Industrial Automation Security | Achilles Health Check

Wurldtech - Certification Overview

Concerned About The Cyber Risks Of Your Industrial Automation And Process Control Environments?

Increasing pressures to improve cyber security in industrial environments is being largely driven by increased awareness, public pressure, and regulatory requirements. The discipline of industrial cyber security requires a careful balance of procedure and technology. Initiatives to improve security and implement meaningful solutions to increase safety and reduce costs associated with system downtime are impacting all operators of critical infrastructure. How can an organization assess vulnerabilities and understand risks associated with exposure quickly, reliably, and cost-effectively?

Overview

The Achilles Health Check Service provides a rapid assessment of the cyber security vulnerabilities and exposure risks of SCADA and process control systems. According to our industry leading methodology and industry recommended practices, this service provides a blueprint for future security implementations. By gaining key insight into a device’s resistance to fault or failure due to network errors and cyber security events, this approach allows us to focus on architecture and design changes that address broad categories of risk and not just the latest vulnerability.

The Achilles Health Check is the first step to improving the security of SCADA and process control systems. By combining the power of the widely recognized leader in industrial automation and control systems testing with the industrial cyber-security expertise of Wurldtech’s Professional Services team, the Achilles Health Check implements a core set of tests that can be executed quickly and consistently across various control platforms to provide a high-level summary of the potential risk profiles of the systems that provide the backbone of manufacturing, process control, and critical infrastructure.

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Step 1 - Requirements & Setup
The Achilles Health Check requires between four and six hours of time on-site. Prior to arrival, the customer and Wurldtech select the device to be tested and the customer configures a test lab area. The nature of these tests requires that they not be performed in a live environment. The customer must provide a suitable spare device, choose a maintenance downtime window, or coordinate with their distributor to have a device available for testing.

On-site, the Wurldtech engineer spends a few hours configuring and running the Health Check. Wurldtech only requires minimal involvement from site personnel during the on-site portion to escort our engineer to and from the lab and to review the results upon completion of the test.

Step 2 - Testing & Evaluation
During the on-site evaluation, an initial test for vulnerabilities and exposure risk using the Achilles security evaluation tool is performed on your SCADA and process control systems. The Achilles Health Check requires only a few hours to run and analyze the data, and provides a quick “up or down” set of test results. However, the precise time and effort needed to deliver this service depends on the size and complexity of your mission-critical systems.

Step 3 - Report & Recommendations
Once the test data is calculated and analyzed, a final risk assessment report is delivered to you. This report outlines the results of the Health Check evaluation and recommends further steps for security improvements. The report can be reviewed immediately or at a later date.

The Achilles Health Check is a quick, low risk way to provide an independent review and report to internal executives on the state of vulnerabilities and risk with your organization. Unlike existing audits which focus on compliance gaps and weaknesses, our service:

Facilitates rapid evaluation and demonstration of industrial security threats to your environment
Evaluates current readiness according to industry recommended practices and standards
Establishes priorities for targeted security improvement based on actual risks and vulnerabilities

As security threats increase in number, diversity and sophistication, operators of industrial automation can no longer afford to ignore the need to secure their industrial environment. Wurldtech’s Professional Services team is built to solve this challenge by providing industry-leading expertise with unmatched experience in designing and implementing security tools, technologies and on-site evaluations.

Whether your goal is to increase your security posture or ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations, Wurldtech’s Professional Services can help your organization improve the security environment of your mission-critical systems through expert process control and security advice.

The Achilles Health Check provides a low-risk opportunity for operators to quickly and effectively identify tangible cyber-security risks that will jeopardize the integrity, availability, and safety of industrial operations.