First SIEM solution for smart grids

NitroSecurity announced new product capabilities to manage the security imperatives associated with smart grid deployments.

NitroSecurity’s NitroView is already the only SIEM capable of providing real-time visibility across both the business and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) networks within energy utilities.

The new version includes additional support for the specific devices, protocols and applications in intelligent distribution and metering, and expanded capabilities to collect and analyze the extreme breadth and volume of Smart Grid data.

Smart Meters and other connected systems represent an exponential increase in endpoints – and associated data – that require monitoring by a platform that can scale and process this massive volume. NitroView 8.5 includes:

• Support for the unique identifiers and addresses used in the smart grid, such as the Electronic Serial Numbers (ESNs) used in advanced meters.
• Direct log and event collection from leading smart grid devices, including meters and metering systems providing centralized log collection and analysis for true situational awareness.
• Support for specialized industrial security devices from Secure Crossing, Byres Security and others to support direct security monitoring within the transmission and distribution infrastructure.
• Direct monitoring support for both industrial and enterprise network protocols within NitroView ADM and NitroGuard IPS to provide security at the demarcation between the smart grid and enterprise business networks.
• Expanded NitroView Receiver collection capabilities to support the hundreds of thousands of monitored meters and other devices in a smart grid.

While the smart grid presents tremendous opportunities for new service creation, cost control and environmental concerns, this new intelligence is a massive increase in complexity and vulnerability, dissolving the power generation infrastructure’s closed “perimeter.”

Everything from Smart Meters to Smart Grid billing systems are potential intrusion vectors through which attackers could access SCADA controls, financial systems, customer records and even external business networks. Most smart grid elements were not built with direct security threats in mind, requiring external security devices to be added or created specifically for this new challenge.