Sponsored by Spectra Group
https://spectra-group.co.uk/
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28 Oct 21. Redwire and BigBear.ai Sign MOU for Development of Advanced Cyber Resiliency Capabilities for Future Space Systems. Redwire Corporation (NYSE: RDW), a leader in space infrastructure for the next generation space economy, today announced a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with BigBear.ai, a leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, cloud-based big data analytics, and cyber engineering solutions, as part of a joint effort to develop a space cyber range capability for the Space Cyber Resiliency through Evaluation and Security Testing (“SpaceCREST”) initiative. Through this collaboration, BigBear.ai and Redwire will demonstrate the use of simulation, emulation and hardware in the loop to establish a realistic test environment in which to evaluate space-based cyber-physical systems for the SpaceCREST initiative.
“A significant and growing amount of critical infrastructure in the U.S. relies on space systems, and by partnering with Redwire, we can use our advanced predictive analytics capabilities to identify and protect against potential cyber vulnerabilities in a high-fidelity simulation environment,” said Brian Frutchey, Chief Technology Officer of BigBear.ai. “The Federal Government and Department of Defense consider the cyber resiliency of space assets to be a top priority, and we are excited to leverage our capabilities to contribute to the next generation of resilient architecture for space.”
“U.S. leadership in space will depend on resilient next generation space infrastructure, and Redwire is proud to be working with BigBear.ai on this initiative to identify and mitigate potential vulnerabilities in these critical systems,” said Andrew Rush, President and COO of Redwire. “As the space economy continues to expand, our digital engineering framework will be an enabling tool for the proactive maintenance and protection of space systems for both government and commercial space programs.”
The SpaceCREST initiative will leverage Redwire’s digital engineering ecosystem, including its Hyperion Operational Space Simulation (HOSS) Lab and Advanced Configurable Open-system Research Network (ACORN) capabilities, to establish a platform from which to evaluate the cybersecurity of space-based systems. Using HOSS and the ACORN platform, BigBear.ai will develop tools and technologies to perform vulnerability research on space infrastructure hardware components, identify potential vulnerabilities that could compromise space systems, and provide tools and techniques that demonstrate how to mitigate and protect against the potential vulnerabilities identified.
About BigBear.ai
A leader in decision dominance for more than 20 years, BigBear.ai operationalizes artificial intelligence and machine learning at scale through its end-to-end data analytics platform. The Company uses its proprietary AI/ML technology to support its customers’ decision-making processes and deliver practical solutions that work in complex, realistic and imperfect data environments. BigBear.ai’s composable AI-powered platform solutions work together as often as they stand alone: Observe (data ingestion and conflation), Orient (composable machine learning at scale), and Dominate (visual anticipatory intelligence and optimization).
BigBear.ai’s customers, which include the U.S. Intelligence Community, Department of Defense, the U.S. Federal Government, as well as customers in the commercial sector, rely on BigBear.ai’s high value software products and technology to analyze information, identify and manage risk, and support mission critical decision making. Headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, BigBear.ai has additional locations in Virginia, Massachusetts, Michigan, and California. For more information, please visit: http://bigbear.ai/ and follow BigBear.ai on Twitter: @BigBearai.
About Redwire
Redwire Corporation (NYSE: RDW) is a leader in space infrastructure for the next generation space economy, with valuable IP for solar power generation and in-space 3D printing and manufacturing. With decades of flight heritage combined with the agile and innovative culture of a commercial space platform, Redwire is uniquely positioned to assist its customers in solving the complex challenges of future space missions. For more information, please visit www.redwirespace.com. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
14 Oct 21. EDA and ESA deepen cooperation on cyber resilience. The European Defence Agency (EDA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) today agreed to further deepen their already close cooperation in the cyber domain. The objective of the enhanced cooperation, approved today through an Exchange of Letter between EDA Chief Executive Jiří Šedivý and ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher, is to further expand the cyber resilience cooperation between the two organisations.
