Secure Two-Factor Authentications for the World’s Largest TETRA Network

Secure Land Communications is a business unit of Airbus. It was founded more than 20 years ago with the goal of driving forward public safety through new digital radio solutions.

It offers advanced communication and collaboration solutions, including infrastructure, devices, applications and services based on TETRA, TETRAPOL and broadband technologies.

Approximately 1,150 Secure Land Communications employees serve a customer base that stretches across more than 80 countries.

In Germany, all security authorities and organizations share the nationwide BOS digital radio network (BOSNET), the world’s largest TETRA network. It is used by national and regional police, fire departments, rescue departments, customs offices, and many more.

A new user management system was introduced in 2012. It could only be accessed from secured properties and was designed to permit up to 50,000 administrators.

In June 2015, during the G7 summit in Elmau, Bavaria, the network faced its biggest ever security test. Up to 18,000 devices were on the network and up to 7,500 units were connected to a base station at the same time.

Secure Land Communications enlisted KOBIL's security expertise to ensure the validity of administrators attempting to access the network.

Our SecOVID OTP device was distributed to administrators, giving them a secure eight-digit OTP at the touch of a button.

By using KOBIL hardware that combines standard Radius connections with our Smart Security Management Server, Secure Land Communications successfully introduced a two-factor authentication procedure that secured its network against malicious actors.

It successfully operated throughout the G7 summit and the SecOVID continues to be used as the 2FA device for all BOSNET administrators.