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27 Jan 23. India: Ransomware group selling alleged secret military data highlights security risk to military supply chain. The BlackCat ransomware group claimed this week to have breached Indian industrial explosives manufacturer, Solar Industries India, and is selling 2TB of the stolen data on their Tor leak site. The threat group alleges they stole data related to weapons production, including full descriptions of engineering specifications, drawings and audits of many weapons. The threat group also claims that they have serious evidence of industrial espionage towards other countries, including friendly states. With the ongoing tense relations between India and Pakistan, the possibility that Indian defence manufacturers are conducting industrial espionage on both allies and non-allies is a realistic possibility and could exacerbate tensions in the region, as well as diminish the friendly relationships India has with other countries. Ransomware poses a pervasive threat to industries around the world, particularly industries related to defence, security and manufacturing, and the operational, security, and reputational (Source: Sibylline)
26 Jan 23. Overmatch secrecy needed as China, Russia surveil US Navy, experts say. The thick fog of secrecy encircling the U.S. Navy’s Project Overmatch is still needed to keep rival nations including China and Russia off-balance, unable to discern from afar how the service is readying for future large-scale conflicts, according to a pair of experts.
Speaking at a Defense News event Jan. 26, Bryan Clark, a senior fellow and director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at the Hudson Institute, and Bill Drexel, an associate fellow of technology and national security at the Center for a New American Security, said the clandestine approach that has shrouded the project since its inception in late 2020 is purposeful, however frustrating it may be to outside observers.
“A large part of it is this idea that decision advantage does depend on what you think you’re going to be combining together, how you manage the communication network,” Clark said. “And getting too much into the details of that would provide information that China could use to try to take that network apart.”
Project Overmatch is the Navy’s contribution to Joint All-Domain Command and Control, or JADC2, the Pentagon’s multibn-dollar push to connect disparate databases and forces across land, air, sea, space and cyber. By doing so, defense officials say, the U.S. will be able to better address foreign aggression.
China is attempting to counteract JADC2 with what has been dubbed Multi-Domain Precision Warfare, or MDPW, an effort to interlink command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and more to quickly coordinate firepower and exploit weakness.
“It’s a stated high-priority target of both the Chinese and Russian military doctrine. So, I’m pretty glad that it’s secret,” Drexel said Thursday. “I suspect the kind of stitching everything together, particularly, is what the Chinese, the Russians, would love to know.”
The Navy plans to deploy a carrier strike group with products of Project Overmatch, namely advanced networking capabilities, later this year.
Rear Adm. Doug Small, who leads both Naval Information Warfare Systems Command and is spearheading Project Overmatch, in a November interview described the milestone as the “starting gun.” Additional deployments on additional strike groups are expected to follow.
“When you think of this systems warfare approach, they see our command, control and communications architecture as being our linchpin and our greatest vulnerability,” Clark said. “Revealing too much about Project Overmatch might give clues that an adversary could use.”
The Navy sought $195 m for Project Overmatch in fiscal 2023, a 167% increase over the $73m it received in 2022. (Source: Defense News)
27 Jan 23. ODU System Solutions for High End Dismounted Soldier Systems (DSS). We combine several individual parts into a composite whole and refer to this as a system. Similar to a chain, a system is only as strong as the weakest link. This simple insight presents us with many challenges. Interactions arise between the individual parts, the application and environmental influences. Interesting are therefore not only the individual parts, but the connection and the mutual influence.
Networking brings advantages
In the military sector, sensors, databases and individual weapons, but also military units are connected to form a system. Instead of operating individual platforms, the interaction of vehicles, unmanned drones and emergency services becomes the focus. The exchange of large amounts of data is also possible. This networking enables faster action, increases protection and mobility. An improved information base provides a basis for decision-making, especially in crisis situations. A decisive advantage in use.
