Camber Corp. recently said it has acquired a subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co.’s (EADS) North America division that provides products and services that allow for cyber security defenders to train without having to impair their operational networks.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
EADS’ Defense Security and Systems Solutions, Inc. (DS3) business has developed a simulation and training capability that allows an organization to simulate their own network, including the Internet, and to introduce threats on it to allow security specialists and defenders to train, Bruce Schoemer, head of Camber’s National Security Group, told sister publication Defense Daily.
The simulator that DS3 provides allows users to not have to use their own networks to train their cyber defenders, which might mean taking all, or a portion, of a network down, Schoemer said.
“That would hamper your business or your mission operation.”
The DS3 simulator, which consists of proprietary hardware and software, emulates the Internet, including social media, commercial web sites, dynamic web content, complete with botnets, malicious and benign traffic, that can be tailored to replicate a customer network, Schoemer said. The simulator uses the same tools that an organization’s network defenders use, he said.
“A lot of network defenders have good resumes, they have good certifications but not a lot of them have really experienced attacks and so by having them sit in this simulator they really get to exercise those skills,” Schoemer said.
Key customers of DS3 include the Air Force Network Integration Center, the Army National Guard Enhanced Network and Training Simulators and they also provide information technology support to the Defense Contract Management Agency and Chief of Naval Air Training. Most of DS3’s revenues are related to services, in particular supporting the cyber training simulators that they sell, Schoemer said.
Texas-based DS3 expects to do about $27 million in sales this year. The company has nearly 200 employees. Camber, which is based in Alabama, is a service provider to the Defense Department and does over $400 million in sales.
Schoemer said that Camber believes it can expand DS3’s customer base. In the cyber security space Camber provides information assurance capabilities customers in the intelligence community and other agencies. The company also does business with the Departments of Homeland Security and State.
“A lot of our customers know they have an information assurance (IA) requirement but don’t know what it means,” Schoemer said. “They know that they have to defend their network but they don’t know how. So now I think we can take our simulator in there and help them train their network defenders, help them test their processes that they are using to do network defense and use our information assurance experts to help them understand what the IA standards are and what the risks are in order to get a good defensive posture.”
Houlihan Lokey was the financial advisor to EADS North America on the transaction.
EADS North America spokesman Guy Hicks said his company decided to divest DS3 because the business unit’s “future growth would be better served by joining a company whose fundamental business strategy more directly aligns with their competencies, products and technologies.”