Siemens Energy developing cyber security software

Siemens Energy is collaborating with ServiceNow to create a software service that helps energy companies respond to cyber threats.

The new solution brings together Siemens Energy’s artificial intelligence (AI)-based software with California-based ServiceNow’s Operational Technology Management (OT Management) systems.

The announcement follows just days after a ransomware and cyberattack targeting the Colonial fuels pipeline in the U.S. and its operating company. With its 2.5mn b/day of fuel capacity, the Colonial pipeline supplies refined petroleum products to about half the East Coast market.

“Most energy companies struggle with the complex technological and economic challenges involved in monitoring, detecting and preventing cyberattacks on critical infrastructure. Our MDR, powered by Eos.ii, solution, is the first AI-based platform built to provide visibility and context across the energy industry’s digital operating environment in time to stop attacks,” said Leo Simonovich, head of Industrial Cybersecurity at Siemens Energy. “Leveraging Eos.ii’s monitoring and detection software with ServiceNow’s digital workflows will help turn cyber threat intelligence into action so plant operators can respond to incidents with precision defense at machine speed.”

The unified software solution creates a detection engine and workflows that streamline operations for cybersecurity analysts to monitor anomalous or malicious behavior in Security Operations Centers (SOC), and energy plant operators to act on credible threat intelligence at machine speed.

“The ability to quickly turn data into action is critical to being able to proactively, reactively and remotely mitigate cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure. Yet, this is one of the biggest challenges for industrial innovation,” said Marshall Tyler, vice president of Industry Solutions at ServiceNow. “Siemens Energy is a leader in this space and together we are arming the energy industry with the insights and workflows they need to deliver critical services and protect their customers and stakeholders.”

While the energy transition has introduced new levels of cyber risk — exposing flaws in existing vulnerability management and security response strategies — most companies continue to invest in business models and technologies that rely on the seamless integration of physical and digital assets.

Leveraging Siemens Energy’s Eos.ii software, energy companies can turn cyber threat intelligence targeting operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) networks — connected to physical energy assets — into an actionable response through the ServiceNow OT Management product. This enables plant operators to act with Precision Defense, a response method to deploy appropriate, targeted and proportionate measures to correct and recover from cyber incidents. Responding to cyber threats with Precision Defense allows energy plant operators to improve efficiency and reduce operating costs while responding to incidents with little to no downtime for critical systems.

Siemens Energy said its MDR system provides a unified picture of anomalous behavior for defenders with actionable insights to stop attacks. The service goes beyond conventional monitoring by achieving a deeper understanding of how digital systems relate to the real world. With its unified OT and IT data stream, MDR’s Eos.ii technology platform uses AI and digital twin technology to compare billions of real-time data points against a correctly functioning asset. This provides context for Siemens Energy’s analysts to determine not only which events are abnormal, but which are consequential. The technical achievement of unified data streams and machine learning make an unprecedented platform for targeted, in-depth analysis.