was launched in 2019 "to collaborate with the private sector on solving industrywide problems with cyber defense" in collaboration with corporate partners.[18] The foundation created the Center for Threat-Informed Defense that has 23 member organizations with cybersecurity teams, as of 2020, includingFujitsu andMicrosoft.[19] In September 2020, Engenuity's Center for Threat-Informed Defense and partners launched the Adversary Emulation Library, aGitHub-hosted project providing downloadable emulation plans to network security groups at no cost.[19] The library's first plan was focused on the prominentcybercrime group FIN6. MITRE had previously released emulation plans for the Chinese and Russianhacker groupsAdvanced Persistent Threat (APT) 3 andAPT29 in 2017 and 2020, respectively.[19] In March 2021, Engenuity created the MITRE ATT&CK Defender training program to educate and certify cybersecurity professionals.[20]
MITRE manages six FFRDCs. The National Security Engineering Center, previously known as the C3I Federally Funded Research and Development Center until 2011, addresses national security issues for the Department of Defense.[8][21]
MITRE's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD) supports the FAA, an agency within theDepartment of Transportation.[22]
The organization's Center for Enterprise Modernization, which focuses on enterprise modernization, was established as the IRS Federally Funded Research and Development Center in 1998, before being renamed in August 2001. Originally sponsored by theInternal Revenue Service (a bureau of the Department of the Treasury), the Department of Veterans Affairs joined as a co-sponsor in 2008,[23] and theSocial Security Administration joined as a co-sponsor in 2018.[21]
MITRE's Homeland Security Systems Engineering and Development Institute (HSSEDI) completes work for the Department of Homeland Security, such as maintaining the federal executive department's list of the 25 most commonsoftware bugs.[24] The HSSEDI was established in 2009, following passage of theHomeland Security Act of 2002,[25] and along with the Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute replaced the Homeland Security Institute.[21]
MITRE's CMS Alliance to Modernize Healthcare was established in 2012 as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Federally Funded Research and Development Center, also known as the Health FFRDC. The FFRDC is sponsored by theCenters for Medicare & Medicaid Services, an agency within theDepartment of Health and Human Services.[21]
MITRE has managed theNational Cybersecurity FFRDC since 2014, following receipt of a "singleindefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity" $5 billion contract from theNational Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for a research center dedicated to cybersecurity. MITRE will support NIST's work "related to cybersecurity solutions composed of commercial components and the integration of technology to build trustworthy information systems for government agencies".[26] In October 2024, NIST renewed MITRE's contract to operate the National Cybersecurity FFRDC, extending the arrangement through 2029.[27]
Currently, MITRE holds the contract to administer and provide management toJASON, an advisory group for the federal government made up of scientists.[28]
MITRE's Center for Data-Driven Policy, established in 2020, seeks to "provide evidence-based, objective and nonpartisan insights for government policymaking".[29]
The Center for Technology & National Security, now part of the Center for Data-Driven Policy, was created to link MITRE "with senior government officials for research and development purposes". Members of the advisory board includeJohn F. Campbell,Lisa Disbrow,William E. Gortney,Robert B. Murrett, andRobert O. Work, as of mid 2020.[30]
U.S. military forces, especially theAir Force, were primary initial sponsors; according toAir Force Magazine, MITRE was created "as a special-purpose technical not-for-profit firm to perform the SAGE systems-engineering job".[12] Theaerial warfare service branch had struggled to identify afor-profit corporation to develop the defense system, so MITRE was hired to serve as the system engineer. MITRE subsequently designed air defense systems for the U.S. and allies, improving aircraft and missile tracking as well as communication interception abilities. The company also helped design theCheyenne Mountain Complex facility in Colorado operating theNorth American Air Defense system.[16] In the 1970s, MITRE continued supporting military projects such as AWACS and theJoint Tactical Information Distribution System and "[helping] civil agencies develop information systems for transportation, medicine, law enforcement, space exploration and environmental cleanup."[9]
MITRE has completed software engineering work for theDistributed Common Ground System and helped theNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization createintelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data standards. The company also worked with the Multi-Sensor Aerospace-Ground Joint ISR Interoperability Coalition to ensure proper formatting for ISR sensor data.[31] In 2018, MITRE developed the "Deliver Uncompromised" strategy for theDepartment of Defense, proposing recommendations for supply chain security.[32] MITRE and theAir Force Association's Mitchell Institute published a report in 2019 recommending improved technologies for the U.S. nuclear command, control and communications (NC3) network and warning that some of the system's early satellites are "vulnerable to electronic attacks and interference".[33] The firm also published a government-mandated report with recommendations for the Air Force's inventory in 2030.[34] TheDepartment of Veterans Affairs hired MITRE to provide recommendation for implementation and program integration of theForever GI Bill.[35][36]
MITRE has also focused on thegreat power competition; in 2020, the company published a paper about5G networks and competition between China and the U.S.[37]
