Defense Technology International - October 2007 - (Page 26) DISPATCHES GLOBAL MOBILE, FAST, SECURE rapid networks for commercial and infrastructure applications. “You need to bridge the gap between those two worlds but maintain the split between them,” says Bentall. When BILL SWEETMAN•LONDON bombs were found recently in London, authorities shut down GSM t first, the announcement phone networks because they could at the Defense Systems be used as triggers. In a case like and Equipment Internathat, law enforcement or armed tional exhibition in London didn’t forces need a separate system that sound too exciting. EADS Defense remains operational. & Communications Systems is When it comes to cyber warfare teaming with U.S. network giant and offensive information operaCisco Systems to develop and protions, the commercial world deals duce “network-centric IP (internet daily with hacking that uses the protocol) solutions” for the military same techniques as an enemy tryand civil defense. ing to compromise a military netInterviews with both companies, work. “I can’t respond to the threat,” however, suggest that the link-up is important. Defense & Communicasays Dedicoat. “It’s happened, and tions is EADS’ system-of-systems anything it set out to do has been arm, involved in projects as diverse done.” Commercial security is peras the U.K.’s Skynet 5 military satelvasive and proactive. “You look for lites and cryptographic equipment. trends, for something that is not a Cisco is not a specialized defense normal user.” The watchwords are player but a giant in networks, spend“isolate and incubate.” Commercial ing $3.2 billion annually on R&D. systems often let a suspected hacker The two teams have common enter a mirror site where he can do no damage, but his behavior can be points of reference. The first is that observed. military communications are slow While military users tend to put a and clumsy. “The customer is less ring of steel around data, commerand less accepting of the huge gap cial users are flexible and pragmatic. between the ADSL (asymmetric Brad Boston, senior vice president digital subscriber line) and Skype of Cisco’s global government soluthat he has at home and what he has tions group, says that “operational to work with in the field,” says Chris data—data that’s perishable—may Dedicoat, Cisco’s president for Eurohave a di erent level of security.” It pean markets. “He gets 10 Kbps. [in may be unnecessary to protect data the field] and 100 times that at home, and doesn’t understand why.” if it’s too late for an adversary to act EADS and Cisco agree that “the EADS and Cisco have already collaboe ectively. In that case, it might be world is going IP.” As Dedicoat puts rated on projects like the U.K.’s Skynet 5 better to reduce restrictions and it, in the world of commercial infor- satellites. share the data more widely. mation technology, every sensor, Blending military and commerprocessor and memory device on the tise in military-specification mobile sys- cial networking technology also facilimilitary net will have its own IP address. tems and management of limited mobile tates supporting and upgrading systems. “Doing everything over IP makes every- bandwidth. “If you build a bespoke system, keeping The goal, says Bentall, is “to send it up to date is impossible. It becomes thing easier,” says Mark Bentall, EADS Defense & Space chief technical o cer. video to any device, anywhere,” includ- old and unsupported overnight,” DediEADS and Cisco see two challenges ing devices that don’t have line-of-sight coat says. “We have to stay up-to-date to phasing in IP: mobility and security. to one another, via a self-forming ad-hoc because terrorists certainly do.” EADS Defense & Communications “Historically, we worked on the idea network. Security has long been the enemy of President Herve Guillo is confident that that things were stationary and devices moved around them,” says Dedicoat. open-architecture networks. In this col- together, the companies will be able to “Now, the entire infrastructure has to be laboration, EADS brings its experience spot upcoming changes in the marketmobile.” This is where Cisco’s strength in in military security and cryptography, place. “We believe that will be a discriminetworks combines with EADS’ exper- while Cisco has worked on secure yet nator.” I 21st-century soldiers need more than 1990 connection speeds A 26 DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2007 ARIANESPACE www.aviationweek.com/dti http://www.aviationweek.com/dti
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