Industry
Security for Energy & Utilities
Power, oil and gas, and water utilities run OT environments where a cyber incident becomes a physical one, on equipment designed decades before it was ever connected.
AVG COST OF A DATA BREACH IN THE ENERGY SECTOR (IBM 2024)
GRID, PIPELINE, AND WATER OPERATIONS THAT CAN'T PAUSE FOR PATCHING
Securing energy and utilities means keeping the lights, water, and fuel flowing while proving control to regulators. It requires an accurate OT asset inventory, segmentation between corporate and control networks, monitoring that understands industrial protocols, and recovery plans rehearsed against realistic outage scenarios.
Why it matters
Where Cyber Incidents Become Physical
Utilities operate SCADA and distributed control systems that must run continuously, often over flat networks with vendor remote access and IT/OT boundaries that were never formally defined. State-aligned actors pre-position in these networks; ransomware groups target the IT side knowing operations will be shut down as a precaution.
- 01
OT Systems Built Before Security
PLCs, RTUs, and control networks use protocols with no authentication, and many can't be patched without a planned outage.
- 02
IT/OT Convergence Widens the Blast Radius
Smart metering, remote monitoring, and corporate connectivity mean a phished engineer's laptop can reach control systems.
- 03
Regulators Now Expect Evidence
CEA cyber security guidelines, NCIIPC obligations, and CERT-In reporting mean audits look for demonstrated controls, not policy documents.
Regulatory landscape, India
Compliance built for Indian energy & utilities
Every engagement is aligned to the regulations that actually apply to your sector in India, so your security programme satisfies auditors and regulators, not just a checklist.
- 01
CEA Cyber Security in Power Sector Guidelines (2021)
Central Electricity Authority guidelines mandate a CISO, ISMS, cyber-crisis plans, and periodic audits for all power-sector entities.
- 02
NCIIPC Obligations
Grid, generation, and major utility systems are protected critical information infrastructure with mandated controls and reporting.
- 03
CERT-In Directions (2022)
6-hour incident reporting and 180-day log retention apply across utilities and their OT integrators.
- 04
IEC 62443 & IS 16335
Reference standards for industrial control system security that regulators and insurers increasingly expect to see evidenced.
How we help
Three services that matter most
Of our 46 services, these are the ones we would recommend a energy & utilities team start with.
- 01
Security Architecture
Design IT/OT segmentation, secure remote access, and zone-and-conduit models aligned to IEC 62443.
- 02
Threat Hunting
Proactively search corporate and OT networks for the pre-positioning activity state-aligned actors leave behind.
- 03
Backup & Disaster Recovery
Recovery plans and immutable backups for control-system configurations and the corporate systems operations depend on.
Solutions
Platforms we deploy for energy & utilities
Partner technology and outcome-based solutions we implement and run for energy & utilities teams, matched to the threats above.
- 01
Kaspersky Threat Intelligence for ICS
Vulnerability and threat data specific to industrial control systems, so your team knows which OT exposures actually matter.
- 02
Microsoft Defender for IoT
Passive discovery and anomaly detection for SCADA and control networks, with no agents on OT devices.
- 03
Acronis Disaster Recovery
Fast, tested failover for the engineering workstations, historians, and corporate systems operations can't run without.
FAQ
Common questions
01Can you assess OT and SCADA systems safely?
Yes. We use passive discovery and read-only assessment methods on OT networks, with active testing only in agreed windows or on replicas.
02What do the CEA cyber security guidelines require?
A designated CISO, an information security management system, crisis response plans, and periodic audits. We help build and evidence each.
03How do you segment IT from OT?
Using zone-and-conduit architectures aligned to IEC 62443, with monitored gateways and controlled remote-access paths for vendors.
04Do you monitor industrial protocols?
Yes. Through OT-aware detection platforms that understand Modbus, DNP3, IEC 104, and similar protocols alongside standard IT telemetry.
05Is ransomware a real OT risk?
Yes. Most utility ransomware incidents start on the IT side, and operations are shut down as a precaution, so IT hardening and recovery matter as much as OT controls.
Start an engagement
Secure what’s next.
Speak with the engineering team to define scope, walk through the methodology, and decide whether Faltrox is the right team to test and run your environment.
Contact us