Impact of digitalization
Military operations have changed requirements. Modern digitized technology is no longer sufficient. Artificial intelligence (AI) plays an essential role and increasingly complex amounts of data are becoming increasingly important. Situational awareness depends on artificial intelligence. From the monitoring of the vital systems of the emergency services to the transmission of real data for vehicles and corresponding alarms, mobile networking has become indispensable. In the future, the number of platforms and sensors in use will continue to increase, adapted to the needs of the operator, from the soldier in action to the command personnel in the operations center.
Innovation creates demand
Driven by continuous innovation and international procurement, the demand for rugged military connectors is increasing. The market for military equipment is growing dramatically. While it used to be sufficient to equip group leaders with radios, complete companies are now equipped with intelligent hubs. Light and portable security and communication technology, computer systems or vision and surveillance systems are a matter of course.
ODU AMC® connectors in use for these portable nodes, ODU offers connectors for transmitting data, signals or currents. Various peripheral devices such as optotronics, battery systems and communication devices can thus be intelligently networked with each other and create cross-platform system compatibility. Robust, robust and optimized for demanding applications are the basic requirements. But robust does not necessarily mean heavy. True to the motto “high speed, low drag”, ODU attaches great importance to a space-saving and lightweight design right from the development stage and achieves a weight advantage of up to 70%. This relieves the burden on the task forces at the component level, who perform their tasks more persistently or more supplies or supplies. Be able to carry equipment with them.
A guarantee of the flow of information and the power supply is ensured by the ODU AMC® connectors by various MIL standards such as the MIL-STD-810G and thus meets the requirements of 38999 or NATO STANAG 4695. Thus, the ODU AMC® connectors can also meet requirements for temperature extremes or strong vibrations. The easy handling, even in dangerous situations or in case of impairment by e.g. Protective equipment as well as a high number of mating cycles and field cleaning stand for ODU connectors as well as plug-in systems related to customer requirements.
Focus on the customer
Depending on the customer’s requirements, the product is tailored. From the clarification of technical issues to the development of a system solution for the device part with PCB connection and cable assembly, ODU ensures the perfect connection.
25 Jan 23. After RIMPAC, Northrop eyes additional at-sea tests for smaller jammer. Northrop Grumman is quietly crafting an electronic-warfare suite designed to fit aboard smaller vessels to shield them from an array of future threats, as the U.S. Navy works to disperse its forces across greater watery expanses and make them harder to spot, target and kill.
The Virginia-based company plans to keep testing its scaled-down prototype electronic-attack package, known as the Ultra-Lite EA System, throughout this year. It was extensively evaluated over the summer aboard an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer at the Rim of the Pacific, the world’s largest maritime military exercise, executives told C4ISRNET, and will likely return to the sea for additional trials by the end of 2023.
“In general, this area of electronic warfare that we’re focused on is around putting electronic-warfare systems onto ships, Navy ships. And those systems help defend the ships against whatever threats that they face,” Mike Meaney, Northrop’s vice president of land and maritime sensors, said in a Jan. 16 interview. “It could be other radars, it could be missile seekers and anti-ship missiles.”
“It’s a very dangerous world today, from a warfighting perspective,” he added, “and our adversaries, our peer adversaries, have very threatening capabilities in the maritime domain.”
Electronic warfare, in general, represents a battle for control of the electromagnetic spectrum, used for communications, weapons guidance and more, which U.S. defense officials say is paramount in a potential fight with China or Russia. Electronic capabilities like the Ultra-Lite can help militaries detect, deceive, disrupt and even destroy one another.
Northrop is leaning into years of experience with the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program, or SEWIP, to realize the smaller, more-quickly installed Ultra-Lite jammer. The company is currently tapped by the Navy for what is known as SEWIP Block 3, which affords a non-kinetic means of swatting down anti-ship missiles, among other abilities.
“We wanted to scale up our system for installation on larger ships, such as aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and we also wanted to scale it down for the smaller ship classes. And that’s where Ultra-Lite EA comes into play, into being,” Meaney said. “We think there’s a big opportunity.”
Meaney in 2021 told C4ISRNET that SEWIP can provide an “unlimited supply of bullets” to unleash against perceived dangers.
