Dragos, a provider of cybersecurity for industrial controls systems/operational technology environments, and the Downstream Natural Gas Information Sharing and Analysis Center (DNG-ISAC) have announced an initiative to strengthen security and community-wide visibility for industrial cybersecurity in the North American natural gas industry.
Dragos’s Neighborhood Keeper is scheduled to be deployed via the DNG-ISAC, enabling DNG ISAC’s analyst to gain greater visibility into industrial control system (ICS) cyber threats facing the natural gas sector.
The DNG-ISAC analyst will have the ability to view anonymous and aggregated information about threat analytics and Indicators of Compromise as they are detected by the Dragos Platform and shared with Neighborhood Keeper.
Insights and trends gleaned from this information will be shared more broadly with all DNG-ISAC members. At the same time, Dragos customers in the natural gas sector will benefit from access to a larger pool of DNG-ISAC cybersecurity expert analysis providing feedback on threats and vulnerabilities.
Originally developed with the support of an award from the US Department of Energy, Neighborhood Keeper is a free, opt-in, anonymized information-sharing network available to all Dragos Platform customers.
“Achieving strong industrial cybersecurity in the natural gas industry requires a collaborative approach,” said Robert M. Lee, Dragos’ CEO and co-founder. “Supply chains in natural gas are increasingly interconnected and interdependent, making it important to act as a community and mature together to collectively defend against attackers, from state actors to cybercriminal organizations. The DNG-ISAC will now have visibility to cyber threat activity across the industry, and in the future that will be further enhanced with capabilities such as being able to reach out to anonymous asset operators with relevant threat intelligence and even enhance that data with DNG-ISAC’s own insights.”
Cyber threats targeting industrial controls systems and operational technology networks continue to increase in frequency and sophistication, while data collection and analysis remain extremely limited for industrial defenders.
Because adversaries can move through networks undetected, they are able to continually train and prepare for the next cyber attack. DNG-ISAC executive director Jim Linn said: “The goal of the DNG-ISAC is to provide our members with accurate, timely, actionable, and relevant information on threats to ICS/OT networks across the entire North American natural gas industry. We look forward to adding Neighborhood Keeper to our toolbox.”
The DNG-ISAC serves natural gas utility (distribution) companies by facilitating communications between participants, the federal government, and other critical infrastructures. Specifically, the DNG-ISAC coordinates closely with the E- ISAC (Electric Sector) and shares information back and forth between electric, combination (natural gas and electric) and natural gas utilities. The DNG-ISAC promptly disseminates threat information and indicators from government and other sources and provides analysis, coordination and summarization of related industry-affecting information.
For more information visit: www.dragos.com
