The Airbus Group and Atos SE, a digital services company, signed a strategic partnership agreement for research and development as well as the provision of products, services, and solutions designed to counteract cyber attacks, Airbus said Monday.
Airbus highlighted that more and more organizations are being targeted by ever-increasing sophisticated attacks that range from stealing sensitive or intellectual property to disrupting operations, requiring innovative security solutions.
The companies intend to complement their respective portfolios to address the increasing demand to protect against such cyber attacks. They hope to provide a more effective range of cybersecurity products, services, and solutions, Airbus said.
“By combining their respective expertise and research and development knowledge in Europe, the two partners will, for example, work on the development of security solutions for extended enterprises (group, subsidiaries and supply chain),” Airbus said in a statement.
Atos SE had a 2014 pro forma annual revenue of over $12 billion with 93,000 employees in 72 countries, the company said. Atos provides consulting and systems integration services, managed services and BPO, cloud operations, big data & security solutions, and transactional services through Worldline.
The partnership includes a global distribution channel partner agreement that addresses a range of businesses and industries including banking, insurance, and the public sector.
“The agreement signed with Atos paves the way for a highly innovative business model. Putting together our expertise will enhance our cyber security offer for governments, critical infrastructure and strategic industries and will also ensure a strong growth potential thanks to the international presence of Atos,” Evert Dudok, executive vice-president of communications, intelligence & security (CIS) at Airbus Defence and Space, said in a statement.
“This partnership with Airbus Defence and Space is a source of great pride for Atos. It is integral to our cybersecurity strategy. By combining our forces, we come up with more innovation to continually improve the protection of our customers’ infrastructures,” Philippe Vannier, executive vice-president of big data & security and chief technology officer (CTO) of Atos, said.
“It is also a great source of satisfaction to be able to expand our range and give our customers access to a portfolio of solutions that is unique in Europe, including the security expertise of Airbus Defence and Space in the defence sector,” Vannier added.
Combined, the companies believe they can better benefit from the growing cyber security market, which Airbus estimates to be up to $84 billion by 2016.