Queensland companies partner on cyber security for guided weapons

Two Queensland companies, space and defence rocket manufacturer Black Sky Aerospace (BSA) and digital security provider de.iterate have partnered to ensure the digital security of BSA’s guided weapons development program.

BSA and de.iterate will combine AS9100D (Quality Management Systems - for Aviation, Space, and Defence) and ISO27001 (International Standard for Information Security) to 'ensure the delivery of Guided Weapon capability whilst keeping technology information secure.'

BSA is developing and operating guided weapons in line with Australia’s ambition for self-reliance and supply chain resilience, a priority of the Federal Governments Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise (GWEO).

Black Sky Aerospace CEO Blake Nikolic said the Intellectual Property behind these highly sophisticated technologies could be very dangerous in the wrong hands.

“Black Sky Aerospace is changing the Defence and space capability landscape in Australia and with that comes the responsibility of protecting critical technology," Nikolic said.

“Even though we are a small business, cyber security is as important to us as anyone,” Nikolic said. “The partnership between BSA and de.iterate will help safeguard our innovations from state and criminal actors.”

de.iterate specialises in digital security and privacy compliance. The company helps organisations implement, maintain and comply with cyber security standards such as ISO 27001, DISP and ASD Essential Eight.

“Cyber-attacks are becoming much more frequent and are having ever-increasing impact,” said de.iterate CEO Andrew Lawrence.

“de.iterate plays a critical role in enabling businesses to gain compliance certification for international standards, such as ISO27001 to protect sensitive information from disclosure.”

According to Black Sky, testing of Guided Weapons will continue at secure locations to raise technology readiness levels in preparation for commercial supply from 2023.