SMART GRID PROTECTION OPPORTUNITY GROWING SLOWLY

Industrial Control Systems Security; SCADA Security, Industrial Control Networks, Human-Machine Interfaces, Device Controllers, and SCADA Telecommunications: Market Issues, Best Practices, and Global Forecasts

4Q 2012 (Pike Research/Navigant)

“Smart grid control systems, which include transmission upgrades, substation automation, and distribution automation applications, reliably deliver energy to customers around the world. Efforts to secure these control systems have historically focused on physical protection and isolation…

“…[N]ewly developed techniques to operate control systems more efficiently and more profitably rely heavily upon modern IT-enabled devices, often invisibly embedded within control systems. These devices introduce an unprecedented level of cyber risk to control networks. The market for cyber security for control systems is emerging, but slowly.”

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“Smart grid cyber security has weak investment drivers, dominated by regulatory compliance. Threats and vulnerabilities are many and well-known, but in the absence of legal mandates utilities have been slow to act. However the recent Stuxnet, Duqu, and Flame attacks have captured many utilities’ attention…

“…[I]nvestment is not yet aggressive [but] requests for proposals and professional services engagements are up substantially over 2011. This portends a rising market…[throughout] this decade…[and] the marketplace is consolidating as innovative startups are acquired by automation manufacturers and larger security vendors. Pike Research forecasts that revenue will rise from $369 million in 2012 to $608 million in 2020, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.4%...”

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