Security News > 2021 > March > UK's Home Office dangles £32m for application support on comms-snooping network

The UK's Home Office is on the hunt for a supplier to help support applications running on its counter-terrorism data network to fulfil a contract that could be worth up to £32m. The National Communications Data Service gives security, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies legal access to communications data.

In a tender document released last week, the Home Office said it was looking to engage suppliers early before it puts together a contract to "Facilitate the delivery of its communications data applications."

Within legal requirements, the NCDS works with telecommunications operators to enable the retention, disclosure, acquisition, and use of comms data.

The other three are the Communications Capability Unit, which also sits under the Home Office; Threats and Risk Assessment, Capability Exploration and Research, which is led by the UK's National Crime Agency; and the National Technical Assurance Centre, which used to be a Home Office department but was moved to GCHQ in 2006.

In December last year, the Home Office handed a £30m contract to engineering and IT outfit Leidos to help smooth the "Efficiency" with which government agents can access telecoms data.

The NCDS's so-called Agile Data Retention and Disclosure Services - known by the acronym "ARDS" - is set to "Allow telecom operators to be on-boarded and off-boarded rapidly" providing services the Home Office hoped would support "Collaborative ways of working" with telcos and tech suppliers.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/03/30/home_office_ncds_application_support/