Tripwire, Inc., a global provider of security and compliance solutions for enterprises and industrial organisations has announced a technology partnership with power management company Eaton. With this partnership, Tripwire and Eaton are making it easier and faster for U.S. utilities to comply with evolving cybersecurity requirements, including North American Electric Reliability Corporation critical infrastructure protection (NERC CIP)

“Tripwire’s partnership with Eaton allows utility companies to run their cybersecurity programs more efficiently and operate with confidence,” said Kristen Poulos, VP and general manager of industrial cybersecurity at Tripwire. “Integrating our complementary technologies enhances the security of critical substation environments by streamlining tools and processes, without risking interruptions to their operations.”

The Eaton and Tripwire technology partnership eliminates the manual process of entering data across disparate risk and compliance tools. The technology integration will allow Tripwire Enterprise for Industrial Devices to automate data collection and analysis from Eaton’s IED Manager Software that monitors intelligent electronic devices (IEDs), such as relays, remote terminal units (RTUs), and connected input/output (I/O).

“Eaton grid automation solutions yield powerful data for a smarter grid, while our enterprise-wide cybersecurity approach enables our customers to meet stringent specifications and expectations for secure power,” said Ken Polarek, global marketing director of Energy Automation Solutions at Eaton. “Eaton is creating strong industry partnerships, including with Tripwire, that help customers simplify and save time when assessing the NERC-CIP compliance of their substations.”

Eaton’s structured database of IED configuration settings can consist of thousands of valuable attributes for understanding security posture and compliance status, such as password changes, firmware versions, and protection settings. The integration with Tripwire Enterprise provides consolidated reports against NERC CIP and custom policies in a single user interface.

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