16 May 12. BAE warns UK government on cyber security. BAE Systems, Europe’s biggest defence contractor, says the government is not doing enough to help businesses protect themselves from the growing threat of cyberattacks. Six months after the release of the government’s cyber security strategy, in which it pledged to foster greater engagement with British businesses suffering from the growing risk of cyberattacks, few businesses are engaging with government and others are wary of doing so because they believe it could be a wasted effort. A quarter of the companies polled in a survey by Detica, BAE’s cyber business, said they were engaging with the government. For many of those that wanted to engage, the biggest obstacle was that executives had yet to be convinced the effort would be worthwhile. Given that 84 per cent of those polled said cyberattacks would increase and a third said an attack would cost their company more than £50m, it appears the government has yet to prove itself in the fight against cybercrime, according to the survey. (Source: FT.com)
16 May 12. Sonardyne Sentinel deployed to protect high security Middle-Eastern facility. Maritime security company, Sonardyne International Ltd, has successfully completed the installation of an integrated intruder detection system for an undisclosed strategic waterside installation in the Middle East. The previously unannounced contract was awarded to Sonardyne in late 2011 and included the deployment of a network of the company’s Sentinel underwater sonars, seabed mounting systems, armoured fibre optic cabling, onshore equipment shelters and a centralised command and control system. The contract specified for a sensitive waterside asset to be urgently protected from unauthorised access from the sea. A survey team from Sonardyne conducted a detailed site survey in order to establish the optimum location for each sonar in order to provide complete underwater domain awareness. During the installation phase of the project Sonardyne worked closely with the in-country engineering partner to ensure that all groundworks and equipment installation was completed within the very short timescales required by the end client. Final equipment commissioning, operator training and system handover was completed in April 2012. Recognised as the best performing intruder detection sonar on the market, Sentinel has been deployed around the world to protect strategically important waterside facilities, ports and vessels. With global orders approaching 100 systems in 3 years, Sentinels are operational worldwide protecting energy infrastructure, coastal assets, vessels and strategic military assets. The system reliably detects, tracks and classifies underwater targets approaching a protected asset, providing security personnel with advanced threat warnings. The system is scalable to meet the needs of a single vessel right-through to the largest port and coastal borders.