GE Energy announced a global OEM agreement with Industrial Defender, a provider of Cyber Risk Protection for critical infrastructure industries. Under the terms of the agreement, GE Energy will offer Industrial Defender's technology suite to customers. The new offering is a cybersecurity technology integrated with smart grid automation technologies, such as energy management systems, distribution management systems and substation automation solutions.
This combination is designed to enable electric utilities to address their cybersecurity needs and help to secure the emerging smart grid roadmap under development to enhance reliability, availability and efficiency of the electric power grid globally.
"GE Energy has been providing grid management solutions to the electric utility industry for decades," says Sisir Padhy, general manager for GE Energy's transmission and distribution, automation business. "As the utility industry evolves toward smart grid and secure networks, we are continuing to add capabilities to our technology solutions. We recognized that Industrial Defender's security technology has strong applicability to the electric industry's needs as well as interoperability with our products, a combination that provides an excellent value-add to our customers."
The integration of the Industrial Defender technology suite into GE Energy's transmission and distribution solutions is designed to assist North American bulk electricity providers in meeting the government's North American Electric Reliability Corporation-Critical Infrastructure Protection (NERC-CIP) compliance requirements by providing cybersecurity protection and compliance management capabilities.
"With NERC-CIP standards, we've seen the electric power industry take the lead in securing our nation's aging critical infrastructure," says Brian M. Ahern, president and CEO, Industrial Defender. "Industrial Defender and GE Energy will now provide cybersecurity solutions for global bulk electricity providers in addition to providing a cybersecurity roadmap for the emerging smart grid initiative."
