Janusnet launches Accord for defence metadata security

Janusnet has launched Janusnet Accord, aimed at military, defence and national security organisations that need to preserve security metadata across systems.

The new offering is designed to validate, translate and standardise classification and releasability metadata as data moves between systems, networks and partner organisations.

Security labels created in one system can become hard to interpret or verify when information crosses platforms, network boundaries or national borders. The problem has become more pressing as defence agencies and enterprises adopt Zero Trust and data-centric security models that rely on machine-readable metadata for automated policy decisions.

Accord is intended to act as a trusted metadata authority across an organisation, focusing on the metadata used by existing downstream access control and policy enforcement tools rather than replacing those systems.

The product addresses three main areas of risk in data-centric security programmes: project delays and rework caused by interoperability failures, security gaps caused by incomplete or unclear classification data, and slower information-sharing that can affect operations.

Interoperability focus

Janusnet said the system is designed for multilateral environments where defence organisations work across allied frameworks and standards. It pointed to AUKUS information-sharing arrangements, along with NATO and Five Eyes interoperability standards including Standardization Agreements and Allied Communication Publication 240.

Metadata can break down at several points in an information chain, including endpoints, applications, repositories, gateways and cross-domain systems. Accord is intended to supply trusted attributes to the systems that make downstream access control and policy decisions.

Rather than combining classification, decision-making and enforcement in one product stack, Janusnet has focused on the integrity and consistency of the metadata itself. This allows organisations to keep current enforcement systems in place while improving how classification data is interpreted across mixed environments.

The software is platform-agnostic and can be deployed centrally or near the point where data is created and used. According to Janusnet, this supports use across cloud, hybrid, disconnected and degraded environments, and allows organisations to introduce the technology without replacing existing infrastructure outright.

Defence demand

The launch reflects a broader challenge in defence and national security technology, where coalition operations depend on systems that do not always describe or process the same classification data in the same way. In practice, that can mean a single document held across several systems is treated differently by the controls meant to govern it.

Janusnet said defence customers have repeatedly raised the issue while trying to improve data-sharing controls and tighten security. The company positions Accord as a way to support gradual adoption of data-centric security standards without forcing immediate wholesale changes to existing estates.

Greg Colla, Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Janusnet, said: "Defence agencies have told us their critical pain point isn't a lack of security tooling or classification labels - it's interoperability. Systems can represent the same security classification differently, meaning a document stored across multiple systems can be handled inconsistently by the same downstream control. Janusnet Accord normalizes classification metadata so existing controls can consistently operate on the intended classification, regardless of the originating system. It provides a practical, staged approach to improving security maturity and a roadmap to the implementation of data-centric security standards while reducing operational and program risk today."

Janusnet focuses on data-centric security, enterprise metadata and security classification technology for government, defence and regulated sectors. It said it has worked with standards bodies on the issue, including the National Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence at NIST, and that its founders co-authored Australia's Email Protective Marking Standard.