In addition to military work, MITRE's early projects includedair traffic control improvements for theFederal Aviation Administration (FAA).[16] During the 1980s, MITRE helped modernize the Air Force'sairborne early warning and control system and improve theMilstar constellation ofcommunications satellites. The company also worked on a major overhaul of the FAA's traffic control system as well as sensor technology for trackingstealth aircraft.[16] In 1997, MITRE sponsored a research program related toGlobal Positioning System (GPS) adaptive nulling antennas.[38] MITRE also providedglobal navigation satellite system signal generation equipment for testing at theUnited States Army'sWhite Sands Missile Range.[3] TheAir Force Research Laboratory'sgeosynchronous satellite Navigation Technology Satellite-3 will use MITRE's Global Navigation Satellite System Test Architecture to "implement user equipment capability".[39]
MITRE has worked on thetraffic collision avoidance system of theNext Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), a modernization project of theNational Airspace System (NAS).[40] MITRE's Integrated Demonstration and Experimentation for Aeronautics (IDEA) Lab has assessed the impact of new technologies for the FAA since 1992. In addition toair traffic management and aviation regulations, the group has worked on mergingunmanned aerial vehicle operations into the NAS as well as defining how the system will function in 2035, a decade after the scheduled implementation of NextGen.[41]
MITRE has explored the use of mobile devices for communicatinginstrument flight rules, specifically clearances at airports lacking Pre-Departure Clearance/Data Comm Clearance.[42] The company's Pacerweb application usesSystem Wide Information Management and Traffic Flow Management System data as well as airline andgeneral aviation departure schedules to "improve the way that general aviation operators file for and obtain departure clearances".[43]
MITRE has also completed air traffic control and safety work for theCivil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS).[44] The company's Singapore-based unit was hired by CAAS to consider howartificial intelligence,machine learning, andspeech recognition could be used to improve air traffic management systems.[45][46] Among MITRE's innovations was a "speech recognition prototype that will automate and shorten the transcription process during an aviation incident investigation".[47]
MITRE and theNaval Research Laboratory developed the Frequency-scaled Ultra-wide Spectrum Element (FUSE) antenna to increase the data transfer speed between ground users and satellites. Meshbed, aCubeSat launched into orbit by theIndian Space Research Organisation'sPolar Satellite Launch Vehicle in November 2019, will test the antenna's effectiveness.[48] MITRE has received three patents for the antenna.[49]
The MITRE ATT&CK framework, launched in 2015,[50] has been described byComputer Weekly as "the free, globally accessible service that offers comprehensive and current cyber security threat information" to organizations,[51] and byTechTarget as a "global knowledge base of threat activity, techniques and models".[50] The framework has been used by theCybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and theFBI. Version 14.1 was released in October 2023.[50] According to a 2020 study published by theUniversity of California, Berkeley andsecurity software companyMcAfee, 80 percent of companies use the framework for cybersecurity.[52]
The Structured Threat Information eXchange (STIX), described as a "machine-to-machine cyber threat information-sharing language", was developed by MITRE and theDepartment of Homeland Security. The program facilitates information sharing between industry, critical infrastructure operators and government in order to blunt cyberattacks" and allows participants to share data via the Trusted Automated eXchange of Indicator Information (TAXII). Program governance was granted to the global nonprofit consortiumOASIS in 2015, and STIX 2.0 was approved in 2017.[53]
In September 2020, the U.S. Air Force awarded a $463 million contract to continue work for the National Security Engineering Center, an FFRDC supporting the Department of Defense andIntelligence Community. The contract will provide cybersecurity, electronics,information technology, sensors, andsystems engineering services in Bedford and McLean for one year.[8]Microsoft and MITRE partnered on theopen source Adversarial Machine Learning Threat Matrix in collaboration withIBM,Nvidia, and academic institutions. Launched in October 2020, the framework is "designed to organize and catalogue known techniques for attacks against machine-learning systems, to inform security analysts and provide them with strategies to detect, respond and remediate against threats".[54]
In February 2020, MITRE launched SQUINT, a free app allowing election officials to report misinformation on social media; the app was being used by eleven U.S. states, as of October 2020.[55][56] The company also established the National Election Security Lab, offering free risk assessments for voting systems.[57]
Other projects include theCommon Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) database ofvulnerabilities and exposures related toinformation security and theCommon Weakness Enumeration (CWE) category system for software weaknesses and vulnerabilities.[58][59]
MITRE tests automation and deployment of new security tools to augment critical infrastructure security in its Cyber Infrastructure Protection Innovation Center. The lab includes a model city, with a hospital, rail station, chemical plant, downtown area, and neighborhood that acts as a test bed to run attack simulations.[60]
In early 2022, MITRE launched MITRE Engage, a framework that cyber defenders use for communicating and planning cyber adversary engagement, deception, and denial activities. The project earned a CSO 50 award for security innovation[61] and a Global InfoSec award from Cyber Defense Magazine as the market leader for deception-based security.[62]
MITRE has researched cloud computing policy,[63] helped the U.S. federal government identify fraudulent comments intended to "spoof" public support for non-existent positions during the rulemaking process,[64] and increased thePennsylvania Department of Revenue's delinquent taxpayer compliance rate.[65]
MITRE conducts research and development to solve complex health issues ranging from preventing chronic disease to accelerating health research, improving healthcare quality, and expanding health coverage.
