Accenture expands cybersecurity through three new cyber ranges

Accenture has opened three new cyber ranges to help industrial companies simulate and respond to cyberattacks across their most important assets.

The cyber ranges with live-fire and multi-vendor capabilities will enable the development of cybersecurity training and software for evaluating network and other technical vulnerabilities of industrial control systems (ICS).

The cyber range located in Houston, Texas, focuses on the oil and gas industry, from upstream exploration, midstream into downstream refining and retail.

The Washington, D.C. cyber range is housed in Accenture’s Cyber Fusion Center and focuses on the utilities industry from the electric transmission to distribution.

Accenture expands cybersecurity through three new cyber ranges. Image courtesy of Accenture.

Housed within one of the company’s Industry X.0 Innovation Centers, the cyber range in Essen, Germany, caters to the utilities and chemicals industries focused on electric distribution networks and chemical plants.

Jim Guinn II – cybersecurity business lead for the energy, utilities, chemicals and mining industries, Accenture said: “Our ICS cyber ranges are designed to help pressure-test and improve the security posture of organizations so they can innovate safely and grow their businesses with confidence.”

In addition, Accenture is constructing the company’s first ICS Cyber Fusion Center at Accenture’s Innovation Hub in Houston to enable customers to protect their industrial networks, including field level and plant assets from cyberattacks.

Scheduled to open early next year, the new ICS Cyber Fusion Center will join others in Washington, D.C., US; Bangalore, India; Prague, Czech Republic; Tel Aviv, Israel; and Tokyo, Japan.

Luis Luque – ICS cybersecurity global lead, Accenture Security said: “The energy industry has the largest installed base of industrial control systems around the world, and the cyber risk has never been greater.

“Securing and defending these large and complex industrial systems requires not only improving processes and tools, but also adopting cybersecurity practices for operational maintenance and resilience programs.

“With the expansion of our ICS cybersecurity capabilities, we can deliver the most comprehensive security solutions tailored across the ICS environment, delivered by people who understand the zero-loss time imperative our industry expects.”