Northrop is using its own resources — money, time, manpower — to develop the Ultra-Lite EA System in anticipation of a formal ask from the Navy. Lockheed Martin, another defense industry juggernaut, is pursuing similar tech, according to several defense publications. An inquiry made to Lockheed on Jan. 20 went unanswered.
The testing at RIMPAC reassured Northrop of its investment thus far, according to Greg Teitelbaum, director of maritime electronic warfare and information warfare. It also drummed up further interest from what was described as a “number of other sources.” Publicly available details are scant.
“We certainly can’t talk about the techniques and the tactics or the specifics, but based on what our goals were for the demonstration and the data that we saw, it very much validated all of our core electronic-attack capabilities that we brought to that exercise,” he said. “We certainly met all of our expectations and exceeded them, in most cases.” (Source: Defense News)
24 Jan 23. HENSOLDT and 21strategies collaborate on next-generation artificial intelligence for defence systems. Defence industry tech player meets “third wave” AI specialists: With sensor solutions provider HENSOLDT and AI company 21strategies, two of Europe’s leading innovators in their industries agree on a strategic collaboration. The aim is to jointly drive the development of next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) for defence systems. To this end, HENSOLDT is participating in 21strategies’ financing round, which will give the cooperation a strong foundation.
Artificial intelligence is crucial to the performance of many HENSOLDT products. The agreed partnership will take HENSOLDT’s AI competencies to a new level. Because with new AI approaches of the so-called Third Wave, such as cognitive AI, decisions in combat situations and the reaction to unknown threats can be decisively accelerated. In addition, interesting synergies result from the combination with HENSOLDT’s existing Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) competencies, which will further increase the performance of AI in the future.
“As a technology company in the defence industry, we have special requirements for AI,” says Celia Pelaz, Board Member and Chief Strategy Officer at HENSOLDT. “In order to optimally enable highly complex defence systems, we need to master artificial intelligence in its entire range. To this end, we develop many AI competencies in-house and supplement them in a very targeted manner by working with specialised partners such as 21strategies. As a strategic investor, we are able to provide the company with significant support in the defence sector and benefit from the targeted and rapid further development of the technology. Because we at HENSOLDT are convinced: The defence systems of tomorrow will be created at the interface of artificial intelligence with the deep knowledge of the application scenarios of our customers. The minority shareholding in 21strategies is the first of its kind at HENSOLDT. This is right in line with our policy of working with young and dynamic high-tech companies with strong cooperation potential.”
21strategies trains next-generation AI for optimal decision-making at machine speed, enabling users to make and implement tactical decisions quickly and efficiently in complex and uncertain situations. The two companies are already working closely together on the GhostPlay project for the German Armed Forces Digitisation and Technology Research Centre (DTEC.Bw). GhostPlay creates a high-performance, synthetic simulation environment (= Ghost) in order to develop decision-making procedures taking into account different parameters (= Play) by means of AI and in interaction with opponents who have different performance profiles.
As a sensor solutions provider and expert in defence systems for all branches of the armed forces, HENSOLDT is in a special market position, generating large amounts of data that play a crucial role in customers’ situational awareness and defence capabilities. The technological approach of 21strategies complements HENSOLDT’s AI competencies and strengthens its performance profile in the areas of sensor management and cognitive electronic warfare. This includes, among other things, the development of multistatic and distributed sensor technology.
“Already working for military research labs in the past, the 21strategies team had proliferated third-wave AI for currency and commodity hedging – these days, as you can see, more than ever a national security and preparedness issue. Through the successful cooperation with one of the most innovative representatives of the defence industry, we are once again making our AI tech stack available for defence as well. In doing so, it is of great concern to us to offer AI systems that meet our clients’ requirements for the legal and ethical compliance of AI. HENSOLDT will therefore also benefit greatly from our expertise with value-based engineering,” says Yvonne Hofstetter, CEO and Co-Founder of 21strategies.
