Industrial Defender acquires Teltone Corporation

June 25, 2008
News

Summary

Teltone Gauntlet solutions provide cyber security protection for substation control system equipment and enable utilities to comply with cyber security requirements.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass., June 24, 2008 – Industrial Defender acquired Teltone Corporation, the industry leader in secure communications for electric power substations and provider of the Gauntlet secure substation communications solution. Through this acquisition, Industrial Defender now offers the electric power industry’s most comprehensive cyber security solution for industrial control and SCADA systems. Teltone’s Gauntlet solution has become the industry’s most trusted solution for driving NERC-CIP compliance in dial-up environments, while providing a transparent path to IP connectivity. The Gauntlet Gateway is based on Teltone’s legendary Substation Line Sharing Switch (SLSS) technology, installed in 85 percent of North American substations, providing the electric power industry with the rugged quality and reliability to meet its critical infrastructure demands. This coupled with Industrial Defender’s Defense- in-Depth Cyber Risk Protection solution, enables power utilities to secure their legacy and future communications from the industrial control and SCADA system level to the substation, and fully comply with mandatory NERC-CIP critical infrastructure cyber security requirements. “Securing our critical infrastructure is an extremely important, scary topic,” said Peter Christy, co-founder and Principal Analyst of the Internet Research Group. “Enabling access to industrial control systems and SCADA networks that operate and control critical infrastructure assets offers significant benefits. At the same time, the consequence of a critical infrastructure industrial control or SCADA system failure can be far greater than losing operation of an email server or an Internet shopping site for a few hours. As this news demonstrates, Industrial Defender provides pragmatic solutions that leverage cyber security best practices and compliance standards, including NERC-CIP, to significantly improve critical infrastructure protection.” The electric power industry requires a cyber defense solution that provides support for its entire infrastructure, including Energy Management Systems (EMS), power generation assets, and transmission and distribution assets. With the convergence of enterprise and industrial networks, the industrial control and SCADA systems that operate and manage infrastructure assets are faced with a significant increase in cyber security threats and vulnerabilities– the driving force behind NERC-CIP compliance regulations. Industrial Defender extends its electric power Defense-in-Depth solution with Gauntlet technology, providing customers with infrastructure cyber security, performance and compliance solutions in a flexible and cost effective platform to meet the evolving needs of the electric power market. Teltone’s secure communications technology will also provide Industrial Defender with a secure communications platform for delivering a robust cyber network security solution to the oil and gas, water, transportation and chemical sectors as well, fully supporting the co-existence of legacy and new infrastructure environments. Industrial Defender solutions support both existing and emerging compliance requirements and mandates, and provide electric power customers with a cyber security roadmap for the emerging “Smart Grid.” “Teltone’s Gauntlet has become an industry standard solution for electric power companies looking to secure both dial-up and IP-based network remote access to critical substations,” said Brian M. Ahern, President and CEO, Industrial Defender. “Teltone’s technology fits perfectly into our vision for critical infrastructure and SCADA security, as we’re hearing from more of our customers about the need to secure existing and future substation communications infrastructure, particularly as they evolve from dial-up to IP-based networks. Those challenges coupled with compliance regulations demand a Defense-in-Depth approach to cyber security, and we’re very excited about the ability to now offer our customers an added layer of infrastructure protection.” “We’ve spent years developing a secure communications solution that meets the specific needs of the electric power substation industry,” said Debra Griffith, CEO, Teltone. “We’re very excited to be joining forces with Industrial Defender to support any critical infrastructure industrial control and SCADA system with a robust Defense-in-Depth cyber security strategy that meets the security and compliance challenges of today and tomorrow.” The Teltone acquisition enables Industrial Defender to build on its 17 plus years of industrial control system and SCADA industry experience and more than six years of industrial cyber security experience to fortify end customer environments against cyber security threats and vulnerabilities. With the added value that secure communications technology provides, Industrial Defender further delivers a deeper level of cyber security protection for customers using industrial control / SCADA systems. Industrial Defender is the industry’s globally trusted Cyber Risk Protection provider, with 3,000 SCADA technology and 2,000 security technology deployments. Industrial Defender has more than 90 professional services cyber security vulnerability engagements to date, and 160 plants in 21 countries leverage the Company’s managed security services. About Teltone Corporation Teltone Corporation has become a leading provider of secure communications solutions for the power utility industry. Teltone Gauntlet solutions provide cyber security protection for substation control system equipment and enable utilities to comply with the Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) cyber security requirements recently mandated by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). Based in Bothell, Washington, USA, Teltone develops and manufactures high reliability telecommunications products for utilities, corporations, and other organizations. With more than three decades in the telecom industry, Teltone has grown an extensive, worldwide product base and is known for its product reliability, responsiveness, and quality customer support. Teltone communications products are ubiquitous in substations across the U.S. and Canada. About Industrial Defender, Inc. Industrial Defender, Inc., the global leader in Cyber Risk Protection, is the first company to offer a completely integrated Defense-in-Depth cyber security solution designed to protect the industrial control system and SCADA environment in a flexible and cost effective platform. This comprehensive Cyber Risk Protection lifecycle solution enables the efficient assessment, mitigation and management of cyber security risk within the critical infrastructure network domain. Formerly known as Verano, Inc., Industrial Defender is a privately held company with over 17 years of industrial control system and SCADA industry experience, and more than 6 years of industrial cyber security experience – recently recognized by Frost and Sullivan’s 2008 Company of the Year Award. Industrial Defender has completed more than 90 process control / SCADA cyber security assessments, more than 2,000 global technology deployments in securing critical infrastructure systems, more than 3,000 mission critical SCADA deployments and provides managed security services for 160 process control plants in 21 countries. Industrial Defender, Inc.Industrial Defender, Inc., the global leader in Cyber Risk Protection, is the first company to offer a completely integrated cyber security solution designed to protect the real-time process control and SCADA environment in a flexible and cost effective platform. This comprehensive Cyber Risk Protection Lifecycle solution enables the efficient assessment, mitigation and management of cyber security risk within the critical infrastructure network domain. Formerly known as Verano, Inc., Industrial Defender is a privately held company with over 16 years of real-time process control and SCADA industry experience, more than 1,100 global deployments in securing critical infrastructure systems and more than 3,000 mission critical SCADA deployments. Learn More

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