Vanguard Magazine

PERSPECTIVE How can botH safety and security be realized on one red/black Voice communication system wHile defending against cyber-attacks and electronic warfare? frequentis' micHael delueg and martijn sack explain… T he Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) is responsible for protecting domestic and con- tinental defence operations. It depends on classified and un- classified communications and highly reli- able networks to perform its mission. When radar or digital datalinks fail, operators' mis- sion-critical last line of control is to rely on their voice communication systems (VCS). RCAF Air Command and Control (C2) operators need to be supported by tech- nology that is failsafe, trusted and secure. They need to be able to execute mission- critical tasks without fear of network out- ages or security breaches. How does the Frequentis Integrated Communications Systems for Command and Control, iSecCOM, provide secure, tactical communication and cybersecurity, as well as transform the disparate networks and links into a Tactical Network? iSecCOM and Secure Communication Civil Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) and their military counterparts in C2 centres must work together to en- sure safe routing for civil traffic, managing training areas, as well as en-route services for transiting military aircraft. Meeting both security and safety re- 28 DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020 www.vanguardcanada.com Sponsored Content quirements in one system is mandatory in mission-critical applications. Mission-criti- cal voice communication systems for tacti- cal and operational command and control systems within the civil and military sec- tors are required to provide both single (BLACK-only) and dual-security domain (RED and BLACK) capabilities. Let's look at a typical mission scenario. When an aircraft embarks on a mission it must be able to talk to air traffic control and communicate with the tower at the airport. This communication is unencrypted, open – BLACK. Once the aircraft takes off and enters the mission area, the pilot and the control centre need to exchange classified mission-related information over secure voice channels like LINK 16 J-Voice. It is here that the pilot and the control centre now switch to encrypted, closed – RED – communication. While the mission opera- tor is communicating over secure channels, operators should be able to receive unclas- sified communication via radios and tele- phony lines. Once the mission is complete and the aircraft returns to enter civilian airspace again the pilots voice communica- tions mode will need to return to BLACK mode to talk with the tower again. The Frequentis iSecCOM addresses this by providing access to all kinds of com- munications, be it analogue, digital, clas- sified or unclassified radio or phone com- munication, on a single voice switch and human machine interface (HMI). In the past operators had to switch systems and headsets, and thus were prone to opera- tional errors or information leaks. iSecCOM and Tactical Communication When classified information is to be shared securely between centres and aircraft, it can be achieved with VINSON-compatible crypto devices which are connected to Fre- quentis crypto gateways and ECCM (Elec- tronic Counter-Counter Measures) like Have Quick I/II and SATURN. The use of cryptos can be optimised with support of dynamic crypto allocation mechanisms. It is also possible to use a secure commu- nication gateway to natively interface with LINK 16 infrastructures over J-Voice. An extra security layer for wide area net- works (WAN) which connect centres and remote radio sites can be realised with certi- fied IP cryptos. Such crypto devices secure external network segments. Adhering to military and industry stan- dards gives operators everything they need for effective mission management across telephone, intercom, radio, recording, data and conference services, all via a single op- erator position with customisable HMI. seCuring Canada's Command and ConTRol CommunICaTIonS

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