ICsec in Spider’sWeb BizBlog - How to protect our critical systems?

Today, countries manage infrastructure over the Internet. Online they control the energy supply system, energy raw materials and fuels, the water supply system and the system of production, storage, storage and use of chemicals. A cyber attack on such critical elements of our reality could have a destabilizing effect on the functioning of the entire country.

A cyberattack can lead to a blackout

Popular culture offers us a multitude of visions regarding the consequences of disconnecting energy, water or heating. Without them, transport and banking will not work, and many companies will have to stop their activities. Is it just black eyes or is the industry really vulnerable today?

The industry is very vulnerable to attacks because historically the manufacturing infrastructure has been disconnected from the outside world. Internet of Things changed it a lot – says Robert Juszczyk, president of ICsec S.A.

As confirmation, he shares the results of the Ponemon Institute LLC report from November 2021. The study shows that 60 percent. of respondents consider IT / OT infrastructure to be the least secured in the company’s structures. At the same time, as much as 88 percent. IoT devices are connected to the Internet, and as many as 61 percent. of respondents it is not possible to recognize a cyber attack.

A few years ago I was responsible for building a power plant in the renewable energy sector. I noticed that there are no solutions on the market that would give me full situational awareness of what infrastructure I have in a wind or biogas plant – adds Juszczyk.

So the entrepreneur took matters into his own hands and started building cyber-resilience under ICsec.

ICsec focuses on situational awareness in cybersecurity

The company starts with an inventory of the network. Knowledge is to be available on a continuous basis, and not only during one-off audits. Thanks to this, ICsec can map unattended devices, verify open and unsecured communication ports, redundant communication between devices or outdated firmware on drivers.

Previously, IT providers only offered to “encapsulate” the infrastructure in the form of firewalls, not giving an insight into what a given company has at its disposal – what devices and connections – what threats it is facing and what gaps it has. It’s like installing new locks on the door – the solution can be solidly built, but ineffective at all – explains Juszczyk.

ICsec focuses on the safety of industrial automation, which has been identified in the National Critical Infrastructure Protection Program as one of the key areas. These can be power plants, pumping stations, mines or waterworks. The software secures production and technological lines, transport nodes and data centers.

ICsec offers a plug and play connection to any critical infrastructure

The solution is used, among others, by PGNiG, which supported the startup with PLN 4 million at the beginning of the year. Recently, an additional 10 million was added by VC PKN Orlen. This is the company’s first investment – the fund plans to invest EUR 100 million over the next decade in Polish technology companies. The money will allow the company to develop the product towards wireless networks such as 5G, LTE, campus networks, Industrial Internet of Things.

We build the device in very fast FPGA technology. It will run on its own, without the need for large server software. It will be a breakthrough, very strong offer that will make us ready for the development of 5G in industrial networks – predicts Juszczyk.

The company also focuses on going abroad. He is already in talks with international partners with technological and intelligence experience. The war in Ukraine changed the situation.

Closer cooperation is needed to protect critical infrastructure. In Ukraine, an attack takes place every day, which could prove fatal for Poland – with the currently used security measures and the lack of threat analysis. In this situation, the importance of security monitoring and international cooperation is growing – emphasizes Juszczyk.

The entrepreneur also adds that ICsec is not dependent on the global supply chain, as the technology is created on the spot.

So we can implement the product in the company immediately, without fear that some component will not reach us on time – adds Juszczyk.

We have entered a new level of cyber threats

A well-prepared cyber attack lasts about 20 minutes, which makes it impossible for the attacked person to take any defensive actions – sums up Juszczyk.

That is why companies should not focus only on ad hoc response, but invest in increasing the resilience of critical infrastructure, e.g. by analyzing the vulnerability of network devices. The past clearly shows that we will be connecting to the Internet more and more new elements of our industry.

Read more: [PL] Interview with Robert Juszczyk in BizBlog