To help ensure the security of power generators worldwide, security software maker NitroSecurity, Inc. http://www.nitrosecurity.com (Portsmouth, N.H.) and process control vendor Emerson Process Management www.emersonprocess.com (Austin, Tex.) announced a strategic OEM agreement that includes technology integration between NitroSecurity’s NitroView and Emerson’s Ovation Security Center distributed control system (DCS).
Emerson has long helped the global power generation industry more effectively control and protect critical processes, and Ovation’s existing security features and functionality are part of Emerson’s commitment to address evolving cyber security challenges. Through this agreement with NitroSecurity, Emerson further enhances the security capabilities of Ovation while also helping customers reduce the costs associated with evolving North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) standards compliance.
In Automation World’s May 2011 cover story, “Securing The U.S. Power Grid From Cyber Attack,” , Ovation Security Program Manager Roger Pan said that even those utilities and power generation customers who had procrastinated about implementing NERC/CIP or other cyber security measures have been awakened to the problem by the Stuxnet event.
Gary Woodward, director of business development and product marketing for Emerson’s Power & Water Solutions division, said Emerson has responded to the need for greater control system security by adding more anti-virus protection, continually hardening the system, automated patch management and more.
NitroSecurity products are already in 500 energy, healthcare and other organizations. NitroView is content-aware security information and event management (SIEM) software that centralizes threat detection and management and compliance reporting.
NitroSecurity CEO Ken Levine says NitroView “proved itself as the only SIEM solution capable of supporting Emerson’s demanding real-time incidence response requirements for process control networks.” The software, he says, combines SIEM, intrusion prevention system and log management functionality to monitor control systems and cyber assets, and removes the scalability and performance limitations of security information management.
Bob Yeager, president of Emerson Process Management’s Power & Water Solutions, concurs. “The technologies we integrate with Ovation must meet Emerson’s high standards of quality, performance and reliability. NitroSecurity has accomplished this, and we look forward to working closely with them to advance the state-of-the-art in security and compliance for our customers,” he said.
Renee Robbins Bassett, [email protected], is Managing Editor of Automation World magazine.
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The 24th annual Ovation/WDPF Users' Group Conference will be held July 17-21 in Pittburgh, Pa. This is the technology event for power and water/wastewater industry end users of Emerson Power & Water Solutions' control systems and advanced control technologies.
Click here for a video summary of USER EXPERIENCES at last year’s conference.
