Marines look to ViaSat for help with secure mobile comms

ViaSat has won a $2.4 million contract from the Marine Corps Systems Command to engineer advanced information security into common, off-the-shelf mobile devices, the company said Nov. 29.

The first phase of the contract calls for ViaSat to develop and deliver 150 mobile, proof-of-concept devices for testing and integration, the company said. The development is expected to be complete by spring 2013 with the new secure mobile system available on any Android device.

The company will integrate its cyber and information security to commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) smart phones and tablets so that personnel can communicate securely over 3G/4G/LTE cellular and Wi-Fi networks, store sensitive data and protect their devices against malware attacks, the company said.

The development is being conducted for tactical warfighters, but the system is designed to provide secure communication of sensitive information for any government or commercial customer, the company said.