CyberX Launches Attack Vector Prediction Tool As Channel Looks To Secure Industrial Control Systems
CyberX on Thursday announced that its cybersecurity platform has added Industrial Control System Attack Vector Prediction technology, which helps industrial companies predict and prevent security attacks as they connect their operational technology to the internet.
CyberX CTO and co-founder Nir Giller said in a statement that the new tool helps security teams dramatically increase OT resilience by validating precisely which mitigation measures — such as network zoning or stronger authentication — can "effectively eliminate the attack vectors with the highest risk of compromising critical assets.’
’Targeted attacks and malware pose real and demonstrable risks to critical infrastructure and industrial organizations,’ he said. ’But as we’ve seen from recent attacks, it’s not always practical to patch or upgrade older industrial control system (ICS) and SCADA systems and devices."
CyberX says its platform is aimed at reducing risk to mission-critical infrastructure used in the industrial vertical as the adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) technology rises in factories. The platform combines continuous ICS threat monitoring with proprietary machine behavioral analytics and threat intelligence, enabling end users to identify advanced cyberattacks in real time.
The company's new tool – which is designed so that it's non-invasive in the operational technology environment – captures network traffic analysis to analyze network and endpoint vulnerabilities in operational technology devices such as programmable logic controllers and SCADA systems.
For instance, a manufacturing employee could use CyberX's technology to track the vulnerabilities in a mission-critical programmable logic controller (PLC) that controls a blast furnace.
The employee could use the tool to figure out what path an attacker is most likely to take to compromise the PLC by detecting vulnerabilities – such as unsafe internet connections and known OS flaws – and then patch and mitigate those potential vulnerabilities.
Research firm IDC has forecast that manufacturing operations will see the loT investment in 2017, to the tune of $105 billion, as more industrial companies implement solutions to help drive efficiency and cut costs on the manufacturing floor. However, as companies connect their machines to the internet, the security vulnerabilities inherent in their industrial control systems also increase.
"Our customers are often concerned about what they don't know. This technology allows them to predict and visualize scenarios for real-time planning of operational cyberstrategy," said Jim Gillespie, CEO of GrayMatter, a Pittsburgh-based CyberX partner. "It helps business leaders and OT personnel quickly understand the top threats to their most critical industrial assets, and how to most efficiently reduce their top risks."
Phil Neray, vice president of industrial cybersecurity at CyberX, said partners will benefit from the company's new feature.
"The opportunity for the channel is to go into an account and be able to provide additional services around threat modeling," he said. "Once customers have found a threat vector, partners can provide their in-house expertise around how to best mitigate the risk."