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Latest Headlines - 06/19/2009
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05/09/2009
Sentar and STARS-IO
Huntsville-based Sentar has been named one of the two prime contractors for the STARS-IO contract, which has a potential value of $24 million.
Full Story

Sentar's New CRP Facility

 
Sentar on Team for National Cyber Range

Tuesday February 10, 2009

HUNTSVILLE - Huntsville-based Sentar Inc. has been awarded a contract from Sparta Inc. to support development of the National Cyber Range for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Full Story here.

This article also appears in the Huntsville Times online here.

 
12/11/2008
Sentar wins MDA Phase II HUNTSVILLE - Sentar's SCAND has been awarded a Missile Defense Agency (MDA) SBIR Phase II Transition contract to develop technologies for detecting malicious programming in software code.  Full story
 
05/19/2008
IARA for Military Systems
HUNTSVILLE - With the publication of the Information Assurance Risk Assessment for Military Systems, Sentar provides a step-by-step methodology that allows IA Analysts' to make operational determinations of the IA Risk stemming from known vulnerabilities.  Full story

   
 
        The Latest Developments at Sentar

 

Huntsville Company on Executive Mission

Sentar Expands in CRP Facility, Expects Growth to Continue

Sentar Named One of Two STARS-IO Primes

Sentar on Team for National Cyber Range

Sentar Moves to Research Park Facility

Sentar's SCAND wins MDA Phase II

Sentar Develops Information Assurance Risk Assessment for Military Systems

Sentar Wins SBIR Phase II for Active Resource Manager

AccrediScan enables easy auditing of DIACAP STIG compliance

Sentar Wins Information Assurance Run-time Auditing (IARA) Phase I STTR

Sentar Wins Digital Microscope (DM) Phase I

Sentar Awarded COMBO Phase I

Sentar Wins ARM Phase I for Self Managing Networks

Sentar Web Site Has a New Look

Sentar Wins Multi Gaming Fusion Phase I SBIR with Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)

Sentar Delivers InTime Work

Sentar Wins PAWS Phase II

Sentar Awarded Position on CSC-AMCOM Express Team

Sentar formally becomes an employee owned company in 2004

An interview with Sentar's CEO


Huntsville Company on Executive Mission

June 15, 2009

Download the video (.wmv 16MB)

WAAYTV - Channel 31 Global Story

Cyber security is something we're learning more and more about each day. It's becoming is so broad, and so critical, that it can be dangerous if not protected.
Now, one local company tapped by the Obama administration is working to keep you safe while surfing the web, Sentar, Inc.

Peter Kiss, CEO and founder of Huntsville based Sentar started this company 19 years ago with just three employees. Now he has 40. They provide the government and the military with technology and software solutions. Just recently, Sentar was was just one of a few companies tapped by the Obama administration for input on cyber security.

Peter Kiss: "This is shaping the policy of the administration for cyber security this is where their going." Cyber security is one of President Barack Obama's top priorities and Kiss and his employees say with us living in such a network centric society-it's crucial to have a system in place to protect vital information that is in the cyber world...which they call the new wild west.

Deborah Williams, the program manager for Sentar has been working with presidential level committees on the national cyber security policy. Deborah Williams: "Cyber security is going to dominate many years to come and we're in the position to make Huntsville be a part of that." Williams will be in Washington, D.C., Wednesday for more Presidential level committee meetings.

Reporter: Haley Baker

Posted at: http://www.waaytv.com/Global/story.asp?s=10537814


Sentar Expands in CRP Facility, Expects Growth to Continue

June 5, 2009 

Huntsville Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development Highlights

Sentar, which supplies technology solutions, software solutions, and information assurance solutions for both commercial and government clients, recently cut the ribbon on its new facility in Cummings Research Park.

The new facility provides more than 10,500 square feet of research and development factilities, multiple conference rooms, a state-of-the-art computer network defense lab and offices with room for expansion.  Sentar currently employs 40 people and expects to add 10 more jobs by the end of the year.

Sentar's latest business venture is cyber security.  Its work in this field rely helped the company win a contract from Sparta Inc. to support development of the National Cyber Range for the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (Darpa).

Read the full article on AL.com:
"Sentar Opens CRP Facility, Expects Growth to Continue"


Sentar Named One of Two STARS-IO Primes

  May 9, 2009 

  Huntsville Times Article

  Huntsville-based Sentar has been named one of the two prime contractors for the STARS-
  IO contract, which has a potential value of $24 million. Sentar will provide security-related
  analysis, test, evaluation and assessment support and program support for Department of
  Defense programs across information assurance, information operations and computer
  network defense activities.

