Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, more generally characterized as industrial control systems, define the diverse technologies used to operate, manage, and maintain the systems used in critical infrastructure. Vital systems (such as those that support energy management, water, transportation, and oil & gas) are increasingly coming under cyber attack. If these systems are compromised, there can be consequences resulting in financial losses, environmental damage, adverse national security events, and loss of human life. The PSTP CSS SCADA study will look at the current and emerging cyber risk landscape as it pertains to SCADA systems, and review current and future-state security technologies that can be used to thwart the evolving cyber threats that target these complex infrastructure elements.

“It is critical to be knowledgeable about cyber threats before they can inflict damage to critical infrastructure. Cyber intelligence analysis takes an autonomous look at where potential “holes in the fence” or vulnerabilities are and where opportunities are available to attackers. DigitalStakeout will support the study by providing Lofty Perch access to expert cyber intelligence analysts and its use of DigitalStakeout’s proprietary iScoutNetwork™ and iScoutWeb™ solutions to identify, collect, contextualize, correlate, and analyze critical information on the Internet required for the study,” said Adam Mikrut, Chief Security Strategist at DigitalStakeout.

The study will investigate how best to protect vital systems supporting critical sectors including energy, water, transportation, chemical, and pipelines. It will also examine state of the art cyber security technologies and best practices for securing industrial control systems. The findings will be used by asset owners, law enforcement, and the intelligence community for developing a threat management system to mitigate cyber risks against Canada’s national critical infrastructure.

“One of the goals of the study is to develop improved capabilities to aggregate threat information as it pertains to SCADA and emerging cyber vulnerabilities impacting industrial automation. We are very fortunate to have DigitalStakeout be a part of this effort, and are excited about how their solutions enhance the defensive capabilities for critical infrastructure asset owners, the public, sector stakeholders, and both the law enforcement and intelligence communities,” said Mark Fabro, President and Chief Security Scientist at Lofty Perch.

About DigitalStakeout Inc.

DigitalStakeout enables its customers to mitigate cyber intelligence challenges to their mission and objectives. Our leadership’s extensive experience comes from working with a wide range of enterprise organizations – including Fortune 500, Media, Service Providers, Government and Law Enforcement. For more information about our capabilities, please contact us at info@digitalstakeout.com or 800-840-6435.  DigitalStakeout is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.

About Lofty Perch, Inc.

Founded in 2005, Lofty Perch is a global leader in providing cyber security services and technology for mission critical information architectures. With a core focus on SCADA and Process Control environments, the company leverages scientific expertise, security engineering leadership, and extensive practical experience to develop solutions that meet the challenges associated with critical infrastructure protection (CIP).

PAETEC, a national service provider of telecommunications and IT services, wanted to enhance the security of its service provider infrastructure and managed security services while improving the overall security posture of their organization.

Additionally, PAETEC recognized that bots and malware pose a significant threat to its business customers and wanted to take proactive measures in reducing the surface area of risk their customers would face.

These problems, if not resolved, could dramatically affect their service quality to legitimate customers as well as the enterprise-wide risk impact of malevolent traffic being sent across its networks.  To address these concerns, PAETEC required a solution that could be deployed immediately with no downtime for personnel or infrastructure, scalable for their increased growth as well as integrated within existing network security infrastructure without extra staff or costly software or hardware.

The Solution

Analyzing PAETEC’s challenges, DigitalStakeout identified that a critical mechanism for thwarting potentially risky customers was needed within the service provider’s customer acquisition process.  DigitalStakeout deployed iScoutNetwork^™ which now enables PAETEC to evaluate potential risk of an incoming customer by evaluating their prior network reputation.

PAETEC also utilizes DigitalStakeout’s iScoutNetwork^™ on an ongoing basis to bolster adherence to their Acceptable Use Policy, which ultimately provides exceptional network resilience for their customers along with the capability to recognize and mitigate threats traversing their network.

Most importantly, with network availability and security representing a valuable cornerstone to their service offerings, PAETEC has enriched their competitive advantage by extending exceptional SLA assurance to their customers.  As a result of DigitalStakeout “watching the watchers,” PAETEC’s customers enjoy a significant increase in defense from cyber threats.

About DigitalStakeout Inc.

DigitalStakeout enables its customers to mitigate cyber intelligence challenges to their mission and objectives. Our leadership’s extensive experience comes from working with a wide range of enterprise organizations – including Fortune 500, Media, Service Providers, Government and Law Enforcement. For more information about our capabilities, please contact us at info@digitalstakeout.com or 800-840-6435.  DigitalStakeout is headquartered in Atlanta, GA

About PAETEC Communications, Inc.

PAETEC (NASDAQ: PAET) is personalizing business communications for medium and large businesses, enterprise organizations and institutions across the United States. PAETEC offers a comprehensive suite of IP, voice, data, and Internet services, as well as enterprise communications management software, network security solutions, CPE, and managed services. For more information, visit www.paetec.com.

FBI Probes Hack at Citibank
Russian Cyber Gang Suspected of Stealing Tens of Millions; Bank Denies Breach

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation is probing a computer-security breach targeting Citigroup Inc. that resulted in a theft of tens of millions of dollars by computer hackers who appear linked to a Russian cyber gang, according to government officials…”

Read the article here.