27 Apr 12. EADS Cassidian is to create a new dedicated business, Cassidian CyberSecurity, entirely devoted to addressing the fast-growing cyber security market across Europe and Middle East, with an initial focus on Germany, the United Kingdom and France. By gathering together all of the cyber security expertise existing within the EADS Group, Cassidian CyberSecurity intends to establish itself as a key dedicated player in this market with substantial critical mass.In order to provide appropriate responses to the specific demands of the French, British and German sovereignty, the business of Cassidian CyberSecurity will initially be entrusted to three dedicated national companies under the umbrella of a global cyber security organisation. These dynamic and agile structures will retain their strong national character and will enable the development of a circle of trusted partners in Europe in order to better serve governments, national agencies, strategic industries, and critical infrastructures, and to make the most of synergies between the countries. Cassidian CyberSecurity’s portfolio of products and services is built upon three pillars:
* Cyber Defence & Professional Services, aimed at providing high-level professional services (such as attack analysis and response, risk management, audits of security infrastructure architectures) and implementing operation centres dedicated to security supervision of Scada and IT systems. These security operation centres, enabling the provision of remote-operated cyber security services, will be based [initially] in the three launch countries of France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
* Trusted Infrastructure, for implementing national and European high-security trusted solutions and developing technologies (e.g. cryptography, digital identity management) in accordance with regulatory and national sovereignty requirements.
* Secure Mobility, to provide next generation security products and services for industry and governments in the form of mobile equipment (voice, data, applications) and deployable communication nodes.
The cyber security sector is experiencing a dramatic rise in the number and level of sophistication of threats, covering attacks from nation states, through to terrorist groups, “hacktivists”, criminal gangs and more conventional hackers. In 2010, this market was estimated at € 50bn. In order to support its ramp-up, Cassidian CyberSecurity will be creating a cyber training centre. The need for highly qualified experts in this field is growing rapidly and Cassidian CyberSecurity aims to attract this young talent and improve their level of expertise. This growth strategy will also encompass strategic acquisitions to obtain new skills, secure key sovereign technologies in Europe and achieve critical mass in the European market. The aim is to reach sales of above € 500m by 2017. A dedicated Research and Development effort will underpin the new organisation and 20% of the company’s planned investment will be devoted to R&D.

26 Apr 12. Iran has demonstrated a willingness to attack the United States and the intent to develop a cyber war capability, eclipsing Russia and China as a threat to the nation, a panel of policy and technical experts told House lawmakers. “Iran appears to be moving from defensive to offensive in the way it thinks about cyberspace,” said Ilan Berman, vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council, in an April 26 hearing before joint subcommittees of the House Homeland Security Committee. Berman called an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States, uncovered in October, credible and said it is an example of the country’s willingness to carry out attacks on U.S. soil. He said it would be unreasonable to expect Iran could balk at a cyberattack against U.S. critical infrastructure. (Source: GCN)

24 Apr 12. The U.S. government is close to completing rules for a long-awaited expansion of the number of defense contrac