DARKTRACE INDUSTRIAL USES MACHINE LEARNING TO IDENTIFY CYBER CAMPAIGNS TARGETING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Singapore – Wednesday, November 8, 2017 – Darktrace,
the world leader in machine learning technology for cyber defence, has today
announced the creation of Darktrace Industrial, a new business unit dedicated
to identifying emerging and existing compromises on industrial systems and
critical infrastructure networks.

“Cyber-threats to critical infrastructure are evolving at a pace that is
nearly impossible to keep up with, and coupled with the escalated international
attention to ICS threats, the security of our systems is our utmost
business priority,” commented Michael Sherwood, Director of Technology and
Innovation, City of Las Vegas. “Darktrace Industrial is fundamentally changing
the game of ICS cyber defence – armed with its machine learning technology, we
feel confident in our ability to identify the subtle and increasingly
sophisticated attacks threatening our infrastructure. The Industrial Immune
System’s combination of genuine AI and unprecedented visibility heralds a new
future for proactively defending OT environments.”

Threats to critical infrastructure are garnering worldwide attention.
Recently, the U.S. government issued a rare public warning that sophisticated
threat-actors are targeting energy and industrial firms. In addition, the
European Union Network and Information Security (NIS) Directive introduced
security requirements as legal obligations for operators providing essential
services including industrial automation control systems and connected devices.

A product update, Darktrace Industrial
Immune System version 3, can detect silent and subtle attacks on control
systems with new capabilities including:

·
New
mathematical techniques focused on detecting low and slow attacks

·
Powerful
ways to analyse and visualise ICS zone structures

·
Improved
detection of compliance breaches within OT environments

·
Expanded
support for legacy industrial systems and non-traditional IT, such as IoT

Industrial environments, reliant on legacy bespoke systems, face new security challenges such as
connected industrial devices, sensors, remote maintenance repair operations,
and increasing connectivity to IT environments. Darktrace’s self-learning
approach understands the normal ‘pattern of life’ for every operator and device
automatically without requiring agents, or knowledge of operating systems.

“Industrial control systems have long operated under ‘air-gap’
principles that assume their isolation from IT and publicly accessible
networks. In reality, many are accessible from IT networks for control and
integration,” commented Scott Crawford, Research Director for information
security with 451 Research. “As ‘smart’ technologies become more integral to physical
controls, their wide accessibility and connections to public networks are only
likely to grow. This is an increasingly serious concern, considering the public
and personal safety dependent on ICS, and the potential for disruption and
catastrophic damage.”

“With
increased digitisation and the rise of the Industrial Internet of Things, the
need for cyber security within operational environments has never been higher,”
commented Andrew Tsonchev, Director of Technology
at Darktrace Industrial. “Darktrace has a four-year investment in the Industrial Immune System, the world’s first and only proven machine learning technology capable of detecting emerging attacks on OT environments,
including ‘low and slow’ attacks, and ‘unknown unknowns.’ Darktrace Industrial will enable the accelerated
adoption of this pioneering technology, which already defends some of the
world’s most complex industrial control environments from nuclear plants to
power grids.”

Darktrace is the world’s leading machine learning company for cyber
defence. Created by mathematicians from the University of Cambridge,
Darktrace’s Industrial Immune System technology uses AI algorithms that mimic
the human immune system to defend industrial networks of all types and sizes.
In an era where OT and IT are increasingly converging, Darktrace’s technology
is uniquely positioned to provide full coverage of both enterprise and
industrial environments. By applying advanced machine learning and AI
algorithms, Darktrace Industrial defends critical infrastructure across the
world, and is relied upon by leading energy providers, utility companies and
manufactures to secure their ICS and SCADA environments. Headquartered in San
Francisco and Cambridge, UK, Darktrace has 30 offices worldwide. For more
information, please visit www.darktraceindustrial.com