News
Thales to provide secure Internet access for French government network
June 2014 by Marc Jacob
Thales has been selected by the French Prime Minister’s Office to
deliver and deploy service platforms offering highly secure Internet
connections for the 900,000 future users of the French government’s
interministerial network (Réseau Interministériel de l’État – RIE).
Thales will build the IT solution and provide managed services as well
as 24/7 network supervision.
Rollout of the new RIE network is part of a broader programme of
government reform. The growing array of threats to information
system security was highlighted in the 2012 Bockel Report and is
identified as a priority in France’s defence spending plan. A radical
change to information and communication infrastructures and the way
they are managed is now considered more crucial than ever. Particular
attention is being paid to securing network access to ensure the
resilience of government networks in an increasingly hostile
environment.
Thales will progressively implement secure access platforms as each
ministerial site joins up to the RIE network. 200 000 users will be
connected as of early 2015.
Thales will implement an innovative solution, based on a proven
architecture and latest-generation data security components, to ensure
the necessary levels of network flexibility, availability and resilience
against cyberattacks.
The service platforms will enable government users to filter all user
data streams to and from the Internet, including web browsing, file
transfers and incoming and outgoing email.
Thales already supplies network access platforms for enterprise
customers, essential operators, the French defence procurement
agency (DGA) and the French Ministry of Justice.
Under this latest contract, the Thales solution will ensure a
standardised level of security across the entire RIE interministerial
network, tailored for each government entity.
