Lockheed Martin opens Denver cyber-security center

Lockheed Martin Corp. has opened a "security intelligence center" in Denver, the second of two such facilities nationwide that aim to protect against cyber attacks on computer networks, the company said Wednesday.

The Denver facility joins a center that Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed opened in Gaithersburg, Md., in May 2008.

Lockheed -- the nation's largest single military contractor and a leading IT provider to the federal government -- said the two centers are intended to strengthen its ability "to identify and respond to cyber attacks on its networks" by hostile nations, criminals and others.

They serve as "focal points for computer network defense including detection, identification and response to all information security incidents," a company statement said.

The centers are operated by Lockheed's Computer Incident Response Team. The Denver center went into operation earlier this month.

The centers are staffed by cyber-intelligence analysts who "identify patterns of persistent campaigns spanning multiple attacks, and implementing new mitigations to get ahead of the threats," Anne Mullins, Lockheed Martin's chief information security officer, said in a statement.

The centers are linked to the U.S. Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center's DIBNet.

Lockheed's statement did not specify where its Denver security center is located or how many people work there.

According to a recent report by the Reuters news agency, Lockheed is becoming increasingly open about its cyber-security programs "against the backdrop of heated competition with other companies like Northrop Grumman Corp., General Dynamics Corp., Raytheon Co. and Science Applications International Corp. for a share of the growing but fragmented market for cybersecurity and defense."

A separate Lockheed division, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., is headquartered in Jefferson County.

By the Denver Business Journal