Covid-19: Pandemic increases cybersecurity, disinformation risks
01 April 2020
by Charles Forrester
The risk of cyber-attacks against government targets, as well as disinformation campaigns, is on the rise during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the requirement for increased work-from-home (WfH) arrangements creating increased demand on telecommunication networks and healthcare information systems increase their data throughput.
French technology firm Thales announced on 26 March that the company’s Cyber Threat Intelligence team had identified increased activity through Trojan viruses and ransomware in Android Covid-19 tracking apps, and large-scale spam campaigns, with the risk of large-scale remote working also helping to drive cybersecurity risks through the use of personal devices for work. The company also claimed that their investigations had identified actors from China, Pakistan, North Korea, and Russia as being behind attempted breaches, by both state-sponsored groups and criminals, with motivations including financial gain and espionage.
The firm added that “hackers are using the pandemic as an opportunity to carry out targeted cyberattacks,” with the pattern of malicious activity matching the spread of Covid-19 with major attacks reported first in Asia, then in Central, Eastern, and Western Europe.
The Covid-19 pandemic has created an environment where there is an increased risk of a data breach. (BeeBright/Getty Images)
Leonardo launches new C-UAS planning tool
16 May 2024
by Richard Scott
Leonardo's SkyTender C-UAS software aims to optimise the deployment of C-UAS. (Leonardo)
Leonardo Canada – Electronics has debuted a new counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) planning and assessment tool designed to enable rapid site evaluation and optimisation prior to equipment deployment.
Known as SkyTender, the software toolset has been evolved from the outputs of a Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) contract awarded to Leonardo in March 2022 under the Innovative Solutions Canada programme. The company has subsequently ‘productised' this functionality.
C-UASs using radio frequency (RF) sensors and effectors to defeat UAS threats are increasingly being deployed to protect both military installations and critical infrastructures such as airports, power stations, and ports. However, establishing the optimum positioning of system equipment has traditionally required expensive and time-consuming site surveys.
Hosted on a laptop, SkyTender is a planning application designed to support pre-mission planning and enable optimum placement of C-UAS equipment. The tool is able to evaluate spectral environments and topography and simulate threats, sensors, and platforms, thereby allowing operators to optimise the detect, track, and identify functions of their C-UAS solutions, and quantify the effectiveness of deployed C-UASs against defined threats.
UK continues search to sell surplus Hercules airlifters
16 May 2024
by Gareth Jennings
One of the last C-130Js in RAF service made its farewell flypast in June 2023. The MoD is continuing its search to find buyers for this and 14 other surplus airframes. (Crown Copyright)
The UK is continuing its search to find buyers for its fleet of retired Lockheed Martin C-130J/C-130J-30 Hercules airlifters, with the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) telling Janes that it has identified several potential buyers.
The Royal Air Force (RAF) retired one ‘short' C-130J (C5 in UK service) and 13 ‘stretched' C-130J-30 (C4) airframes on 31 March 2023 (with the type's final farewell flypast following in June 2023), all of which, along with an additional C5 aircraft carried over from the previous round of retirements in 2015, are now available to overseas buyers.
“The Defence Equipment Sales Authority (DESA) is managing the sales programme on behalf of the MoD and continues to actively pursue sales with a number of potential buyers,” the ministry said on 10 May.
US Marine Corps contracts Airbus to demonstrate unmanned UH-72
16 May 2024
by Zach Rosenberg
Airbus UH-72 Aerial Logistics Connector cargo UAV is based on the Airbus H145/UH-72 platform. (Airbus US Space and Defense)
US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), on behalf of the US Marine Corps (USMC), has signed a Middle Tier Acquisition (MTA) contract for Airbus to demonstrate an unmanned version of its UH-72 Lakota helicopter, the company announced on 14 May.
The helicopters are under consideration for the USMC's Aerial Logistics Connector programme. The unmanned helicopters are to undergo unspecified testing for operational suitability, compared against craft from competitors. A downselect is expected shortly after. Details of deliveries and testing were not immediately available.
Airbus is likely to convert manned H145s into unmanned UH-72s for the programme, the company told Janes on 14 May, but additional helicopters would be newbuilds should Airbus win the contest.
“The Airbus production facility in Columbus, [Mississippi], has capacity for any expected programme of record,” said the company.
The risk of cyber-attacks against government targets, as well as disinformation campaigns, is on the...
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