For the Australian critical infrastructure industry, the most recent cyber threats trends report put out by the Australian Signals Directorate’s (ASD) Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) was sobering. Malicious cyber actors, far from being subdued, continue to wreak havoc, with the ASD reporting having responded to well over 1000 cyber-security incidents.
The report was particularly distressing for the country’s energy providers. The sector took another high placement on the list of reporting industries, after a year that saw another high-profile attack on an energy supplier.
More worrisome still, the report highlighted the growing threat to operational technology (OT). These connected systems, including corporate networks, are of increasing interest to hostile cyber actors who can now move laterally through systems to reach their target.
In response, the ASD called for energy providers and the broader critical infrastructure industry to implement robust information security measures to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of their systems.
But as attacks increase in quantity and complexity, energy providers must be able to effectively respond to incidents, too. Can digital software help improve incident preparedness? It sure can. This article lays out key software capabilities that will help energy providers enhance incident preparedness.
Role of digital technology in incident preparedness
Indeed, resilience management platforms now give energy providers the tools needed to anticipate and prepare for security incidents, so they can protect what matters most. The solutions in question help energy providers create incident response plans using automated plans and checklist functionality.
Energy providers can then leverage that functionality to conduct exercises on an ongoing basis to test general incident preparedness, mitigation, and response capabilities. That way shortcomings can be identified and addressed before incidents happen.
What’s more, real-time threat intelligence alerts help energy providers stay ahead of potential threats, too. More specifically, energy providers can benefit from situational awareness dashboards that consolidate feeds from multiple sources to streamline threat detections and improve the incident response process.
What if incidents do occur, as the data indicates? Well, software can help here, too, accelerating incident response times and team effectiveness with automated emails, SMS, and voice notifications.
Teams can also use these platforms to designate personnel to complete mandatory incident reports in compliance with the Security of Critical Infrastructure (SOCI) Act, then assign those staff members tasks, record decisions, and share updates as the incident evolves.
The platforms also provide investigations capabilities to ensure energy providers identify controls to prevent reoccurrence after an incident happens.
Finally, attackers haven’t been cowed. Instead, they continue to have energy providers and other critical infrastructure organisations in their sights.
Fortunately, resilience software providers like Noggin can help, with an advanced platform that provides teams with a centralised location to work together to anticipate and manage threats, conduct preparedness activities, effectively respond to disruptions, and continually learn from insights to strengthen resilience.