Use Case: Risk Assessment for Critical Infrastructure Providers

Overview

Cybervergent is a comprehensive solution designed to enhance security, compliance, risk, and privacy management for organizations.

With both on-premises and cloud capabilities, it seamlessly integrates with third-party APIs, platforms, and systems.

The Cybervergent Platform helps with data protection and governance to ensure that organizations meet global regulations while maintaining operational efficiency.

The Challenge

A certain utility provider relied on external contractors for maintenance and support of essential operational technology, including Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. These contractors required privileged access to sensitive systems that, if compromised, could lead to widespread power outages, environmental damage, or public safety issues.

The provider’s existing process for vetting and monitoring these third parties was manual and insufficient to guarantee regulatory compliance. This left the provider vulnerable to supply chain attacks or human error leading to system breaches or operational failures.

The RPM Solution

Access Control Evaluation: RPM continuously evaluates third-party access controls and enforces role-based access to ensure contractors only have the minimum permissions required.

Vulnerability Identification: The platform scans and identifies potential vulnerabilities in a contractor's systems and devices before they are granted access to critical networks.

Regulatory Alignment: It ensures all third-party risk management practices are aligned with and traceable back to the strict requirements of the NERC-CIP standard.

The Results

By implementing Cybervergent RPM, the utility provider gained real-time visibility and control over a previously dark area of their risk environment. Cybervergent immediately detected an excessive privilege assignment for a major contractor and flagged three contractor systems with critical, unpatched vulnerabilities. This enabled the provider to strengthen the security of its SCADA networks and also streamlined its compliance reporting for NERC-CIP, ensuring regulatory standing and public trust.