CISA head targets ransomware and more from RSA

Last week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued an alert regarding a ransomware attack on a natural gas compression facility. The alert from DHS’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency was meant to educate critical infrastructure operators about the dangers of ransomware and how to better protect their facilities.

This week, CISA took that message to RSA Conference 2020 where Director Christopher Krebs discussed efforts to improve operational technology cybersecurity, which he said is a “solid 10 years” behind IT cybersecurity. [optin-monster-shortcode id=”dv4jqlr9fih8giagcylw”]

In the days after the U.S. strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Krebs said the country was on high alert in preparation for a retaliatory cyber attack. Officials believed Iran’s retaliation might take the form of a ransomware attack and even after tensions died down, they’ve continued efforts to protect against such an attack.

“When everything kind of died down at the end of the next week, we didn’t want to take our foot off the gas…we had the attention of the nation and national leadership…[so we thought] let’s go ahead and defend against these ransomware capabilities so that Iran, if it comes back six months from now, you’re in a better position,” Krebs said. “I think we’ve been a little bit late to the game on ransomware.”

On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs was trying “to see what are the barriers to people entering the federal space, in terms of working for the government enhancing our overall cybersecurity,” said Michelle Woods, director of homeland security for the committee’s majority. “So we’re going to be looking to enact some legislation in that space.”

Other RSA2020 news.. Nozomi Networks wins, SCADAFence launches new platform, CyberX highlights growth

Nozomi Networks Honored for OT/IoT Cybersecurity Innovation in InfoSec Awards

Cybersecurity company Nozomi Networks has been recognized as part of the eighth annual InfoSec Awards. As previously reported, the award winners were announced in a special annual edition of Cyber Defense Magazine released at RSA Conference 2020.

“We’re thrilled to receive this coveted cybersecurity awards from Cyber Defense Magazine,” Nozomi Networks CEO Edgard Capdevielle said in a press release. “It’s an honor to be recognized not only for the industry’s most advanced solutions in OT visibility and security, but also for the innovative work we are doing to bring industrial strength monitoring and threat detection to IoT networks and the cloud.”

Nozomi Networks was honored in the category of Market Leader: Operational Technology (OT) & Internet of Things (IoT) Cybersecurity.

“Nozomi Networks embodies three major features the judges look for to become winners: understanding tomorrow’s threats, today, providing a cost-effective solution and innovating in unexpected ways that can help stop the next breach,” Gary S. Miliefsky, publisher of Cyber Defense Magazine, said in the release.

SCADAfence Introduces First IT/OT Governance Portal for Industrial Frameworks

On February 25, operational technology company Scadafence announced the launch of their governance portal. The product saw a soft launch a few months ago and has since been recognized with the Cutting Edge Compliance award by Infosec Awards. Since the announcement of those awards at RSA Conference 2020 on February 24, Scadafence is officially launching their new product.

“SCADAfence has combined its experience in safeguarding industrial control systems across many sectors with a constantly updated governance product,” Scadafence CEO Elad Ben-Meir, said in a release. “We designed the Governance Portal to automate the tedious process of adhering to compliance requirements, covering both central and distributed/remote sites. Our customers have been extremely excited about the launch of this product as it saves them precious time and resources, while assisting them in reducing their attack surface and doing so based on industry best practices.”

The portal is a single one-stop solution that enables real-time monitoring and compliance for IT and OT users. It also ensures compliance with relevant regulations such as IEC62443, NERC CIP, NIS NCSC, the NIST framework and other frameworks.

CyberX Highlights Strong Growth and Business Momentum in 2019

On February 24, security company CyberX announced it saw record growth last year. The company, which specializes in Internet of Things and industrial control system security, says it experienced a series of impressive Global 2000 customer wins in 2019, along with a three-fold increase in it’s bookings.

“2019 was a pivotal year for CyberX as we continued to capitalize on this massive market opportunity and successfully execute on our aggressive growth objectives,” Omer Schneider, co-founder and CEO of CyberX, said in a press release. “We look forward to continuing to help our clients accelerate their digital transformation initiatives without sacrificing security.”

CyberX is also boasting new partnerships with premiere channel partners and technology providers, and new, innovative IoT-aware behavioral analytics and threat intelligence capabilities.

“Our agentless platform has quickly gained a reputation for being the simplest and most robust solution for reducing IoT risk,” Nir Giller, co-founder, GM International, and CTO of CyberX, said in the release. “Customers also benefit from the specialized expertise and best practices we’ve gained from deployments in some of the world’s largest and most complex IoT/OT environments. Customers and partners tell us these are some of the key reasons why we continue to be chosen by more enterprises worldwide.”

Rebecca Addison

Industrial Cyber Editor. Rebecca Addison is a former newspaper editor with a decade of experience in the media industry. During her career, she has interviewed world leaders and corporate CEOs, and covered topics ranging from blockchain and CBD to healthcare and education.