Industrial Defender has announced it has formed a partnership with InGuardians Inc., a leading cyber security consultancy practice, to offer industry-leading cyber security vulnerability assessment services for the Smart Grid. Under terms of the agreement, Industrial Defender and InGuardians will partner to assess and secure Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) for Smart Grid environments in a vendor agnostic fashion.

The intelligent electric power grid or Smart Grid will use automated metering technology, IP and wireless connectivity with two-way communications to improve the reliability, availability and energy efficiency of the electric power grid. The federal government is providing $4.5 billion in stimulus funding to support the development of Smart Grid technology, and North American electric utility providers are installing millions of automated readers on homes and businesses across the United States and Canada.

Industrial Defender and InGuardians are partnering with electric utilities, Smart Grid vendors and industry standards bodies including the Advanced Metering Infrastructure Security Task Force (AMI-SEC) to help create a comprehensive cyber security strategy to address Smart Grid cyber security risks and vulnerabilities.

"Industrial Defender is a trusted advisor working with OEMs and end-customers, as well as the federal government and industry organizations, to help shape future AMI security standards," said Brian M. Ahern, president and CEO, Industrial Defender. "The combination of Industrial Defender's industrial control and SCADA expertise, coupled with the AMI cyber security assessment capabilities of the InGuardians team, is a key building block of the Smart Grid initiative and will ultimately provide industry leadership and expertise toward its protection."

"Working with Industrial Defender and InGuardians to enhance Itron's cyber security protection for AMI is a critical step toward ensuring the Smart Grid is deployed with end to end security," said Russ Vanos, vice president of marketing for Itron. "We are excited to join two of the industry's leaders in cyber risk protection to help protect our utility customers, as well as their end-users, against cyber security threats and vulnerabilities."

"InGuardians has supported power companies in taking a proactive approach to securing the Smart Grid," said Ed Skoudis, co-founder of InGuardians. "Partnering with Industrial Defender, the industry leader in critical infrastructure cyber security protection, will allow us to build on that prior work, providing vendors and utility companies comprehensive services in protecting the Smart Grid as it is increasingly deployed."