BURNS & MCDONNELL
As we become more interconnected that means our risks increases , as exposure increases , and subsequently more controls are needed .
“ Data is considered a new currency ,” he added . “ What we learnt from the last couple of years is the rise in exponential threats such as malware , where you have actors siphoning off over gigabytes of data , and the constant threats from ransomware and malware are increasingly becoming more sophisticated . So , it ’ s critical to understand who ’ s in your network .
“ When you look at the future of critical infrastructure there are two key developments : firstly , the integration of Artificial Intelligence to analyse data and understand data much more quickly , and synthesise that data to present patterns faster ; secondly , in the industry today , there is a lot of work on predictive analysis – marrying that with cyber and AI is key integrating security by design .”
Describing a fictional yet plausible scenario , he said a control room operator would start to see systems slow down or lose control access . At this stage , the operator would have to assess whether it was a normal outage or an attack .
“ If the system can ’ t be restored quickly or the risk quickly assessed then it means the longer the bad actors are in your system , the more they learn your systems , siphon information , install multiple backdoors and lodge multiple attacks ,” he said .
Strong partnerships with Xona Systems and IPKeys Power Partners Jumping on the call are Bill Moore , Founder and CEO of Xona Systems , and Trey Kirkpatrick , VP of NERC Implementation and Consulting at IPKeys Cyber Partners .
“ My responsibility is leadership for our zerotrust user access platform for OT and critical infrastructure , providing very secure platforms for the cyber-physical world ,” said Moore .
He wants to “ set the standard ” for secure user access in OT globally . “ We have installations in 30 countries today and would like to get up to 100 across energy , oil & gas , manufacturing , transportation and government market segments – that ’ s our vision ,” he said . He said it is seeing significant potential around automation and inclusion of IIoT .
“ It ’ s provided the capability for us to look at the way we provide a solution , to make it more flexible and adaptable . We see there is OT only user access and then there ’ s the IT-OT convergence , which makes it a much more interesting landscape . We ’ re looking at providing our customers a secure and flexible platform that can address operational requirements across diverse network architectures .”
The singular goal of IPKeys ’ SigmaFlow platform is to make it easier for customers to manage their NERC compliance programs .
“ SigmaFlow is a software platform focused strictly on NERC compliance that our customers use for all the NERC standards ,” said Kirkpatrick .
“ If you look at the whole idea of electrification , it really looks like The Jetsons , but it ’ s a lot of fun , it ’ s really exciting ”
JEROME FARQUHARSON SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTOR , BURNS & MCDONNELL
84 September 2022