Critical Infrastructure Protection

Control System Security
Companies in the process industry segment are struggling to secure their plant applications from exposure created by integration with the business. The plant no longer operates in an island. Over the last decade infrastructure companies in an effort to optimize operational efficiency and to merge operational plant information into enterprise operations have integrated plant systems (typically managed by plant IT departments) with the corporate networks (managed by corporate IT departments). This transition has introduced a new set of vulnerabilities to plant networks that used to operate in isolation.

AlertEnterprise is the only software that can uncover security threats across the IT Systems, Physical Access Controls and Industrial Controls without adversely impacting the performance or reliability of the industrial process. This is done by interfacing with process-related middleware like plant historians to access real-time parameters. We can also include data from specialized log management systems that can deliver information directly from field devices like Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), Remote Terminal Units (RTUs), and process applications called Distributed Control Systems (DCS). Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems are at the heart of collecting all this data and managing the operation of a very broad range of instruments, sensors, switches, valves, gauges, servo control motors, pumps, alarms, relays and communications gear. AlertEnterprise software can uncover blended threats across all these areas to detect and prevent unintentional or malicious incidents before they happen.

• Deliver security without impacting integrity of control systems
• Correlate IT access, physical access and control systems
• Deliver full situational awareness and incident management

Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has designated 18 key areas as Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources. Securing these environments is critical because attacks on CIKR could significantly disrupt the functioning of government and business alike and produce cascading effects far beyond the targeted sector and physical location of the incident. As an example more than 100 chemical plants in the US exist where a large scale incident could kill more than a million people. The functioning of this critical infrastructure and the continued availability of the key resources is paramount to the security of our nation

The 18 sectors designated as CIKR by the DHS are:

• Agriculture and Food
• Banking and Finance   
• Chemical 
• Commercial Facilities   
• Communications   
• Critical Manufacturing 
• Dams   
• Defense Industrial Base   
• Emergency Services 
• Energy   
• Government Facilities  
• Healthcare and Public Health 
• Information Technology  
• National Monuments and Icons   
• Nuclear Reactors
• Materials and Waste 
• Postal and Shipping  
• Transportation Systems  
• Water 

AlertEnterprise delivers convergence across IT security, Physical Access Controls (PACS), Video Surveillance, and imaging sensors making it possible to deliver emergency response and situational awareness for incidents related to CIKR. The true prevention of theft, sabotage and other malicious acts requires the correlation of actions across all the domains outlined above.

• Conduct risk analysis and identification of blended threats
• Video verification of incidents and first-responder notification
• Automated Incident Response Guidelines – Remedial Action Scripts

Emergency Response
As the number of regulations grows exponentially, so do the reporting requirements for fraud, intrusions and security incidents. Individuals and groups are mounting organized campaigns that target IT systems, Physical Access Systems and Control Systems. Companies that just monitor IT incidents without taking physical access and control system security into account are leaving themselves exposed to huge risks.

AlertEnterprise combines risk analysis, continuous monitoring, geo-spatial scene analysis, fraud detection and real-time remedial action scripts to deliver the perfect visual command and control application for emergency management. AlertEnterprise provides true prevention and detection of cross-enterprise threats, serious acts of sabotage, terrorism, fraud and theft etc., by correlating seemingly innocent events and activities to detect real threats and risks, while delivering powerful alerting and automated Remedial Action Strategies (RAS) for decisive action.

• Integrate Data feeds from security automation tools as well as video surveillance
• Integration across multiple public-safety agency systems
• Deliver situational awareness and scene analysis
• Ability to trigger physical and logical remediation steps including non-lethal response