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Delivering industry-specific expertise

Utilities sector

We believe the collaboration between information security specialists and utilities professionals is essential to securing critical utilities infrastructure. 

Australia is one of the world’s largest energy exporters. It is essential that we secure our critical infrastructure from persistent cyber threats

The utilities industry plays a crucial role in our nation’s sovereignty and is therefore an increasingly targeted victim of cyber attack. As the sector strives to meet our high standard of supply, they adopt business models dependent on technological innovation – leaving them open to increased cyber risk. 

As evidenced by the recent cyber attacks on our critical infrastructure – which are growing in both severity and frequency – the utility sector is vulnerable to malicious cybercriminals who seek to compromise our national security and economic stability. 

Utilities

Top threats to the utilities sector

Below are some of the most concerning cyber threats to utilities:

Advanced Persistent Threats

APTs require continuous, sophisticated hacking techniques. These attacks are designed be clandestine and typically go undetected for extended periods of time. They are performed by state-sponsored cyber-actors who seek to cause major disruption to high value targets such as utilities companies.

Unmaintained Legacy Systems

In order to keep up with consumer demands, critical infrastructure has adopted business models dependent on digital transformation. However, securing brownfield systems and operational technology in conjunction with digitally native technologies has been a great challenge, leaving the industry open to attack.

Internal Threats

Employees or other users with malicious interests threaten the integrity and confidentiality of critical data and processes. A lack of user security awareness is also a pervasive issue, and it opens utilities to a multitude of additional risks. When users are not educated on security, the organisation is more susceptible to threat.

The Content Security approach 

Content Security readily partners with utilities organisations to craft solutions that meet the sector’s evolving issues. We can help you drive performance while bolstering resilience to protect against emerging threats. We offer a range of services that can be scaled to meet your business and industry needs.

The collaboration between information security specialists and utilities professionals is essential to securing and innovating critical utilities infrastructure. As information technology drives innovation, information remains a vital asset. Securing this data requires suitable levels of expertise and complexity.

Our team of security specialists has a wealth of industry expertise, with over 20 years of experience in information security. We can assist in securing data and devices within all utility operations, streamlining digital transformation and helping you meet strict compliance standards.

Utilities

What we do 

Some of the services we provide include:

Identity and Access Management

The average person regularly uses passwords to 27 systems. Within an organisation, they also change roles multiple times while abandoning applications they no longer need. Sometimes they leave and there may be some accounts not disabled. Before long, an organisation has lost visibility of the access they are granting, and the ‘principle of least privilege’ is a distant dream.

Penetration Testing

Ethical hacking is our passion. During penetration tests our experts simulate real attacks on your environment to disclose hidden weaknesses that real attackers seek to exploit. We then provide a prioritised and actionable report with recommendations for improvement. This is a vital part of staying on top of evolving threat and we also offer more in-depth red teaming services.

Security Awareness Training

Developing basic cyber security awareness works in conjunction with your technological security investments. We provide a range of easy and motivating security awareness training, with interactive conditioning and regular reporting to benchmark staff improvement. We also have a Managed Cybersecurity Awareness Program (MCAP).

Digital Forensics and Incident Response

Security incidents are inevitable in this day and age. It is essential that utilities organisations reduce the risk not only to themselves but to other parties, and minimise the impact on their day to day operations when an incident occurs. Our IR Plans and Playbooks can assist with a seamless assessment and recovery plan in the event of an incident or breach.

Vulnerability Management

New system and application vulnerabilities emerge daily, and this makes it hard to keep on top of threat. We offer vulnerability management as a fully managed, periodic service because we understand that organisations, particularily utilities companies with critical infrastructure, require continuous monitoring and high-level security solutions.

Active Defence

We know that organisations are getting breached daily and their existing solutions aren't detecting stealthy threat actors. Active Defence is our solution to this problem, as we provide you with a clear picture of your security and validate breaches that bypass your controls. It is the key to proactively securing your organisation, your brand’s reputation and your customer trust.

More utilities resources

utilities related posts

Innovation or protection? Cyber security in the utility industry

6 ways to protect your organisation during a cyber attack

Active Defence: The importance of proactive security

Need to achieve Compliance? The first step is to undertake a gap analysis of your current level of compliance with legislation or standards.

Ready to start? Let’s talk today about your cyber security needs

If you need support aligning your security strategy, protecting your digital assets or managing your defenses, Content Security can help. Schedule a time with one of our Directors today.