  The Sentar team for the STARS-IO contract includes Booz Allen Hamilton, DAI, Miltec and
  Northrop Grumman.


Sentar on Team for National Cyber Range

  February 10, 2009 

  Huntsville Times Article

  Huntsville-based Sentar Inc. has been awarded a contract from Sparta Inc. to support
  development of the National Cyber Range for the Defense Advanced Research Projects
  Agency (DARPA).

  The cyber range program is part of the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative, a
  major government-wide effort to increase the nation's defenses against electronic attack.

  "This allows us to participate in a high-visibility program on a national level," said Peter
   Kiss, Sentar's founder and CEO. "We're on a great team with industry and academia,
   which increases our exposure especially in the whole cyber security world. It really is a
   big deal for us."

   The company has about 40 employees, and at least 10 more people are expected to be
   hired this year.

   DARPA has been assigned to create the National Cyber Range, a test bed consisting of
   computers and computer systems on which cyber scenarios may be evaluated to assess
   the security of information and automated control systems.

   Sparta will lead a team of commercial, defense and academic organizations to provide
   ways to protect U.S. cyber resources through in-depth analysis, test and evaluation within
   the National Cyber Range.

   Article in Huntsville Times here.


Sentar Moves to Research Park Facility

   January 1, 2009  

HUNTSVILLE - Sentar's new location at 315 Wynn Drive in Research Park provides over   10,500 square feet of research and development facilities.  Multiple conference rooms, a state-of-the-art computer network defense lab and offices with room to grow round out the spacious new features of Sentar's
   completely renovated facility.  Sentar's open house and ribbon cutting ceremony held on
   February 6th featured Huntsville mayor Tommy Battle as guest speaker and was attended
   by other prominent officials and guests.  

   Go here for Sentar directions and a map.  Larger building photo here.


  Sentar's SCAND wins MDA Phase II

    December 11, 2008
   
   
HUNTSVILLE - Sentar's SCAND has been awarded a Missile Defense Agency (MDA) SBIR
    Phase II transition contract to develop technologies for detecting malicious programming
    in software code.

    The problem being addressed is the inability to quickly assess new and existing software
    binary and source code for the existence of malicious code segments. Reuse and
    integration of software components has become routine, promoting rapid deployment
    and cost-effectiveness in Ballistic Missile Defense Systems (BMDS) software
    development. The "scand" MDA SBIR Phase II Transition project will be developing a
    distributed software framework for selecting, executing, and managing analysis tools.
    Collections of software malcode analysis tools will be directed from a central workstation
    and report their results back. Suspicious and malicious code segments will be identified
    for mitigation.

    The new software framework is based on prior MDA SBIR projects and is related to the
    Sentar accrediScan(TM) product. These tools manage the automated scanning of
    systems for security configurations settings and Defense Information Security Agency
    (DISA) Security Information Technology Guideline (STIG) compliance, respectively. The
    scand Transition project began in mid-January and concludes within one year.


Sentar Develops Information Assurance Risk Assessment for Military Systems

   May 19, 2008

   HUNTSVILLE - With the publication of the Information Assurance Risk Assessment for
   Military Systems, Sentar provides a step-by-step methodology that allows IA Analysts' to
   make operational determinations of the IA Risk stemming from known vulnerabilities.
   Specifically geared toward Department of Defense IA issues, the IARA facilitates rigorous,
   operationally focused, defendable and repeatable IA risk assessments.

   Read all about Sentar's IARA development here


Sentar Wins SBIR Phase II for Active Resource Manager (ARM)

   September 1, 2007

   HUNTSVILLE - As computer network systems used by military, government, and business
   organizations become more vital to the organizational mission, they also grow larger,
   faster, more complex, more heterogeneous, and more difficult to protect.  Nowhere is the
   nation’s reliance on network systems more critical than in network-centric warfare
   (NCW).  Successful conduct of NCW requires information sharing across a span of
   information domains and networks.  Among the many challenges to successful NCW is the
   requirement for the networks to be robust and secure.  Necessary to securing these
   networks is the provision of a technology for active network management. 

