Enzen, which provides consulting, technology, and engineering services to the energy and water sectors, has unveiled zenSmartCyber, its new cybersecurity methodology and framework for UK energy and utility businesses across critical national infrastructure (CNI).
The new offering aims to resolve industry concerns about increased hacking and cyberattacks from both independent and state-backed threats.
The zenSmartCyber model harnesses a framework to assess a business’ smart cyber security maturity across 120 core competencies.
Following this assessment, the methodology and framework evaluate and identifies where an organisation sits on the smart cyber maturity spectrum.
It does so to highlight potential vulnerabilities between the current and targeted levels of security.
From here, actions can be derived to bolster digital and data maturity and subsequent security requirements to allow a business to accelerate its digital and data advancement safely, while safeguarding security and profit.
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Steven O’Sullivan, head of cyber services at Enzen, stated: “UK critical national infrastructure systems are evolving from isolated bespoke arrangements to those that use general-purpose computing hosts, IoT sensors, edge computing, wireless networks and artificial intelligence.
“Although this move improves sensing and control capacity and gives better integration with business requirements, it also increases the scope for attack from malicious entities that intend to conduct industrial espionage and sabotage against these systems.”
O’Sullivan went on to highlight the different and new risks that accompany smart technology. With these in mind, he claims how current security approaches are outdated and insufficient: “Even something as innocuous as a home smart meter needs to be considered with security in mind.
“We have seen the disruption that can ensue when critical infrastructure is targeted, and with US energy companies on high alert for cyber-attacks against the backdrop of Russian threats, the UK needs to follow suit to safeguard its core services.”
The announcement from Enzen comes at a time when UK businesses are battling against rising threats to cybersecurity.
The energy crisis and anxieties about Russian threats in light of the ongoing conflict compound this.
