Lockheed Martin [LMT] yesterday said FireEye, Red Hat and Splunk have joined its Cyber Security Alliance.

Lockheed Martin’s NexGen center, which houses the Cyber Security Alliance. Photo: Lockheed Martin.

The three software firms will join 18 other members: APC by Schneider Electric, ArcSight, CA, Inc. [CA], Cisco [CSCO], Citrix [CTXS], Dell [DELL], EMC Corp. [EMC] and its RSA security division, HP [HP], Intel [INTC], Juniper Networks [JNPR], McAfee [MFE], Microsoft [MSFT], NetApp [NTAP], Symantec [SYMC], Trustwave, Verizon [VZ] and VMware [VMW].

The alliance was formed in 2009 when Lockheed Martin opened its 26,000 square foot NexGen Innovation and Technology Center in Gaithersburg, Md. (Defense Daily, Nov. 13, 2009). 

“The technology companies all have these cybersecurity solutions and we wanted to make them available for our government customers,” said Lockheed Martin spokeswoman Mary Phillips.

Prospective customers can test software at the NexGen center and ensure its security end-to-end before they purchase and field it. Last month, NATO called on Lockheed Martin to design an advanced IT system for its new building at its headquarters in Brussels. 

The new members will each add a capability to the alliance, according to a Lockheed Martin press release. FireEye provides automated, real-time threat protection through a virtual machine-based security platform. Red Hat will contribute its various open source solutions, including cloud, Linux and storage software. Splunk will offer its tool to index big data coming from websites, applications, servers, networks, industrial control sensors and mobile devices. Customers can use the data to follow intrusions in these areas and actively respond.