June 1, 2021 - ServiceNow, a company that streamlines work processes with modern digital workflows, recently debuted its first product designed for the manufacturing sector. The company is partnering with Siemens Energy to provide a software service that allows energy companies to monitor, identify and respond to cyber threats intended to attack critical infrastructure. This partnership and new offering couldn’t have come at a better time, said Leo Simonovich, head of Industrial Cybersecurity at Siemens Energy . “The energy landscape is the most attacked sector of critical infrastructure, and for good reason: it’s the backbone of our economy,” Simonovich said.
“Legacy assets, like control systems and PLCs, are being brought online and connected to other assets to realize the benefits of digitalization. Every new asset that gets connected introduces new vulnerabilities in the infrastructure.” Marshall Tyler, vice president of Industry Solutions at ServiceNow , said customers have been asking for help securing critical infrastructure, so ServiceNow is happy to answer the call. “This is the #1 thing our customers have asked us to do,” he said. The company’s workflow automation platform enables an enterprise to optimize business processes in any area , including logistics, customer service, employee hiring or scientific discovery.
The Siemens Energy solution combines AI-based software from Siemens’ Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service with ServiceNow’s Operational Technology Management software to detect cyber anomalies and create a workflow to streamline their mitigation. “Various parts of an organization—such as the field, operations center and control room—have to work together quickly to stop cyber threats,” Simonovich said. “We are helping create bridges between these different parts of an organization. With our joint capabilities, we are providing a detection capability that allows operators to zero in on threats without shutting down the whole system.”
“We are taking the IT expertise we have gained over the years and applying it to the manufacturing sector,” said Abhijit Mitra, vice president and GM, Industry Products, at ServiceNow. “We are applying our workflow platform in the area of operational tech management.” He explained that after various anomalies—potential or definite cyber threats have been identified—they need to be prioritized. “ServiceNow will help orchestrate the workflow for dealing with these threats.”