During the 1980s, MITRE worked on a digital radiological imaging project forMedStar Georgetown University Hospital and an upgrade toMEDLINE for the National Institutes of Health.[16]
In 2003, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) commissioned MITRE to expand on work in cybersecurity and enterprise architectures to benefit healthcare systems.[66]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) competitively selected MITRE to operate the CMS Alliance to Modernize Healthcare federally funded research and development center (Health FFRDC) in 2012 on behalf of sponsoring agencies across HHS.[67]
In 2015, MITRE managed an assessment and reports for the VA Choice Act, which improves healthcare access and options for our nation’s veterans.[68]
MITRE launched research in 2017 that created Synthea, a Synthetic Patient Population Simulation that is used to generate realistic (but not real) patient data and associated health records in a variety of formats. Synthea, MITRE's open sourcesynthetic data system, "mirrors real population information in terms of demographics, disease burden, vaccinations, medical visits and social determinants",[69] and seeks to "mimic how each patient progresses from birth to death through modular representations of various diseases and conditions".[70] MITRE's patientdata set SyntheticMass, based on "fictional" Massachusetts residents, was formatted byFast Healthcare Interoperability Resources and made available to developers viaGoogle Cloud in 2019.[69]
In 2023, CMS awarded MITRE a new five-year contract to operate the Health FFRDC.[71]
In 2019, MITRE and partners in the private sector released mCODE™, a core set of elements for capturing data in a standardized format in the electronic record of cancer patients to improve treatment, care coordination, and research efforts. In this effort to combat chronic diseases such as cancer, MITRE collaborates with organizations such as Mayo Clinic, Microsoft, and theAmerican Society of Clinical Oncology to improve prevention and care for the millions of Americans living with cancer.[72] MCode serves as both a common language and a model, helping facilitate a comprehensive approach to patient care and aiding research by enabling study of data throughout a cancer patient's experience and among different groups of patients. .[73] More than 70 organizations implemented mCode by 2024.[74]
In March 2020, during theCOVID-19 pandemic, MITRE published awhite paper claiming the number of confirmed and reportedCOVID-19 cases "significantly underrepresent the actual number of active domestic COVID-19 infections" in the United States. MITRE said the gap was because of "limited testing capability and the multi-day period of asymptomatic infectivity associated with the COVID-19 pathogen".[75][76] MITRE managed the Coronavirus Commission on Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes, announced by theDonald Trump administration in June 2020, to "independently and comprehensively assess" responses to the pandemic and "offer actionable recommendations to inform future responses to infectious disease outbreaks within nursing homes".[77][78]
TheCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded a $16.5 million MITRE-led project to create an enduring open source tool called Sara Alert, for monitoring symptoms of Americans exposed to COVID-19. MITRE developed the free tool in collaboration with multiple nationalpublic health organizations as well as local andstate health agencies.[79][80][81] In April 2020, Sara Alert launched in Arkansas and was being tested inDanbury, Connecticut as well as the Northern Mariana Islands, with data being maintained by theAssociation of Public Health Laboratories.[82] Sara Alert was being used in Idaho, Maine,[81] Pennsylvania, and Virginia by the end of May,[80][83] and Guam by October.[84] Since January 2021, MITRE has co-lead a coalition known as the Vaccination Credential Initiative (VCI), which is composed of over 300 technology and healthcare organizations developing a technical standard for verifying vaccination and other clinical information.[85][86]
Clair William Halligan, an electrical engineer, served as MITRE's firstpresident until 1966, when he became chairman of the company's executive committee. He retired in 1968.John L. McLucas succeeded Halligan as president.[12][87]Robert Everett served as president from 1969 to 1986.[88] Subsequent holders of the president andchief executive officer (CEO) role included Charles A. Zraket (1986–1990),[16][89] Barry Horowitz (1990–1996),[9] Victor A. DeMarines (1996–2000),[90]Martin C. Faga (2000–2006),[91] Alfred Grasso (2006–2017),[92][93] andJason Providakes (2017–2024).[94][95] On 3 September 2024, Mark Peters became the MITRE's tenth president and CEO.[96][97] In April 2025, Brian Abrahmson was appointed senior vice president and chief operating officer.[98]
