Aerospace giant Airbus Defense and IT firm Atos have been selected by the Council of the European Union (CEU) to provide cyber security services to EU institutions. As per the terms of the deal, both enterprises have been awarded a 6-year framework contract to protect the IT systems of 17 European institutions, services and agencies.
According to CEU, the evolution of cloud technology, AI, IoT and other disciplines of the IT industry in Europe has made it necessary for these environments to be protected from increasing cyber threats. These cyber risks, CUE say, affect vital applications and deteriorate the hosting environment right from its core.
By choosing Atos and Airbus for cyber security services, CUE claim that they can mitigate malware and virus attacks that take place on a daily basis. They also say that the consortium will enable European Authorities with on-site threat analysis as well as monitoring and detection capabilities to combat cyber threats.
Speaking about this move, Dirk Hoke, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space, commented:
This is a landmark agreement for us in the area of cyber security. The EU’s decision to award Airbus CyberSecurity such a critical cyber protection contract is a strong endorsement of our capability and expertise. Cyber security is a growing area of concern for many institutions in the era of digitalisation.
In addition to this, the consortium said that they will also provide cyber security training to the employees at European institutions to promote and raise awareness about cyber risks. Pierre Barnabé, Chief Operating Officer for Big Data & Security at Atos, commented:
This is a key step forward in our strategic partnership with Airbus Defence and Space to protect such vital organisations while enabling Europe to develop a European Cyber Defence strategy.
In closing the consortium added that these actions will help them implement a co-ordinated as well as upgraded cyber protection solution for all the government agencies in Europe. It will be interesting to see how this European consortium makes the most out of the alliance, just as Gemalto, ISARA and DigiCert came together for IoT security.