FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Attivo Networks®, the award-winning leader in deception for cybersecurity threat detection, today announced that the company was awarded a commercialization fund project from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF) for building out a Deception Defense Platform for Cyber-Physical Systems. With matching funds from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), the project is designed to improve critical infrastructure cybersecurity capabilities.
Securing critical infrastructure remains a top concern for both public and private sector organizations given the potential economic and human safety impact. However, there are unique challenges associated with securing these environments. Many of these devices cannot run anti-virus software, cannot easily be taken offline for software updates, and were not designed to be interconnected. Additionally, traditional security controls were not designed to provide visibility and detection within these operational technology (OT) networks.
“Three key approaches emerged from this research agenda and continue to influence PNNL’s advancement of cybersecurity, science, and technology today,” said Thomas Edgar, Senior Cyber Security Researcher at PNNL. “One of these areas is Cyber Warrior which improves the readiness of National Cyber Warrior forces through cognitive/decision support technologies. We’ve partnered with Attivo to further develop models that anticipate, detect, and counter cyberthreats.”
“Attacks on our critical infrastructure are no longer theoretical and this partnership ensures deception is a critical component to detection of threat actors,” said Todd Helfrich, Vice President of Federal Sales at Attivo Networks. “Deception technology provides a non-intrusive way to provide layered security across your most critical infrastructure and we are excited to initiate this collaborative engagement with DOE and PNNL.”
To overcome the challenges associated with quickly detecting and responding to threats in these OT environments, Attivo Networks and PNNL have teamed up to deliver layered security for industrial control systems (ICS) and supervisory control and data acquisition systems (SCADA). Attivo deception technology provides decoys and lures that are designed to efficiently detect and misdirect in-network attacks. The decoys seamlessly deploy in operational technology environments and appear identical to the devices in each organization’s environment.
This project builds upon the company’s momentum in the energy space. Last year, Energy Impact Partners, a leading utility-backed energy investment and innovation firm, became a strategic investor in the company. The funding enabled Attivo Networks to expand its portfolio of energy sector-specific deception technology and increase its go-to-market activities to broaden its customer base of utility companies around the world.
About Attivo Networks
Attivo Networks®, the leader in deception technology, provides an active defense for early detection, forensics, and automated incident response to in-network attacks. The Attivo ThreatDefend™ Deception Platform provides a comprehensive and customer-proven platform for proactive security and accurate threat detection within user networks, data centers, clouds, and a wide-variety of specialized attack surfaces. The portfolio includes expansive network, endpoint, application, and data deceptions designed to efficiently misdirect and reveal attacks from all threat vectors. Advanced machine-learning makes preparation, deployment, and operations fast and simple to operate for organizations of all sizes. Comprehensive attack analysis and forensics provide actionable alerts, and native integrations that automate the blocking, quarantine, and threat hunting of attacks for accelerated incident response. The company has won over 100 awards for its technology innovation and leadership. For more information, visit www.attivonetworks.com.
About PNNL
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory draws on signature capabilities in chemistry, Earth sciences, and data analytics to advance scientific discovery and create solutions to the nation's toughest challenges in energy resiliency and national security. Founded in 1965, PNNL is operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit PNNL's News Center. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.