Jointly developed with Singtel and its cyber security arm Trustwave, the Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution, as yet unnamed, will be marketed both to Inmarsat’s partner satellite service providers and directly to ship operators and managers. The partnership between Inmarsat and Singtel was announced in April this year.
“What this product does will be unique,” Mark Warner, head of marketing communications – Maritime, told Seatrade Maritime News. “Inmarsat will not only control the pipe (delivering satcoms aboard) but also ring-fence the ship so that if there’s any breach in cyber security and someone puts an infected USB stick into the port, it will stop the virus spreading any further.”
Most importantly, he added, “it will also send out an alert ashore and to whoever’s responsible on board that there’s a breach and where that breach is.” In this way it protects the shore-based office from becoming infected as well, he explained.
“Unique to Inmarsat is the fact that our FX (Fleet Xpress) service is a global service, meaning the pipe is continuously protected,” he continues, unlike other services which use multiple satellite inputs. “There’s also a back-up capability to protect Fleet Broadband as well,” he added, and the solution has in-built firewalls and white-listing.
The UTM will be priced in a way that is attractive to customers, Warner concluded, and a “great level of interest” has already been expressed among Inmarsat clients and partners, as well as shipping companies.
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