By: Naki Carter
It is undeniable that organizations, government agencies, and critical infrastructure providers face evolving cyber threats with increased volume and complexity. Securing your organization's information and assets requires the right amount of effort focused on appropriate areas.
Cyber-Physical Systems Security
According to the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), "Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) comprise interacting digital, analog, physical, and human components engineered for function through integrated physics and logic. These systems will provide the foundation of our critical infrastructure, form the basis of emerging and future smart services, and improve our quality of life in many areas."
Automobiles, medical devices, building controls, automatic pilot avionics, and the smart grid are CPS examples. Each includes smart networked systems with embedded sensors, processors, and actuators that sense and interact with the physical world and support real-time, guaranteed performance in safety-critical applications.
While innovative, these systems also increase cybersecurity risks and malicious attacks, which is why proactive and coordinated efforts are needed to strengthen security and reliance on CPS.
Why Should Your Business Care about Cyber-Physical Security?
While the crisis in Ukraine remains top of mind, many people remember the first-of-its-kind cyberattack on Ukraine's power grid in 2015 that set an ominous precedent for the security of power grids everywhere.
According to U.S. reports, while the unscheduled power outages in Ukraine only lasted between one to six hours for all the areas hit, control centers were not fully operational for more than two months following the hack.
In 2021 we saw rising gas prices and consumer concern following the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack. The hack, which caused chaos in the southern and eastern parts of the United States, also showed how vulnerable the U.S. energy grid is to more attacks in the future.
A few weeks later, the U.S. meat production industry came to a grinding halt due to another ransomware attack. So what do all these incidents have in common? They underscore the potential for harm when the cyber and physical worlds intersect.
Train. Test. Detect. Protect.
As threats to critical assets increase, businesses need to expand security programs to encompass cyber-physical systems.
A unique factor of the GRIMM product line is that we use real-world hardware to introduce a practical and realistic training experience to ready the workforce. Our cyber range has been built from the ground up, integrating all the required functionalities to meet different use cases, exposing all functionalities necessary to end-users.
Cyber-physical (CyPhy™) ranges built by GRIMM experts are used to demonstrate attacks on critical infrastructure in real-time.
Contact GRIMM Experts
Security and risk management (SRM) leaders must simultaneously expand their risk lens to support business resilience and growth goals in today's fast-evolving environments.
At GRIMM, our experts leverage extensive research and development by using mock factory physical range and virtual cyber range capabilities to create cyber awareness solutions through testing, training, education, threat hunting, and demonstrations.
Our team can help your organization evaluate and develop a robust risk assessment program to protect your cyber-physical systems. To get in touch with a GRIMM expert or learn more, email: [email protected].