Xage secures $17 million cybersecurity contract by U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command

September 27, 2023

Xage Security Gov announced that it received a US$17 million contract awarded by U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC) to offer its zero trust access control and data protection across SSC’s current and next-generation ground and space architectures.

Zero trust is a high priority U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) cybersecurity strategy that can reduce attack surfaces, block attacks, and enable risk management to quickly contain and remediate adversary activities. Xage’s distributed zero trust-based cybersecurity mesh provides unique protection to U.S. critical infrastructure against emerging cyber challenges.

“Space is the final frontier of cybersecurity and a key arm of critical infrastructure that needs protection,” Geoffrey Mattson, CEO of Xage Security, said in a Tuesday media statement. “For complex distributed environments, of which space is a demanding example, we’re answering the pressing need for local continuous operation, integrity of data, and identity protections for a mix of legacy and modern systems. Xage is the first to offer zero trust data exchange and verification across operational, IT, and cloud environments. By working together with SSC, we will help secure the next generation of space-based critical defense infrastructure.”

Xage Security Gov (a.k.a. ‘Xage Gov’) was established to support Federal Government clients. It is a wholly-owned affiliate of Xage Security, dedicated to addressing the cyber protection needs of the nation’s most critical missions, operations, and assets. Xage Gov is configured to securely handle both classified and unclassified projects.

Under this USSF contract, Xage Gov will use the Xage Fabric to provide an identity-based zero trust cybersecurity mesh with distributed enforcement of services at the leading edge for DOD systems. This foundational capability provides the DOD with a resilient cybersecurity architecture for complex distributed environments.

Xage protects and secures critical infrastructure. This contract with SSC includes three priority initiatives that leverage the Xage Fabric, a cybersecurity mesh platform for zero trust access management and data security.

Cyber hardening of current terrestrial-based systems, including ground stations, modems, and operational technology assets, using zero trust principles. Xage supports both modern and legacy systems, enabling the nation’s warfighters to dynamically protect systems and assets within the operational environment.

Zero trust capabilities across next generation ground and space systems, including commercial and defense interactions in hybrid satellite architectures. Zero trust operations aim to enable commercial and defense cooperation in pursuit of mission objectives.

The Xage Fabric cybersecurity mesh provides central policy administration, automated real-time orchestration, and distributed policy decision and enforcement for cybersecurity services across system architectures. Xage’s vendor and network-agnostic approach seeks to accelerate the adoption of consistent zero trust capabilities and ensure secure interactions between commercial and DOD assets.

Lastly, the Xage Fabric guarantees data integrity, confidentiality, and authenticity from data source or network edge to data consumer, allowing data and mission system owners to provide data provenance, protection, and transport services throughout the space ecosystem. This includes secure data exchange across multi-layered networks (overlaying of network architectures), distributed data integrity, and authenticity checks from edge network collection points to commercial cloud environments.

Federal adoption of zero trust architectures is gathering speed, as evidenced by Executive Order 14028 – Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity, Joint Publication 3-14 Space Operations, NIST 800-207 Zero Trust Architecture, and the DoD Zero Trust Capability Execution Roadmap.