   Active Resource Manager (ARM), now in Phase II development will provide intelligent
   monitoring and control for military network systems, enabling network security personnel
   to respond rapidly and effectively to cyber threats.

   More about Active Resource Manager here


AccrediScan enables easy auditing of DIACAP STIG compliance

   July 2007

   HUNTSVILLE - SMDC Show - VBCC -  Sentar's AccrediScan is toolkit targeted to the
   Information Assurance professional for enabling easier auditing of DISA STIG compliance.
   It automatically executes and records the results of over 400 automatable Security
   Readiness Review scripts from DISA – reducing a tedious, manual, time-consuming
   activity down to a matter of minutes with a single click of a button.   More info here


Sentar Wins Information Assurance Run-time Auditing (IARA) Phase I STTR

   June 13, 2006

   HUNTSVILLE - The U.S. Air Force has awarded a $99,889 contract to Sentar Inc.,
  
Huntsville, for Information Assurance Run-time Auditing (IARA).  The contract was
   awarded by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) through the Air Force Office of
   Scientific Research (AFOSR).  Sentar, teamed with Dr. Rose Gamble at the
University of
   Tulsa, developed this
concept as a framework to promote the specification of software
   system monitoring, audit, analysis and threat mitigation capabilities in large scale
   software intensive systems. This effort will provide the OSD with an innovative platform to
   enable the rapid development of capabilities to monitor untrusted, executing software
   components within a trusted system and capabilities to capture and analyze monitored
   behaviors. Though such practices are gaining momentum at a host level, approaches that
   can scale to enterprise and system of systems are currently unaddressed. Thus, the IARA
   effort proposes to fill this gap by proving the efficacy of scaling run-time monitoring and
   analysis technologies as well as providing a foundation to design, configure, and deploy
   those capabilities. IARA will be particularly beneficial for dynamic and evolving
   infrastructures such as Future Combat Systems, FORCEnet, Joint Battlespace Infosphere,
   or the burgeoning Global Information Grid. Broad based benefits of the proposed
   capability transcend government needs, supplying commercial organizations a solution
   and tools who seek to verify the operations of untrusted components to be incorporated
   or updated in their enterprise systems. This protection is applicable to a number of large,
   international corporations that depend on access to a growing number of networked
   systems and data stores in order to remain competitive.  IARA provides protection of
   critical enterprise corporate assets at all levels of the corporation at all sites worldwide.


Sentar Wins Digital Microscope (DM) Phase I

   March 2, 2006

   HUNTSVILLE - The U.S. Air Force has awarded a $99,879 contract to Sentar Inc.,
   Huntsville, for Digital Microscope.  The contract was awarded by the Air Force Research
   Laboratory, Rome, N.Y.  Sentar, teamed with SYColeman and Reifer Consultants,
   developed a concept to address the critical issues of software defects and vulnerabilities
   in Code, be it C, C__, Java, or Visual Basic., called the Digital Microscope (DM) under a
   Phase I SBIR with
U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command.  The DM simulates a
   native running environment in which a binary code can be encapsulated, analyzed, and
   tested for malefactor influence, as well as poor coding practices.  The design of the DM
   will allow, for example, the testing of code through injection of timing mismatches,
   embedded codes, and buffer overflow attempts into the binary, all in a quarantined
   environment.  It will also promote plug-and-play extensibility through the use of a multi-
   agent infrastructure for future enhancements such as security wrapper insertions, proof
   generation, and attack modeling and simulation.  The resulting technology will   
   substantially contribute to software vulnerability discovery and remediation by providing a
   comprehensive tool for validation of code safety prior to deployment.


Sentar Awarded COMBO Phase I

   March 2, 2006

   HUNTSVILLE - Sentar, teamed with SYColeman, wins a Phase I SBIR with U.S. Army
   Space and Missile Defense Command. In response to the need for integrated cyber and
   physical security, the Sentar team is developing an enterprise security management
   console called COMBO.  COMBO will include development of a Common Event Ontology
   for cross-domain knowledge representation and definition of a generic interface for
   information exchange between Sentar’s Work-Centered Interface for Computer Network
   Defense (WCI-CND) and physical security systems, such as SYColeman’s intelligent
   surveillance solution, Praetorian.  Data streams obtained from video, proximity, motion,
   and biometric devices will be correlated with cyber-attack information to pinpoint and
   document the locations and personal identities associated with attacks and other
   suspicious activities.  By bringing together Sentar’s advanced technologies for computer
   network defense with SYColeman’s intelligent surveillance solutions, COMBO provides a
   full range of integrated capabilities for security situation awareness. 

