BeyondTrust > Case Studies > Protecting the Grid: CCS and BeyondTrust Team up to Secure Power Plants

Protecting the Grid: CCS and BeyondTrust Team up to Secure Power Plants

Company Size

1,000+

Region

America
Europe

Country

Spain
United States

Product

PowerBroker Endpoint Protection Platform

Tech Stack

Host-based Intrusion Protection System (HIPS)
Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs)

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Technology Category

Cybersecurity & Privacy - Endpoint Security

Applicable Industries

Electrical Grids

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Use Cases

Cybersecurity

Services

Cybersecurity Services

About The Customer

Comprehensive Computer Solutions, Inc. (CCS) is a company that sells computing solutions designed for industrial applications. One of their main customer segments is the energy sector. After the 9/11 attacks, they were asked by their customers to evaluate security. Prior to this, most of their customers relied solely on perimeter security and proprietary communications channels. For the energy sector, CCS's main offering is software which controls the various systems and equipment that generates and delivers electricity. They began evaluating security software, seeking solutions they could package with their own offerings.

The Challenge

Comprehensive Computer Solutions, Inc. (CCS) provides computing solutions for industrial applications, with a significant customer segment in the energy sector. After the 9/11 attacks, CCS was asked by its customers to evaluate security. Prior to this, most of their customers relied solely on perimeter security and proprietary communications channels, which were deemed insufficient post 9/11. CCS's main offering for the energy sector is software that controls the various systems and equipment that generate and deliver electricity. They needed to find a security solution that they could package with their own offerings. The solution needed to be flexible enough to work with Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs), cost-effective, easy to use, and have a customizable front-end to match the specific needs of power plant IT personnel.

The Solution

After evaluating several security options, CCS chose BeyondTrust’s PowerBroker Endpoint Protection solution. Although PBEPP is designed as an Integrated Threat Management solution, with a suite of features that includes antivirus, endpoint protection, vulnerability scanning and more, CCS wanted something more basic: host-based intrusion protection (HIPS). BeyondTrust worked with CCS to package this part of PBEPP with CCS’s energy sector computing solution. PBEPP leverages an intrusion prevention engine that dynamically collects and incorporates new threat data in real time. PBEPP HIPS protects systems regardless of whether or not an attack has been identified and a signature or patch deployed against it. PBEPP blocks zero-day attacks that bypass traditional signature-based solutions, eliminating the need for specific attack signatures. Since the product was launched in 2004, it has successfully thwarted 100% of remote intrusion attempts.

Operational Impact

PBEPP HIPS protects systems regardless of whether or not an attack has been identified and a signature or patch deployed against it.
PBEPP blocks zero-day attacks that bypass traditional signature-based solutions, eliminating the need for specific attack signatures.
Since the product was launched in 2004, it has successfully thwarted 100% of remote intrusion attempts.
CCS was able to package PBEPP with their software without any push back whatsoever from their customers.
CCS is currently using PBEPP primarily as a monitoring and alerting tool.

Quantitative Benefit