The US Navy has turned to experimental know-how to guard distant however essential networks in opposition to Chinese language hackers, signing a contract with a small cellular service to offer cybersecurity for telecommunication corporations based mostly on the island of Guam.
Guam, a US territory positioned 1,600 miles (about 2,600 kilometers) east of Manila, has turn into an more and more necessary navy and strategic hub as issues ratchet up that China may take navy motion to implement its declare to the self-ruled island of Taiwan.Important infrastructure organizations in Guam and elsewhere within the US have been focused by a Chinese language state-sponsored hacking group referred to as Volt Hurricane, Microsoft Corp. mentioned final yr.
Among the many networks had been “some within the telecommunications sector in Guam,” Tom Burt, the pinnacle of Microsoft’s buyer safety and belief group, instructed the New York Occasions final yr. The Chinese language authorities has denied the allegations.
The Navy mentioned it signed a contract for a pilot undertaking with cellular service Cape that’s valued at simply over $800,000.
Cape, which describes itself as a “privateness first cellular service,” will design, set up and take a look at a software-only mobile community for Naval Base Guam to assist service members keep related in a safe method. Relying on the outcomes, the contract could also be expanded to different areas within the Indo-Pacific, the Navy mentioned.
Cape’s system makes use of a mixture of superior encryption, safe protocols and novel obfuscation methods to forestall hackers from exploiting mobile networks or customers, mentioned John Doyle, chief govt officer and founder.
Representatives for the telecommunications corporations working in Guam — GTA TeleGuam, IT&E and NTT Docomo — didn’t reply to requests for remark.
Cape, based in 2022 by former Palantir Applied sciences Inc. and Anduril Industries Inc. engineers, simply closed its Sequence B funding, elevating $61 million from buyers together with Andreessen Horowitz and A*, Doyle mentioned.
Cape’s group is already on Guam, working with the three telecommunications corporations whose subscribers embrace navy personnel, mentioned Doyle, a former Particular Forces sergeant who headed Palantir’s nationwide safety enterprise earlier than leaving to create Cape.
“We are going to deploy software program that safeguards delicate, private knowledge and retains it from ever touching the underlying networks past their bodily infrastructure,” he instructed Bloomberg. “It solves onerous issues on Guam instantly. Nevertheless it’s additionally the template for what I actually wish to construct — personal, safe and resilient communications past the Pacific theater for everybody.”
Volt Hurricane, which has been lively since mid-2021, meant to “carry out espionage and preserve entry with out being detected for so long as doable,” in response to Microsoft.
Guam, a US territory positioned 1,600 miles (about 2,600 kilometers) east of Manila, has turn into an more and more necessary navy and strategic hub as issues ratchet up that China may take navy motion to implement its declare to the self-ruled island of Taiwan.Important infrastructure organizations in Guam and elsewhere within the US have been focused by a Chinese language state-sponsored hacking group referred to as Volt Hurricane, Microsoft Corp. mentioned final yr.
Among the many networks had been “some within the telecommunications sector in Guam,” Tom Burt, the pinnacle of Microsoft’s buyer safety and belief group, instructed the New York Occasions final yr. The Chinese language authorities has denied the allegations.
The Navy mentioned it signed a contract for a pilot undertaking with cellular service Cape that’s valued at simply over $800,000.
Cape, which describes itself as a “privateness first cellular service,” will design, set up and take a look at a software-only mobile community for Naval Base Guam to assist service members keep related in a safe method. Relying on the outcomes, the contract could also be expanded to different areas within the Indo-Pacific, the Navy mentioned.
Cape’s system makes use of a mixture of superior encryption, safe protocols and novel obfuscation methods to forestall hackers from exploiting mobile networks or customers, mentioned John Doyle, chief govt officer and founder.
Representatives for the telecommunications corporations working in Guam — GTA TeleGuam, IT&E and NTT Docomo — didn’t reply to requests for remark.
Cape, based in 2022 by former Palantir Applied sciences Inc. and Anduril Industries Inc. engineers, simply closed its Sequence B funding, elevating $61 million from buyers together with Andreessen Horowitz and A*, Doyle mentioned.
Cape’s group is already on Guam, working with the three telecommunications corporations whose subscribers embrace navy personnel, mentioned Doyle, a former Particular Forces sergeant who headed Palantir’s nationwide safety enterprise earlier than leaving to create Cape.
“We are going to deploy software program that safeguards delicate, private knowledge and retains it from ever touching the underlying networks past their bodily infrastructure,” he instructed Bloomberg. “It solves onerous issues on Guam instantly. Nevertheless it’s additionally the template for what I actually wish to construct — personal, safe and resilient communications past the Pacific theater for everybody.”
Volt Hurricane, which has been lively since mid-2021, meant to “carry out espionage and preserve entry with out being detected for so long as doable,” in response to Microsoft.
