The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has agreed on a £45.4 million deal with CGI for the development of the third iteration of its Cyber Situational Awareness Fusion Architecture (CySAFA).
Under a contract set to run until late 2026, the IT and business consultancy will retain its role in managing the platform, which is the primary capability for taking in data and running advanced analytics for defensive cyber operations.
The company won the contract to develop the original version in 2016 and built it on modular commercial off-the-shelf and open source components.
It will take on three main workstreams, the first for the iterative development and incremental delivery of CySAFA 3, with the aim of improving frontline functions for a fast and coherent response to cyber threats.
The second is a service integration role, supporting the delivery of services for operational users of the platform by integrating tools from several suppliers. This will contribute to the further evolution of the platform and its compliance with relevant policies and standards.
The third will be a data-as-a-service function, which will involve the delivery of software development resources to extend the use of big data technologies.
National importance
The MoD’s commitment to CySAFA reflects the importance of national cyber capabilities within the UK Government’s Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, published in 2021. These include the capability to detect, disrupt and detect adversaries, and take measures to tackle malicious activity in cyber space.
CySAFA is regarded as a crucial tool in supporting this priority, enabling a quick assessment and response to cyber threats.
