Schneider Electric sets up cybersecurity practice

Schneider Electric has launched an Industrial Cybersecurity Practice in Australia which, it said, aims to improve protection for utility, resources and manufacturing industries from attack.

The practice will offer consulting services and cybersecurity solutions to identify potential threats, create response strategies and protect critical service industries against future attacks.

The practice complements Schneider Electric’s existing security-certified product offer.

Critical industries in Australia have seen an increased threat from cyber actors. According to the Ponemon Institute, cyber attacks on energy utilities are rising at 52% per year and now account for 16% of all recorded attacks.

The practice is headed by senior Schneider Electric cybersecurity consultants Peter Clissold and Adam Woodland, supported by a team of experts around the country.

“This is an offer that is built specifically for industry. Our deep industry knowledge, specialisation in smart devices, industrial software and IT skills means we can provide a highly specific security solution for these organisations,” Clissold said.

“This new practice can help industrial organisations identify and categorise their risk, as well as helping protect them from potential future vulnerabilities.”

It is estimated that more than 25 billion devices will be connected to the internet by 2020. Industrial organisations such as electricity and water utilities are increasingly using the devices to gather data, automate processes and improve efficiency.

“The awareness of IoT amongst industrial organisations is very high but an understanding of the security risks is comparatively low. There is a concern that implementing these devices ahead of effective industrial security strategies poses a real operational risk,” Clissold said.

Image courtesy Schneider Electric.