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Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) has released a new solution in collaboration with industry leaders Juniper Networks and Dragos called the Converged Industrial Edge (CIE).

CIE is a network architecture developed as the best approach for improving, simplifying and securing the IT and operational (OT) information exchange. This network architecture is our response to the ever-growing connectivity and cybersecurity demands placed on critical infrastructure.

With CIE, network operators get a cloud-native, programmable, zero-trust network architecture solution that allows new circuits to be created and implemented in minutes, reduces the potential for misconfigurations, increases system visibility, reduces maintenance and operational costs and minimizes the cyber-attack surface.

Partnering with SEL, Juniper Networks and Dragos is Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), who is constantly seeking new ideas and innovations for boosting cybersecurity. BPA said the technologies developed in this solution show great potential for advancing substation cybersecurity, reducing substation maintenance costs through increased workflow automation and increasing real-time awareness of OT networks.

“The [CIE] software essentially introduces a set of rules to each part of the substation system that monitors all data traffic and every piece of information that passes through,” said Aaron Martin, technical project team lead at BPA. “This ability to comb through every piece of data, and have the system be able to self-notify you when something doesn’t belong, is critical to increasing substation cybersecurity.”

CIE provides technical, operational and business benefits, including:

• Complete end-to-end, Ethernet-based communications for data centers, WAN and the edge.
• Standardized digital infrastructure layer for frictionless information exchange between vendors, systems, devices and domains.
• Native cybersecurity through the combination of deny-by-default, zero-trust networking and threat detection and prevention at every port, packet and process.
• Extensible design that allows flexible cloud-native technologies to automate repeatable tasks, reducing errors and the strain on human capital.
• Modular and pluggable format that integrates with existing operations support systems (OSSs) and business support systems (BSSs), work order and ticketing systems, IP address management (IPAM) and certificate authorities.
• Simplified cross-domain information exchange and trust management between domains.
• Detection and tracking of known malicious behaviors and tactics as well as automatic response for fast-moving, east-west attacks—before compromise and exfiltration occur.

To learn more, visit the CIE solution page.

To schedule a demonstration, email secure@selinc.com.