The Pentagon is targeting technology more than tanks these days.
That has Boeing Co. aligning its local defense operations in a bid to be the leading supplier of electronic warfare gear.
This summer, the Chicago-based aerospace and defense contractor created its Cyber and Information Solutions department with about 500 workers locally.
It’s also in the market to acquire companies specializing in the sector, which protects information on networks from hackers with firewalls and encryption.
The Pentagon has allocated about $350 billion in its 2010 budget for technology as it shifts priorities away from big-ticket fighter planes and other items.
Surveillance and unmanned aircraft and other devices also are being sought, both of which rely on cyber security to protect them.
“What we’re about to deploy is going to evolve,” said John Lunardi, a vice president with Boeing’s Networks and Communication Systems, C3 Networks, in Anaheim. “We’re just on the brink.”
The new cyber security unit is headquartered in Arlington, Va. The bulk of operations are in Orange County, said Per Beith, director of Global Network Operations, Intelligence & Security Solutions for Boeing.
About 400 of the software and computer engineers in its ranks are in Anaheim with another 100 in Seal Beach.
Most of the workers formerly were part of Boeing’s Advanced Information Systems, which provided intelligence and security systems for a number of government agencies.
Boeing’s bought four companies within the past year: Fairfax, Va.-based Exmeritus Software Inc., Washington, D.C.-based Kestrel Enterprises Inc., Herndon, Va.-based RavenWing and Germantown, Md.-based Digital Receiver Technology Inc.
Part of Boeing’s goal is to integrate technologies developed by these companies in various niches.
“Our challenge is to make a common operating picture,” Beith said.
It also works with a number of local companies that it would consider buying and is eyeing others. Boeing didn’t disclose any of those companies.
“We date before marrying,” Beith said. “The Orange County talent pool is outstanding.”
One of the companyies it’s been in contact with is Irvine-based Uniloc & Veriloc, a six-year-old startup that began working on cyber security for the Pentagon six months ago, said Jim White, vice president of critical infrastructure and security for Uniloc & Veriloc.
The company has talked with most of the major defense contractors, including San Diego-based SAIC Inc. and Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp., according to White. It hopes to license its technology as well as develop it for the military.
Local universities are another source of technology for Boeing. It recently hired a team of engineers from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
It also hopes recent graduates will see jobs in the area as “something cool and new to do,” Lunardi said.
“There are a lot of people chasing cyber security,” said John Hennessey, head of government services for Costa Mesa-based RSM Equico Inc., an investment bank that works with aerospace companies.
Boeing has shown more interest in capturing the market than anyone else, Lunardi said.
Competition
Santa Ana’s Hirsch Electronics LLC, which was bought by Germany’s SCM Microsystems Inc. last spring, is gearing up for government contracts in cyber security.
The company traditionally has been involved with securing buildings with access card protection, though has expanded into cyber security, said Scott Howell, director of worldwide marketing.
“The next war could be fought in cyberspace,” Howell said.
Hirsch employs about 100 locally and is looking to hire more.
The government interest comes as the technology is improving and hackers are increasingly active.
“Hackers come from organized crime groups seeking to steal data for financial gain, or they’re cryptography experts possibly conducting state-sponsored espionage,” Howell said.
Boeing has been involved with cyber security long before the term came about, Beith said.
Aside from protecting its own communications, it’s worked with various undisclosed government agencies.
Boeing’s C3 Networks program, under Lunardi, develops communication systems for the Army that allows soldiers to pass information such as images in real time. The group is working on making devices small enough that they can be part of soldier’s handheld radio.
The Huntington Beach-based program has 800 workers in the county.
It’s scheduled to be completed in 2011 when a decision will be made to go forward with production.