EDA and ESA have established a close working relationship on the basis of the Administrative Agreement signed in June 2011 which covers important domains of mutual interest, such as space-based Earth observation, unmanned vehicles, whether on sea or air, critical technologies for non-dependence, CBRNe, Guidance, Navigation and Control, and cyber resilience. In 2016, EDA and ESA signed an Implementing Arrangement on their cooperation for the Cyber Defence for Space Project. In the field of capability research and development, ESA and EDA are jointly investing in the Space and Cyber Defence Joint Study, now concentrating on Cyber Threat Intelligence, and cooperating on an ESA-led Cyber security and space-based services study, which involves other key actors such as the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), Eurocontrol and the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA). In December 2020, the Joint ESA-EDA Cyber Resilience Task Force was tasked to explore new and further areas of relevance and potential cooperation or coordination. ESA is also an observer in EDA’s Cyber Ranges Federation Programme Arrangement Management Committee (PAMC).
New level of cyber cooperation
As cyber threats are constantly growing in numbers and sophistication, cyber resilience is essential to EDA and ESA stakeholders alike. Cyber-attacks can target individuals, companies and public institutions or services (e.g. energy grids, financial markets, unmanned vehicles etc.), but also democracies namely though hybrid threats. Space systems being a central link in this new intertwined security continuum, the information and data collected, managed and exchanged by ESA and EDA Member States are of critical value to Europe’s security.
Hence the need for EDA and ESA, acknowledged in today’s Exchange of Letters, to cooperate even closer to improve the cyber-resilience of space systems, notably by:
- sharing relevant policy and technical elements to shape and orient respective activities and strengthen the partnership;
- having EDA to act as a facilitator between ESA and EDA communities while ESA proposes to invite EDA to all Council or Sub-Committee meetings of relevance under this partnership;
- regularly updating the list of priority cooperative avenues to be further explored, exploited and implemented. The Joint ESA-EDA cyber resilience task force will also issue a yearly implementation report;
- exploring how EDA and ESA could expand their coordinated and cooperative approach to other key cyber security actors such as, the European Commission, the External Action Service, and namely its Space Task Force, ENISA, the European Security and Defence College, the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre and Network, the Hybrid Fusion Cell and Hybrid Centre of Excellence, or the EU Satellite Centre.
EDA Chief Executive Jiří Šedivý said: “Space and cyber defence are intrinsically linked. Therefore, it is only natural that the European Space Agency and the European Defence Agency work closely together to strengthen their respective Member States’ cyber resilience and, subsequently, Europe’s security. The new enhanced cooperation launched by today’s Exchange of Letters is another practical step towards achieving this important common goal”.
ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher said: “In today’s world, space creates and relays critical data, which we need to protect. We are now facing an ever increasing dependence on space infrastructure and services, and this dependence increases the impact of these being disrupted, even from natural occurrences. This is the very reason why ESA is committed to securing its space assets as well as those of its Member States and partners from cyber interference. In doing so, we also strive to build cooperation avenues with our partners, and one such longstanding partner in cyber resilience has been EDA. » (Source: EDA)
26 Oct 21. Why private networks are speeding up 5G deployments. The COVID-19 pandemic made clear the need for greater connectivity nationwide, and one solution that is hitting its stride as a result is private 5G.
“5G is the fastest growing segment in the wireless network infrastructure market,” according to Gartner, which predicts that by the end of 2024, 60% of cloud service providers will commercialize 5G service in Tier-1 cities. But operators won’t have true 5G on their public networks until 2025-2030, making private networks the fastest way to take advantage of the technology.
To understand how private 5G differs from public, think of it like this: If you have a Verizon cellphone, its SIM card allows you to authenticate and get authorization to use that network, but you can’t use an AT&T network because it is not provisioned to do so. A private 5G network changes that by removing the limitations.
The Air Force’s flight line operations require constant connectivity in an environment that’s always moving, said Mark DeVol, vice president of federal sales at Cradlepoint, which Ericsson acquired last year.
“If we can bring a private cellular network to surround an Air Force flight line or an Army flight line … then you have the mobile connectivity,” he said.