   A technology capable of supporting security across both physical and computer domains
   will have broad applicability throughout government and industry, and it is particularly
   appropriate to the distributed architecture of military systems critical to the nation’s
   infrastructure that are susceptible to global attack and in need of such a capability.  For
   example, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems used to manage
   electrical power grids, water treatment and distribution, oil refineries, and pipelines are
   increasingly vulnerable.  As all facets of industry and government come to rely on
   secured information systems, they share a common problem.  Protecting their information
   assets becomes mission-critical, and the threats are pervasive.  Thus the applicability of
   this technology extends to all organizations with a stake in information systems.


Sentar Wins ARM Phase 1 for Self Managing Networks

   March 20, 2006

   HUNTSVILLE - In response to the need for self-managing networks with the ability to plan
   and carry out transitions from actual to desired state of the network within a complex,
   fluid environment, Sentar, teamed with SYColeman, developed a concept for the Active
   Resource Manager (ARM) under a Phase I SBIR with
U.S. Army Space and Missile
   Defense Command. The proposed Active Resource Manager (ARM) will monitor and
   integrate data from an extensible set of network management resources, cyber-defense
   sensors, and executable policies.  An Event Synthesis Agent will use fast graph
   comparison algorithms for consolidation and classification of network events.  The
   consolidated events will be used by ARM Reasoning Agents for generation of Response
   Specifications.  These Response Specifications will be used by the SNMP Interface Agent
   to define the executable commands for altering the network state. Agent marshalling will
   provide an evolvable problem solving process by means of intelligent selection of ARM
   Reasoning Agents, whose capabilities may be nominally redundant but whose relative
   strengths and weakness may vary. 


Sentar Web Site Has a New Look

   Thursday, July 27, 2005

   HUNTSVILLE - Sentar revamps its corporate web site in an effort to provide the latest
   information on solutions, projects, research and technology.  This site is compatible with
   Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer and Netscape.  Send us some feedback and let us know
   how you like it.


Sentar Wins Multi Gaming Fusion Phase I

  
June 29, 2005

   HUNTSVILLE - Sentar wins a Phase I SBIR with AFRL for Multi Gaming Fusion.The
   proposed objective of this SBIR Phase I is to design and prototype a extensible, reusable,
   and verifiable gaming environment, which provides an advanced command and control
   (C2) simulation and experimentation platform. This system will be capable of
   incorporating numerous and variable game engines that interact dynamically to realize
   any C2 scenario introduced. Specifying a goal-driven, high-level architecture that
   embodies reconfigurable compositions of components ensures the extensibility and
   evolvability of the implemented platform. This promotes plug-and-play incorporation of
   new techniques and technologies to elucidate advanced C2 functions without system
   reprogramming. It will provide multiple modes of operation and interaction for C2 function
   experimentation. Thus, it can accommodate batch processing where a predefined
   scenario or campaign is introduced by a single user. In addition, a single user or team of
   users can be directly interacted with the environment to elucidate the outcome of an
   experimental C2 scenario.


Sentar Delivers InTime Work

   Friday, July 1, 2005

   HUNTSVILLE - Sentar, in conjunction with InTime, Inc (www.gointime.com), has released
   the Version 2 InTime Crop Management Web Application.  The enhancements will allow
   farmers to create prescriptions for multiple fields with multiple rates in one request, and a
   new automated installation process has been added to simplify the downloading of
   requested prescriptions and scout maps.

   Sentar provided software development and test services in support of InTime's GIS- 
   based precision agriculture systems. Sentar’s client, InTime, Inc. provides crop
   management services that target a reduction of input/chemical costs through the
   provision of prescription maps that enable the spatially variable application of agricultural
   chemicals to a farmer's field during the growing season. 


Sentar wins PAWS Phase II

   Tuesday, March 22, 2005

   HUNTSVILLE - Sentar, teamed with SYColeman and Reifer Consultants, developed a
   concept for the Protection Analysis Work Stations (PAWS) under a Phase I SBIR project.
   The PAWS concept supports off-line analysis of computer network defense (CND) systems
   for the purpose of recommending improvements to their implementation. The PAWS
   analyzes a CND system in order to improve its ability to protect both the network system
   and its critical applications from malicious or accidental damage. The purpose of PAWS is
   to complement situation awareness system by providing that off-line analysis and
   recommending improvements to it. The opportunity is to begin implementation of PAWS,
   alongside the situational awareness (WCI-CND), to yield a proactive network defense
   system to guard against sophisticated cyber attacks.

