Siemens and TÜV SÜD have joined forces to address the growing problem of cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure by offering risk assessments.
Under the partnership, third-party verification outfit TÜV SÜD will offer digital safety and security assessments that incorporate Siemens as a provider of cybersecurity vulnerability assessments across the entire cyber asset management lifecycle.
The digital assessments of industrial control systems in the power generation sector will be vendor-agnostic, meaning they will not be limited to customers using products and technologies manufactured and supplied by Siemens.
Siemens said critical infrastructure in the energy sector continues to be a primary target for hackers, posing “significant potential for damage to the health and safety of people, processes, plants and products”.
There is a heightened need for high-level trust and confidence in digital safety and security where energy systems are increasingly connected, it added.
“Together, we will redefine an approach that will lead to reduction in the growing risks in the digital world, reducing risk in the physical world as well,” said Siemens global head of industrial cyber and digital security Leo Simonovich.
“Combining safety and security to address the human element – and strengthen trust – will provide an unprecedented view into risk.”
TÜV SÜD North America chief executive John Tesoro added: “Leveraging TÜV SÜD’s expertise in safety and Siemens’s strength in digital security redefines how energy companies will manage their growing physical and digital safety and security challenges”.