The U.S. Air Force plans to launch a cybersecurity vetting program for satellite communications companies to streamline pre-assessment procedures for contractors, Space News reported Friday.
Andrew D’Uva, president of Providence Access Company, said at this year’s CyberSat conference that the commercial satcom office within the Air Force Space Command will handle operations for the proposed Infrastructure Asset Pre-Assessment program.
D’Uva noted that IA-Pre would require satcom providers to undergo assessments from third-party auditors to ensure that they meet National Institute of Standards and Technology regulations covering the protection of critical government information.
“With IA-Pre you’ll be able to get pre-assessed by a third party. Once that’s done there will be no more paperwork,†he said.
The Air Force will keep a database of satcom providers that went through independent audits, which will exempt them from cybersecurity evaluations required for every contracting proposal.
IA-Pre is slated to launch in 2020.
