DSEi 2011: Cassidian receives UAE contract for Ectocryp

Cassidian has been awarded a contract from Emiraje Systems to provide its ‘groundbreaking’ Ectocryp device to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Announced at a pre-DSEi briefing in London on 8 September, the contract will provide the UAE Armed Forces Command and Control System (ECCS) with Cassidian’s cryptography products.

According to industry sources the contract is worth some £3-4million in its first phase.

A support element to the contract is also included, and according to the company this is the first contract for the Ectocryp family of systems outside of NATO.

According to the company the Ectocryp provides ‘transparent cryptography’ and ‘makes the encryption so effortless that its use is transparent to the operator’.

The family consists of Blue and Black variants, with the former being provided under the UAE contract.

The Ectocryp Blue has a 1Gb/s high grade secure data encryption rate, is fully in-field reprogrammable, and is capable of over 16,000 simultaneous security associations.

‘Ectocryp Blue from Cassidian is the only 19 in rack-mount HAIPE (High Assurance Internet Protocol Encryptor) interoperable device designed, produced and capable of protecting data up to top secret (including National Caveats such as UK Eyes Only) over a public infrastructure,’ the company explained.

This contract follows the formation of the Cassidian Cyber Company earlier this year, in light of the ever-growing problem of cyber security.

Cyber security is ‘extremely intangible and difficult to tie down’, Deborah Waddon, head of communications in the UK for Cassidian told the briefing, which is why the company has ‘recently refocused on cyber security’.

The company has also established the Cyber Operations Centre of Excellence at Khalifa University alongside Emiraje Systems. Through this both companies will provide cyber resources and equipment to the university.