“You can now be working within a private cellular network, not the commercial carrier network, and you can then be the one that owns, manages, operates and — the biggest thing — control that network environment. You give up control when you’re working on a commercial network vs. when you can own, operate and maintain it yourself.”
“You basically become a mini carrier yourself,” added Todd Krautkremer, Cradlepoint’s chief marketing officer.
As a result, solutions providers like Cradlepoint are building versions of these private cellular networks to facilitate IT organizations’ adoption of private 5G.
“If there are Wi-Fi devices in the flight line that don’t have SIMs in them, you’re going to use a Cradlepoint device to connect those Wi-Fi-enabled devices to a cellular network,” he said.
The biggest private 5G deployer is the Defense Department. Its 2020 “5G Strategy Implementation Plan” states that DOD “will require the ability to securely use private, hybrid and public 5G networks. In June, the department announced the successful demonstration of a private 5G network in a pilot test of a smart warehouse by Marine Corps Logistics Command in Albany, Ga.
For entities that don’t want to be their own carriers, Krautkremer said a managed service model is an option in which a systems integrator handles the network architecture and management.
Benefits of 5G include speed and the support of network slicing, which allows a single network connection to be partitioned into multiple virtual ones to handle different traffic simultaneously.
“5G is the first true software-defined network, so we’ll be able to do things like network slicing. We’ll be able to slice up 5G and allocate it to applications,” Krautkremer said.
“We will be able to … manage the connection so that if I’ve got a critical connection, it doesn’t get squashed at 5 o’clock because the traffic on the local roadways are all using their cell towers. The bandwidth gets dedicated.” (Source: Defense Systems)
25 Oct 21. Nato defence ministers agree to artificial intelligence strategy. The strategy establishes standards of responsible use of AI technologies. Defence ministers of Nato have agreed to the treaty’s first-ever strategy for artificial intelligence (AI). Nato allies have prioritised AI as one of the seven technological areas with respect to defence and security.
According to Nato, the strategy briefs how AI technologies can be applied to defence and security in a ‘protected and ethical way’ and their use in a responsible manner in agreement with international law and Nato’s values.
The strategy also addresses the threats associated with using AI and how to create a ‘trusted cooperation’.
The document emphasised the need for ‘collaboration and cooperation’ among members on matters relating to AI for ‘transatlantic defence and security’.
Nato states that the organisation’s principles have been developed based on the allied members’ approaches and associated work in ‘applicable international fora’.
The aim of the strategy is fourfold and includes laying a foundation for Nato and allies to encourage the development and use of AI for defence and security purposes, to accelerate and mainstream AI adoption in capability development, to address AI-related security policy considerations and safeguard against the threats from malicious AI use.
Lawfulness, responsibility and accountability, explainability and traceability, reliability, governability and bias mitigation are the Nato Principles of ‘Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in Defence’.
Separately, Nato allies launched the ‘Nato Innovation Fund’ for investment in advanced technologies, with the goal of investing around $1bn on emerging technologies. (Source: airforce-technology.com)
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Spectra Group Plc
Spectra Group (UK) Ltd, internationally renowned award-winning information security and communications specialist with a proven record of accomplishment.
Spectra is a dynamic, agile and security-accredited organisation that offers secure Hosted and Managed Solutions and Cyber Advisory Services with a track record of delivering on time, to spec and on budget.
With over 15 years of experience in delivering solutions for governments around the globe, elite militaries and private enterprises of all sizes, Spectra’s platinum and gold-level partnerships with third-party vendors ensure the supply of best value leading-edge technology.
Spectra was awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise (Innovation) in 2019 for SlingShot.
In November 2017, Spectra Group (UK) Ltd announced its listing as a Top 100 Government SME Supplier by the UK Crown Commercial Services.
Spectra’s CEO, Simon Davies, was awarded 2017 Businessman of the Year by Battlespace magazine.
Founded in 2002, the Company is based in Hereford, UK and holds ISO 9001:2015, ISO 27001:2013 and Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation.
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