In recent years, utilities have risen in the ranks of common targets for cybercriminals. On Wednesday, December 7^th, @Cisco_IoT and @CiscoUtilities hostedUtilities Security Imperative: More Real Than Ever, a#CiscoChat focused on cybersecurity for utilities companies. During this lively#CiscoChat, we were joined by Patrick Miller, Edna Conway, Marc Blackmer, Eric Ehlers, Jon Stanford, and John Reno. We dove into a discussion on the most pressing cyber threats facing the utilities industry today, how security teams can combat attacks, and what companies can do to better protect precious data and fortify themselves against a breach.

For those of you who missed this fantastic discussion, not to worry! Highlights from the chat are collected below:

Question: How can utilities address industrial cybersecurity challenges?

A2: Employee training is critical to ensure that now unintentional intrusions occur due to unauthorized connections or devices.#CiscoChat

- Eric Ehlers (@egehlers) December 7, 2016

A2.1#ciscochat Primarily isolation with strong perimeter controls. Most [legacy] ICS don't have much in the way of security controls.

- Patrick C Miller (@PatrickCMiller) December 7, 2016

A2: Many are taking a hard look at converging their IT and OT security programs to address cyber risks enterprise-wide.#CiscoChat

- Jon Stanford (@secjon) December 7, 2016

Question: How can utilities plan against attacks and vulnerabilities?

A4: Depending on the geo, these aren't seen as priorities but cybersecurity 2 support service resilience is#ciscochat

- Marc Blackmer (@marcblackmer) December 7, 2016

A4: Use a multilayered cybersecurity strategy, develop an updated incident response plan and long-term security impment strategy.#CiscoChat

- Jon Judson (@JonLJudson) December 7, 2016

A4: Upgrade legacy systems & implement new technology & tools that will ensure sufficient monitoring, detection, & notification#CiscoChat

- Eric Ehlers (@egehlers) December 7, 2016

Question: Aside from technology, what else should utilities companies be doing to manage risk?

A6: Look at risk holistically & know who
makes up your 3rd party ecosystem to drive trust and transparency across the value chain#CiscoChat

- Edna Conway (@Edna_Conway) December 7, 2016

@PatrickCMiller Interesting linguistics for us Secuirty = resilience, privacy, IP protection and more ...@Cisco_IoT @CiscoSecurity

- Edna Conway (@Edna_Conway) December 7, 2016

A6: Developing an achievable enterprise security strategy founded on executive buy-in is key to success, tech is secondary#CiscoChat

- Jon Stanford (@secjon) December 7, 2016

Thanks to all of you who participated in the chat! We look forward to seeing you next time.

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