The NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Agency released a Request for Quotation (RFQ) valued at 20 million EUR ($22,148,300) to refresh NATO's cybersecurity services.

"The RFQ is the first business opportunity the Agency has released to support the implementation of Capability Package (CP) 120, a program that is instrumental in helping NATO continue to fulfil its fundamental cyber defence responsibility to defend its own systems. Through this procurement, NATO will replace hardware and software to ensure the organization can still maintain the highest degree of cybersecurity across the NATO Enterprise," says a press release.

“Modern and up-to-date cybersecurity capabilities are essential conditions to ensure that our networks and services remain protected against growing, pervasive and persistent cyber threats. This procurement is critical to ongoing efforts to maintain NATO's technological edge," said Frederic Jordan, Head of the Cyber Security Programme Delivery Branch of the NCI Agency.

The CP120 program will refresh all Communications and Information Systems (CIS) security systems in a phased approach "thus reducing risks and disruptions to NATO's CIS, while keeping pace with modern tools and components," says the press release. Each phase will also include a series of capability enhancements.

The first project, Urgent Obsolescence Management, aims to uplift all systems that will reach their end of life within the current execution timeframes. Subsequent projects will continue to refresh ageing assets and will add enhanced capabilities, in particular in the area of cybersecurity situational awareness and decision support.

The Agency plans to award a contract by the end of 2019 and begin implementation early in the first quarter of 2020.