TRUSTED
NETWORK TECHNOLOGIES’ UTILITY IT STUDY REVEALS EXPECTATIONS
OF CRITICAL ENERGY SYSTEMS BREACHES
Released on
= August 29, 2005, 10:05 am
Press Release
Author = Trusted Network Technologies
Industry = Software
Press Release
Summary = Utilities executives burdened by compliance, but optimistic
regarding security and identity management efforts
Press Release
Body = ATLANTA, GA –– August 29, 2005 – Trusted
Network Technologies, Inc. (TNT), a leading developer of identity
audit and control solutions, today issued the results of a utility
industry survey. The survey indicates that one-third of IT executives
believe that a portion of a utility’s supervisory control
and data
acquisition (SCADA), or energy distribution systems, will be attacked
or compromised in the next two years. Furthermore, 20 percent say
that their SCADA systems have already been subjected to outside
threats. TNT commissioned the July survey as part of the company’s
Know Identity initiative – an ongoing campaign to educate
organizations about using identity information to manage and prevent
the risk of critical information exposure.
The results
of the survey further validate concerns cited in a recent Government
Accountability Office (GAO) report about the threat of real cyber
attacks targeting systems controlling infrastructure utilities.
In response to such concerns, The Energy Policy Act of 2005, signed
by President Bush on August 8, 2005, calls for an “electric
reliability organization” to set standards that will ensure
the continued
reliability of the interconnected electric transmission grid in
North America. The North American Reliability Council (NERC), a
group that has already provided voluntary reliability standards,
is now working closely with government and industry to implement
the reliability provisions of the new law.
“These
findings highlight the risks utilities face, with threats that affect
their profitability, as well as the livelihood and security of individuals
within their vicinity,” said Rob Ciampa, TNT’s vice
president of marketing and business strategy. “Terrorists,
hackers and even internal saboteurs present a constant threat to
utilities that could disrupt plant operations and the distribution
of power to
users. A uniform set of security standards combined with continued
IT education regarding network access control will play a critical
role in ensuring a secure, reliable energy supply.”
Utilities face
the challenge of protecting the nation’s energy supply while
addressing the additional pains associated with compliance. TNT’s
survey reveals the costs and efforts of compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley
regulations and the North American Energy Reliability Council (NERC)
1300 standards Utility IT executives expect NERC 1300 compliance
costs to rise by 52 percent next year and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance
costs to rise by 32 percent Sixty percent agree that compliance
data collection requires considerable manual effort, and one in
five strongly agree Forty-three percent say NERC and SOX compliance
efforts interfere with critical IT projects.
Compliance has
also prompted investment in IT solutions to automate audit and policy
controls. “A large part of the overall compliance exercise
has involved IT, network controls, application controls, and security
controls,” said Jim Turner, compliance director for Alabama
Power Company, the second-largest subsidiary of Southern Company.
“It was a substantial amount of work, and it got some needed
attention and a lot of money appropriated to make those controls
more robust and adequate.”
Utility IT executives
were also asked to assess and prioritize identity management initiatives
in their organizations. About three-fourths are confident in the
quality and completeness of their IT compliance and identity management
efforts. IT executives rated access control and systems management
solutions as their top identity management priorities, followed
by directory solutions and user provisioning. Single sign-on and
token authentication ranked as the lowest identity
management priorities.
The Survey
TNT commissioned Applied Research – West, Inc., to conduct
a utility research project. In June and July 2005, Applied Research
contacted IT executives from 50 large and medium-sized U.S. utilities.
About Trusted
Network Technologies, Inc.
Trusted Network Technologies (TNT) provides identity audit and control
solutions that enable companies to see, control and prove every
user interaction with every computer, server and application. Utilities,
banks, universities and Fortune 1000 companies rely on TNT solutions
to save them millions in complying with Sarbanes-Oxley and other
regulatory mandates, prevent the debilitating risk of exposing confidential
information, and extend new services securely to partners and customers.
TNT solutions enable these identity-driven companies to automate
identity auditing and control as a fundamental business function,
simultaneously strengthening and simplifying identity management
and enforcement. For more information, visit www.trustednetworktech.com
or call 888.KNOW1ID (566.9143).
Web Site = http://www.trustednetworktech.com
Contact Details
= Pamela Brubaker
Connect Public Relations
80 East 100 North
Provo, UT 84606
801-373-7888
pamelab@connectpr.com
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