BAE Systems has launched IndustrialProtect, a military-grade solution designed to protect the industrial control systems of organisations such as power plants, oil refineries or automated manufacturing plants from cyber attack, allowing them to modernise their legacy systems as well as improving their security.
The major applications for the IndustrialProtect solution will be organisations within the Defence, Energy, Utilities and Natural Resources sectors, where industrial control systems are integral to their efficiency, growth and productivity.
The ongoing convergence of Operational Technology (OT) and enterprise Information Technology (IT) networks is bringing great benefits, such as increased automation, more centralised key functions and better management information.
But the convergence also creates greater risk as it increases the opportunity for attack through unauthorised access or espionage and the manipulation of data and data loss caused by both targeted and non-targeted attacks.
IndustrialProtect effectively mitigates these risks by using advanced technology to ensure the security of industrial control systems. It provides all of the necessary security controls in a single appliance, and also delivers unrivalled security enforcement while also enabling greater business efficiency, secure information sharing and connectivity.
BAE Systems’ solution provides security enhancements over existing approaches, whilst also avoiding any impact on business efficiency.
David Garfield, managing director of Cyber Security at BAE Systems Detica, said: “IndustrialProtect addresses key areas where traditional approaches are proving ineffective, simultaneously enabling efficient business processes and protecting against the modern cyber threat.
"It verifies the identity of the individual or system sending information, that the information is received is as it was sent and also that the content is intended and appropriate for the receiving system. Critical systems are thereby protected from access, manipulation and control by those intending to carry out harm through disruption and sabotage.
“This is the first time this type of solution has been available for organisations in the critical national infrastructure. It provides a means to enable information flows that greatly increase business efficiency and operational effectiveness while protecting critical operational networks from attack.”
Unlike many security enforcement solutions, IndustrialProtect is custom-designed from a basic component level and built-in hardware by a security-approved supply chain. It therefore provides higher performance, reliability and security, particularly when compared to solutions based on mainstream software components.
[The IICA has partnered with PACE to bring together experts to present leading edge applications and case studies on Cyber Security. The Defend Your Facility from Cyber Attacks seminar will be on October 30, 2013 in Sydney; email nsw@iica.org.au or call 0410 334 333 for more information.]
[Image: BAE Systems.]