Detica armours critical infrastructure against military hack attacks

BAE Systems Detica has unveiled its IndustrialProtect cyber-defence tool, promising that it will protect critical infrastructure areas from the latest wave of targeted attacks.
Detica lists IndustrialProtect as being tailor-made to protect the industrial control systems of critical infrastructure organisations, such as power plants, oil refineries and automated manufacturing plants, from hackers. IndustrialProtect is different to most protection tools as it integrates into the systems at a component level, being physically built into the hardware.
Detica claims the hardware integration makes IndustrialProtect significantly more effective against sophisticated attacks, offering IT managers a host of advanced powers. These include the ability to segment parts of the network without breaking critical business processes, and the power to block unauthorised systems from exchanging information.
The tool will also offer enhanced monitoring powers to IT administrators, allowing them to check that the integrity of information is preserved from source to destination. It also gives wider transparency of other systems connecting to the industrial controls.
Using these capabilities Detica claims IndustrialProtect is able to verify the identity of the individual or system that is sending information. It can also confirm the information received has not been tampered with while in transit, ensuring any attempt at cyber sabotage is blocked.
David Garfield, managing director of cyber security at Detica, said businesses involved in critical infrastructure areas need upgraded cyber defences to ward off the recent influx of sophisticated, targeted attacks active in the wild.
"National Critical Infrastructure organisations are increasingly concerned about securing their business critical operations. The larger and more diverse the organisation, the greater the number of network vulnerabilities for cyber attackers to exploit. IndustrialProtect addresses key areas where traditional approaches are proving ineffective, simultaneously enabling efficient business processes and protecting against the modern cyber threat," he said.
"This is the first time this type of solution has been available for organisations in the critical national infrastructure. It provides a means to enable information flows that greatly increase business efficiency and operational effectiveness while protecting critical operational networks from attack."
Attacks on critical infrastructure have been a growing concern within the security community. The concerns reached boiling point in 2010 when the Stuxnet worm was discovered attempting to physically sabotage Iranian nuclear power plants. Since then numerous government agencies have warned about the inevitable emergence of further cyber-sabotage tools. Most recently the US Department of Defense issued a public report warning that Chinese hackers have the skills and tools to take down critical infrastructure.