Marlink will adopt the patented Newtec Dialog platform to evolve and enhance its VSAT services for its maritime customers.
This agreement builds on the companies’ long-term co-operation in the enterprise market.
Driven by the rising demand from its clients for higher throughput services, Marlink decided to increase its investments by adopting the Newtec Dialog platform to continue building a VSAT network of tomorrow for the maritime industry, the company said.
Marlink will expand the use of the Newtec platform for all maritime customers with vessels of all types. Leveraging the full potential of its global Sealink VSAT network, maritime customers will benefit from increased throughput, as well as IT and digital solutions to support their digital transformation.
Newtec Dialog is a single and multi-service VSAT platform that allows operators and service providers to build and adapt infrastructure and satellite networking according to their business or missions. It gives operators the power to offer a variety of mobile and fixed services on a single platform, all of which can be delivered to customers operating remotely.
"Enhancing our high-quality VSAT network with Newtec Dialog will enable us to build an even more future-proof network for our customers on land and at sea," explained Erik Ceuppens, CEO Marlink Group. "We continue to invest in our VSAT network to meet our customers' increasing demand for global high-speed connectivity and enable them to enhance business efficiency through more flexible and cost-effective operations.”
Newtec CEO, Thomas Van den Driessche, added: “Digital transformation is playing a critical role in all aspects of business today and adding Newtec Dialog for maritime, as well as enterprise customers, is a logical step forward. As a pioneer in the delivery of business-critical IT, communications and digital solutions, Marlink is a managed service provider both sectors can count on. We are therefore incredibly proud that Marlink has chosen Newtec to enhance its Maritime VSAT network and continue its high standard of service for customers around the world, both today and in the future.”
In addition, at next week’s Nor-Shipping, the company will launch a new ‘IT Breach Policy’ monitoring for its CyberGuard detection service.
Designed to monitor internet and network usage that deviates from the IT policy set by the IT department, it will immediately raise an alert as soon as suspicious activity is detected. The module builds on the CyberGuard’s monitoring of all outbound and inbound network traffic through a combined automated and expert support approach.
Marlink continued to further develop its new CyberGuard portfolio during the first half of this year in close collaboration with its customers, together representing 200 ships and more than 4,000 crew.
This project helped Marlink to identify, share and evolve new customer-relevant cyber-security services.
A key finding of the customer collaboration programme was that crew are prone to unknowingly open backdoors on corporate devices, which may subsequently be used for cyber-attacks.
For example, by using on board PCs to download content from untrusted sites, it is possible that malicious components may be installed acting as a Remote Access Tool (RAT) for cyber-attackers.
“Working with these customers has resulted in a very positive outcome, providing us with the information needed to develop a feature which is getting more and more sophisticated as it detects threats, which in turn can be resolved using the tools in the Marlink CyberGuard portfolio,” said Tore Morten Olsen, President Maritime, Marlink. “We thank the customers that supported us through this co-creation programme, which has allowed us to release such a powerful solution for hunting-down threats and abnormalities before they harm a ship’s operation, while also focusing on crew internet usage, which has been shown to be a primary contributor to successful cyber-attacks at sea.”