   Phase II PAWS efforts will demonstrate the feasibility and utility of an agent-based
   approach to collecting and analyzing information from a multitude of sources to provide
   new information and knowledge to security analysts in the support of updating and
   enhancing security plans and guidelines. The use of PAWS will enable CND systems to
   evolve with and respond to changes as well as with the threats changes. The technology
   is applicable to military systems as well as mission critical commercial systems such as
   those found in utilities and financial markets.


Sentar Awarded Position on CSC-AMCOM Express Team

   Thursday, August 12, 2004

   HUNTSVILLE - Sentar wins position on the CSC AMCOM Express Team in the Business 
   Management Support and Process Improvement Support areas. In the area of Business
   Management Support, Sentar will provide analyses, facilitation, expert advice and
   assessment relating to business management initiatives such as business management
   initiatives and recommendations for execution.For Process Improvement Support, Sentar
   will provide analyses, facilitation, expert advice and assessment relating to process
   improvements such as reengineering recommendation, objectives, and strategies,
   issues/initative, and assess impacts.


Sentar Becomes an Employee Owned Company

   November 17, 2004

   HUNTSVILLE -
Sentar formally became an employee owned company in 2004 with the
   establishment of the Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP).  This plan provides
   shares of stock to employees on a regular basis, allowing them to enjoy the benefits of
   ownership in the company.

 


  An Interview with Sentar's CEO


Business News

   December 13, 2001

    By Marian Accardi
    Times Business Writer

   Sentar CEO keeps software business running layoff-free
   
    Despite setbacks, Peter Kiss doesn't quit, focuses on company's growth
   

Peter Kiss believes that the bumps on the road of life just make you stronger.
 
In 1994, the same year his software development company, Sentar Inc., lost a contract with a customer that made up about half of its business, Kiss bought out his partners and rebuilt the company as a custom software developer.

Late last year, a stop-work order came through on a subcontract that 10 employees were working on, and several other projects were coming to an end.
 
"We had 30 employees and paying work for five," he said, grimacing at the memory.

Kiss didn't lay off any employees, but used corporate resources to keep employees paid. "We went out and got new work," he said. "The result is a better diversified customer base and a quick return to operating levels close to those where we started."

Kiss, Sentar's soft-spoken founder and chief executive officer, just isn't a quitter.

"I don't like giving up, I'm much more of a long-term doer," said Kiss, whose business card lists his title as "Visionary."

These days, his focus is on how to double sales and the number of employees in the next two years.

"Last year, almost all our government contracts were with a single customer," Kiss said. "Now we've got six different customers from the government side. We're much stronger coming out" of setbacks. "That's been the case every time."

In 1982, Kiss was helping a friend put together a business and marketing plan for a company he was starting. "I was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug," he said. Within eight years, Kiss was starting Sentar with a partner, at first doing systems engineering and analysis.

He was finally nudged into action by the death of Paul Wake, the founder of a small Huntsville firm, Wake Research, which had worked on a project for Kiss while Kiss was working at BDM International. Wake's widow was selling off furniture and equipment.

"A contract was already in place, everything was in place," said Kiss. He bought the company and its assets and changed the name to Sentar.

He even moved into the company's office on Bob Wallace Avenue.

Kiss had long wanted to start his own business. As he worked his way up in management over the years with large companies, he questioned business decisions.

He continued to climb in management, and "business decisions still didn't make sense. It was a challenge to see if I could do it better, if I could build an environment that is for employees instead of management and shareholders."



  In 1994, he lost a major customer and it turned
  out to be one of Kiss' toughest years in business.

  "We had grown to about 30 people 6 and we went
   back to almost nothing," said Kiss. "I went for
   about six months with very sporadic paychecks."

   Kiss started rebuilding the company, and moved
   into developing custom software.
 
   On the commercial side, Sentar has recently
   developed a business-to-business online ordering
   system and a telecommunication equipment
   ordering system. For government customers, the
   company has provided ground support software
   for a missile launch, and battle management,
   command and control software.

   "Sentar is pure software," Kiss said. "What we're
   competing on is excellence in software. We're
   building an environment for top-notch software
   people to flourish."


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