23 Jan 23. PACAF tests counter-chemical warfare TTPs at Kunsan base.
The effort will establish standardised counter-chemical warfare aircrew protection measures across installations. The US Air Force’s (USAF) major command Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) has conducted the first test to validate counter-chemical warfare tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP).
The test was carried out by a PACAF joint team, comprising of subject matter experts and other representatives, deployed at the USAF Kunsan Air Base (AB) in South Korea.
The tests were performed as part of the service’s next-generation aircrew protection programme, which aims to ensure that the country’s aircrew can proper access to the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) protective equipment.
It further ensures that the CBRN measures implemented by the forces are modernised and can effectively counter future threats, while maintaining peak human performance at the same time.
PACAF Aircrew Flight Equipment (AFE) major command functional manager chief master sergeant Charles Hall said: “Current aircrew and pilot CBRN protective equipment are effective but restrictive and burdensome, thus hindering combat effectiveness.
“The USAF realised this in late 2021 and early 2022 and set aside about $16m to conduct research on aircraft, ground and air testing across various platforms to collect quantitative and qualitative data.”
As part of the latest test, the deployed aircrew safely and efficiently evaluated different updated CBRN TTPs by ‘stepping, launching and recovering’ a flying mission.
The test was executed in a simulated chemical-filled environment, allowing researchers to refine current TTPs to maintain combat readiness for supporting a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
PACAF AFE command manager senior master sergeant Ryan Rios said: “Wing commanders have an associated risk attached to nearly every decision they make.
“With the integrated data and refined TTPs, wing commanders now have additional information to help them make those tough decisions and continue executing their mission should CBRN event occur.” (Source: airforce-technology.com)
20 Jan 23. Amazon, other Pentagon cloud service providers face zero-trust test. Hackers backed by the U.S. Department of Defense will attack networks run by Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Oracle to better understand zero-trust cybersecurity in commercial cloud environments.
So-called red teams of ethical hackers from the National Security Agency will test the digital strength of the four cloud service providers, or CSPs, starting in the spring. The Defense Department in December selected the companies for its $9 bn Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability, a follow-up to the failed $10 bn Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure arrangement.
“We’re going to have the NSA red team, and perhaps even service red teams, attack,” Zero Trust Portfolio Management Office Director Randy Resnick said at a Jan. 19 event hosted by Billington Cybersecurity. “That would be a realistic adversary attack, a controlled attack, and we would determine whether or not the red teams could get and exploit data.”
The operation — of mutual agreement and not a requirement tied to the JWCC deal — will inform how the Defense Department proceeds with zero trust. It could also prove the vigor of the cloud providers and lay the foundation for future zero-trust-enabled storage and computing.
Unlike older cybersecurity models, zero trust assumes networks are always at risk or are already comprised. The new paradigm, as a result, is inherently distrustful and requires constant validation of users, devices and general access.
Resnick previously described the concept as enhanced home security: “We have identified the items of value within the house, and we’ve placed guards and locks with each one of those items inside the house, as well.”
Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Oracle each told the Defense Department they could instate at least basic levels of zero trust, according to Resnick.
“To our satisfaction, at least on paper, they said to us that all of them could meet target-level zero trust and that many of them could approach almost the entirety, if not the entirety, of full zero trust, which we’re calling advanced,” Resnick said.
“What we plan on doing,” he added, “is actually testing their assertions.”
Zero trust implementation comprises a little more than 150 activities, which were detailed in the Defense Department’s related strategy, published in November.
The Pentagon hopes to institute the lower threshold, 91 activities, by 2027. The department has since 2015 experienced more than 12,000 cyber incidents, according to a Government Accountability Office evaluation.
“Our objective in the DoD … is to stop the adversary from exploiting our data,” Resnick said Thursday. “In order to to do that, our North Star was to stop, contain, frustrate, limit lateral movement of the adversary. That’s our success point.”
An addendum to the Defense Department zero-trust strategy is in the works, following a cybersecurity summit involving the U.S. and its intelligence-sharing Five Eyes partners Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the U.K. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
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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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