ESA Chooses Leonardo for its C-SOC which Will Protect European Space Resources

December 21, 2021

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Leonardo has signed a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to design, implement, build, validate and operate, under the technical responsibility of the ESA Security Office, a new Cyber-Security Operations Centre (C-SOC). Operational from 2024, the C-SOC will be a key infrastructure for Europe protecting space assets, related ground segment (control and operations management centres), ground-ground, ground-space and space-space links from cyber threats.

Leonardo, as Prime Contractor, will lead a consortium comprising 19 companies from Italy, Belgium, France, Germany, UK, Estonia, and Romania, leveraging its experience acquired through cyber threat protection of over 5,000 networks and 70,000 users in 130 countries and leading on large international projects such as the NATO Computer Incident Response Full Operational Capability (NCIRC FOC) program, which guarantees the security of information and communications at approximately 75 NATO sites located in 29 countries around the world.

"Ensuring the cyber resilience of space resources is crucial for Europe's economy and civil security in a scenario which is characterised by an increasing hybrid threat and growing importance of satellite data in accessing essential services for citizens’ life and the activities of companies, countries, and global decision makers - said Tommaso Profeta, Managing Director of Leonardo's Cyber Security Division -. As an international company dedicated to the management of technologies for the security of strategic assets, we are proud to be able to put our skills at the service of ESA for the protection of space assets and systems in terms of confidentiality, integrity, and availability".

Thanks to a distributed architecture, the new Cyber-Security Operations Centre will be able to provide resilient and redundant security coverage to the entire ESA infrastructure, monitoring and managing its vulnerabilities 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, and improving security for ESA Member States and partners.

Source : Leonardo