Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] recently opened a new Wireless Cyber Security Center, one of only a handful of technology labs capable of testing wireless communications systems in a classified environment. The lab allows defense and intelligence agencies to test and evaluate wireless systems like 802.11 Wi-Fi or broadband satellite links on a Top Secret / Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) network.
The center supports a broad spectrum of wireless networks, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 802.16 Wi-MAX, cell phones, and Ku and C-band satellite communications. A sealed and re-enforced test chamber ensures that signals from these systems stay within the confines of the lab, allowing for testing with classified systems.
The center has three primary areas of focus. First, it seeks to help define and evaluate wireless security strategies, policies and concepts of operation. Second, it serves as a proving ground for next-generation security technologies. Using the center, Lockheed Martin and its customers can effectively gauge the vulnerabilities of cyber security applications, and can work to shore up defenses. The lab also supports assessment of mobile ad-hoc networks that will form the backbone of tomorrow's battlefield communications. Finally, the center supports users in the field engaged in mission-oriented wireless signals applications.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted a First Report and Order (Order) that will support the ability of the nation’s wireless carriers to transmit timely and accurate alerts, warnings and critical information to the cell phones and other mobile devices of consumers during disasters or other emergencies.