SAN JOSE, Ca. – Secure Computing has announced the launch of a Cyber Security Initiative aimed at protecting critical networks, applications, assets and data from known and unknown attacks and attackers without sacrificing availability.
“These are the networks that involve our way of life,” said Elan Winkler, director of solutions marketing for Secure Computing. “These are networks that control power grids, the water staying clean and emergency services and they cannot be compromised. They must have the strongest security as possible in order to protect them, citizens and economy at large.”
Timed in conjunction with the fifth annual National Cyber Security Awareness (NCSA) Month in October, the company is providing a web microsite that will include all information, case studies, study data, key recommendations and more.
Winkler noted that cyber security wasn t originally designed into critical or content networks. As well, typical security products out there are not applicable and can’t be used by these environments as they don’t have the same robustness in the right areas that control networks need.
“These are extremely vulnerable networks and now they are interconnected to the corporate network so malware from the Internet can go into the power grid uninterrupted and undetected,” explained Winkler.
She added that securing these networks is important especially as new government regulations like NERC CIP ((The North American Reliability Corporation Critical Infrastructure Protection Reliability Standards) are coming up.
The deadline to comply with the NERC CIP regulations is 2010 and companies that don’t comply will face a million dollar a day fine. Secure Computing’s Cyber Security Initiative is all about helping companies comply with NERC CIP. Secure Computing delivers a broad range of technologies to help companies meet and exceed CIP standards such as Critical Cyber Asset Identification; Incident Reporting and Response Planning; and Sabotage Reporting.
For example, Secure Computing’s Secure Firewall protects a company’s control network from every possible access point. Secure Mail and Secure Web provide data leakage protection from within the corporate network to guard information on critical assets. Secure SnapGear and Secure SafeWord protect remote facilities by securing remote devices and communication channels as well as providing strong user authentication. TrustedSource monitors virtually every activity happening throughout the Internet and provides real-time information on attacks happening worldwide.
“Thankfully few incidences have happened but as more and more people figure out how to hack [critical] networks, they need to be protected now as they are vulnerable,” said Winkler.
She added that Secure Computing’s Cyber Security Initiative will not be impacted by the company’s recent acquisition by McAfee. “There is no reason to expect this initiative will change but we may augment it with some work that McAfee has done in this area.”
This column was written by Vanessa Ho of ConnectIT, an IntegratedMarCompany
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