Siemens India wins first cyber security contract for power plant automation

It will provide cyber security solution for to protect CLP India's power plant automation system

Last Updated : Jun 15 2017 | 4:59 PM IST

Siemens India has bagged its first order in cyber security category for power plant automation from CLP India Private Limited, the Mumbai-based wholly-owned subsidiary of CLP Holdings Limited, which is one of the largest investor-owned power businesses in Asia. Siemens will implement a cyber-security solution for CLP India’s power plant automation at Paguthan, Gujarat.

The cyber security solution being implemented by Siemens Limited will support CLP India’s efforts to bolster cyber security at its power plant by detecting threats and minimising the risk of advanced cyber attacks. The solution detects, analyses and raises alarms of the threats that move laterally from Information Technology (IT) to Operational Technology (OT) networks. The solution also includes dedicated endpoint protection to prohibit execution of malicious applications.

Prashant Jain, head, power generation services, Siemens Ltd, said, “In today’s digitalised world, power plant automation systems require robust and resilient delivery systems. Given the increasing frequency of cyber attacks, it is very important to obtain a precise picture of the cyber security level of the plant and its associated instrumentation and control systems. Protective measures can then be implemented to remedy any deficiencies detected.”

With the growing complexity of modern energy and power infrastructure, an increasing number of power plant systems are connected through ‘Internet of Things’. This creates the probability of new security vulnerabilities due to the sheer number of connected systems and the low levels of security currently available in simple devices.

“Digitalisation, of which cyber security is a key component, will have a huge role to play in India’s demand for reliable, efficient and clean power growing by increasing amount of urbanisation and industrialisation. We look forward to collaborating with our customers in their digitalisation endeavours,” added Jain.

As an established global leader in the advancement of digitalisation across a wide variety of industries, Siemens has developed comprehensive cyber security solutions for critical infrastructure, power and industrial control systems. These solutions conform to the latest international standards such as NERC-CIP (North American Electric Reliability Corporation critical infrastructure protection) and VGB, the European technical association for power and heat generation.

Siemens provides comprehensive security solutions combining physical security, network security, and system and software integrity. Over the past years, Siemens AG remote diagnostic engineers have gained data from thousands of machines across the globe. The Remote Diagnostic Centers (RDCs), in the last year, generated a large amount of Proactive Notifications; 40 percent of which avoided forced outages and 20 percent transformed forced outages into planned activities.