Current and future challenges of OPTOKON, a.s. in the field of security 

OPTOKON, a.s. is a long-term supplier of ruggedized products for the construction of communication and information systems in the military environment. However, the goal of the product portfolio is not only the hardware and software functionality of individual products but also the comprehensive and safe reliability of the resulting solutions. "According to the customer's requirements, we implement security elements into our products that will ensure reliable and secure functionality of the supplied customer solutions", says Ing. Jiří Štefl, director of OPTOKON, a.s., who adds "Over the last several years, our company has entered into a number of strategic partnerships that complement our product portfolio with elements of physical, operational and cyber security".

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The basic functions of the LMCP mobile platform include a central monitoring and diagnostics system. This is intended for use with its own platform and monitoring and diagnosing all other ICT components in the network. The system can also be used by those who are not experts in the field of communication and information systems so they can check the functionality of the network at any time and potentially solve errors using the described procedures.

"The basic view of the system shows the floor plan of the asset in which the system is installed, for example, a military vehicle. The operator is thus informed not only about the error condition but also about the location of the given component in the vehicle. This speeds up the resolution of the error" says Ing. Pavel Pospíchal, the technical director of OPTOKON.

In addition to operational safety, OPTOKON deals with cyber security where the company has been professionally cooperating over the long-term with Fidelis CyberSecurity including using their software elements. The security functions of LMCP thus optionally include effective tools for the detection of cyber incidents. In addition, they also implement functions for generating security reports, which can be effectively used during the planning and evaluation of the relevant military operation.

The common denominator of the secure solutions built on the OPTOKON platform is automation or early detection of operational or cyber incidents and automatic and immediate response. "This is how we move our systems to the maximum level of maintenance-free," adds Ing. Pavel Pospíchal.

Since 2022, OPTOKON has been a partner of INFODAS, which supplies security gates to modular ICT systems. These are intended for stationary networks and field systems. "We are responding to the increasing needs of customers for the transfer of information between different security domains and thus creating an environment for the transfer of information of different types of security across different networks", says Ing. Jiří Štefl. The INFODAS products were supplied to the OPTOKON portfolio in their final form.

The current security challenges of OPTOKON are further directed into efficient and smart solutions. An example is the FOTAS system, which, based on the detection of acoustic disturbances in the optical cable installed around the guarded perimeter, records all anomalies and disturbances. The fundamental advantage of this system is that, unlike a camera system, no power supply of active elements is needed around the entire perimeter, it is only necessary to install an optical cable, which does not emit anything and therefore cannot even be detected. This solution is ideal for the protection of perimeters with dimensions of up to tens of kilometers.

 

In recent years, OPTOKON years has incorporated machine learning hardware support into its product portfolio. "LMCP products can thus run applications and services using artificial intelligence elements. In addition, we have increased the operating temperature, resistance, and connectivity of these devices, which increases the future use of our portfolio", says Ing. Jiří Štefl, who adds "Since last year, our portfolio has also included the OPTTA product, which is designed for machine learning directly in the field environment. This will enable the introduction of completely new, not just security, applications and services in the future".

 

Ing. Tomáš Müller, director of ITC Division OPTOKON, a.s.