Satcom Direct (SD) has achieved International Standard Organization (ISO) certification for its data centre. The 10,000 sq ft facility, located at SD's Melbourne, Florida world headquarters, was assessed by BARR Advisory, a cloud-based security and compliance solutions provider specialising in cybersecurity and compliance for software as a service (SaaS) companies and awarded the certificate in early December.

The audit confirms that the data centre operates at the highest standards possible, applying deep-rooted methodologies to business operations, employee activity and IT processes, which support a structured approach to managing data security. The internationally recognised ISO 27001 mandates continuous controls of operations, monitoring, maintenance and continuous improvement of the SD information security management system. Already SOC 2 type II and SSAE16 compliant, achieving the certification further confirms to aviation and terrestrial customers and partners that data security is a mission critical priority for SD.

“The ISO 27001 status further endorses our offering at a time when cyber events are the norm, not the exception,” states Jim Jensen, SD founder and CEO. “Recent events in the industry demonstrate that cyber attacks are ever present, and the latest activity collated from our threat monitoring subscribers confirms the growing threat. The need to protect data in the air and on the ground is imperative. This recognition gives customers even more confidence when selecting our powerful cybersecurity solutions.

In addition to hosting data for local business and international corporates, the SD data centre enables the proprietary SD Private Network (SDPN) service for aviation clients using the Satcom Direct Router (SDR) series and subscribing to high speed data services. The fully redundant and highly-scalable SDPN ensures existing corporate compliance and security protocols can be applied to an aircraft network like any other corporate location and provides the foundations for the comprehensive SD cybersecurity monitoring and protection services. “We have more than 750 aircraft subscribing to our cybersecurity service which is now a default service, along with the SDPN. Customers are beginning to recognise it's a matter of when, not if, they may fall victim to cybercrime so we are providing an end-to-end resource which encrypts data, and transmits it to and from the aircraft while bypassing the public internet. We also have visibility into the system to monitor for abnormal data behaviour so we can anticipate and avert cyber events,” adds Jensen.

The newly ISO certified SD data centre operates in conjunction with COMSAT, a member of the Satcom Direct family of companies. COMSAT operates Tier 4 certified teleports on the east and west coast of the USA and has just completed a high throughput terrestrial upgrade strengthening its already extensive redundancy and expanding its transmission pathway capacity for existing and new companies launching satellites into LEO, GEO and MEO orbits. Customers now have the flexibility of connecting to the COMSAT network at more Points of Presence around the US, Europe and Australia to support the highly robust and self-recovering network connectivity into the teleports.

“Despite the global pandemic we continue investing and enhancing our global network infrastructure. This latest phase positions COMSAT and SD as the most robust, secure, privately-owned, globally redundant network in the industry,” explains COMSAT CEO David Greenhill. “The changing needs of the growing number of COMSAT partners, their clients and SD customers drives us forward, and we will continue investing in our global infrastructure to meet and exceed evolving market demands. As we look to 2021 we now support more satellite constellation providers and their customers, than any other provider globally.”