WASHINGTON — Cybersecurity company Xage Security has been awarded a $17 million contract to protect the Space Force’s Space Systems Command network for the next five years.
Palo Alto, Calif.-based Xage specializes in so-called “zero trust” software used to prevent network intrusions.
The contract, announced Sept. 27, is aimed at protecting information networks, satellite ground stations, modems and other Space Force assets.
Geoffrey Mattson, CEO of Xage Security, said the deal also applies to a “hybrid satellite architecture” of government-owned and commercial systems.
A zero trust approach (assuming that individuals and devices attempting to access the network cannot be automatically trusted) verifies users every time they request access.
The company’s technology is used by energy companies and critical infrastructure operators.
Mattson described Xage’s system as a “mesh cybersecurity platform” that secures data exchanges across multi-layered networks, including interactions between commercial and Department of Defense assets.
“To access the application, you have to prove who you are,” he said. Mesh platforms also prevent the spread of cyber-attacks by guarding against specific applications that are not intended to interact with other applications within the network.
Mattson said the Space Systems Command “has strongly adopted a zero trust strategy, leaving little room for an attacker to gain access to our systems or move within our networks.”
former air force contract
Mattsson said Xage Security has been working with the military for several years. What the company will look like in 2020 won a contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory to study options for “end-to-end data protection across military and civilian assets to support U.S. Space Force command and control.”
The contract was awarded based on the 2019 Small Business Innovation Survey. Phase 1 award Excerpt from the Air Force’s AFWERX program to demonstrate cybersecurity solutions for Air Force systems.