Jay Schnitzer serves aschief technology officer andchief medical officer. He is leading a national effort to combat COVID-19 on behalf of MITRE and 50 partner companies,health care providers, and researchers, as of March 2020.[99] MITRE namedCharles Clancy its first chief futurist in 2020 and restructured to create MITRE Labs.[100][101]
Current trustees includeRodney E. Slater (chairman),Sue Gordon (vice chair),[102]Richard D. Clarke,Lance Collins, Maury W. Bradsher,Michael Huerta,Chris Inglis,[103] Yvette Meléndez,George Halvorson,Paul G. Kaminski, Adalio T. Sanchez,Cathy Minehan, andJan E. Tighe.
TheAlliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology,American Society of Clinical Oncology, and MITRE partnered on the 'mCODE Initiative' to recommend data standards for cancer patients'electronic health records.[104][105] MITRE supports the Homeland Security Experts Group, which has been described as "an independent, nonpartisan group of homeland security and counterterrorism experts that educates the public and government leaders, including the secretary of homeland security".[106]
MITRE became a founding member of the Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center, a cybersecurity project for the space industry, in 2019.[107][108] MITRE and partners such asHarvard Innovation Labs andMassChallenge launched Bridging Innovation in 2020 to connect government agencies andstartup companies.[109] MITRE is a member of the COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition, which is co-chaired by Jay Schnitzer. In June 2020, the coalition launched the COVID-19 Decision Support Dashboard, which uses public data to assess transmission trends and display color-coded indicators based on performance by jurisdiction.[110] MITRE is also part of the Fight Is In Us coalition, a collaborative effort between advocates, companies, and government officials to promote plasma donation for patient treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.[111]
MITRE's Countering Unmanned Aircraft Systems Challenge in 2016 invited applicants to "demonstrate systems that detect and stop drones weighing less than five pounds that present a safety or security risk".[112] The company's Unique Identification of Internet of Things (IoT) Devices Challenge tasked applicants with improving security for connected devices.[113] In 2020, MITRE participated in theNational Institute of Standards and Technology's Too Close for Too Long Challenge to "help evaluate and potentially improve upon that baseline Bluetooth performance for helping detect when smartphone users are standing too close to one another".[114]
In addition to the headquarter campuses in Bedford and McLean, MITRE has more than 60 other locations throughout the United States and around the world.[115] In New Jersey, two offices house approximately 60 employees, as of September 2020.[116] Up to 70 percent of employees may continue working remotely, even after restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have been lifted.[117]
MITRE'sdata center in Bedford, originally built during the 1980s and known as the High Performance Computing Center since 2015, was retrofitted with a refrigerant-based cooling system, resulting in lower operating costs and a higher compute capacity.[4][118] In 2023, a large underground marine equipment testing tank opened on the Bedford campus.[119] The company's McLean campus houses the Integrated Demonstration and Experimentation for Aeronautics (IDEA) Lab,[40] as well as the Mobile Autonomous Systems Experimentation lab, which focuses onself-driving cars.[120] MITRE's laboratory inSingapore, called Mitre Asia Pacific Singapore (MAPS) assesses and displays "various safety and air traffic concepts in preparation for the future".[44]
In June 2008, MITRE was presented with theSecretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service for "significant contributions in communications, command and control decision-making, intelligence, cyberspace, and warfighter field support, as well as research and development".[121]
In its 2016 annual report, Mitre reported $1.5 billion in revenue, a 4 percent increase from the year before, and a global staff of 8,205 in 60 sites.
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