Quest Partners With Crytica on Edge Security

Quest Technology Management, a global technology management firm, recently announced a partnership with Crytica Security, designed to address the growing threat landscape in operational technology (OT) and internet of things (IoT) environments.

Quest brings Crytica’s IoT tooling into its managed security portfolio to address threat remediation needs

As part of this partnership, Quest will offer bundled Crytica-powered IoT protection as part of its managed security portfolio. Together, the organizations will deliver faster detection, containment, and remediation of advanced threats in distributed, resource-constrained environments where traditional detection tools are weakest.

“Together with Crytica, we’re closing the IoT gap, bringing never-before-seen speed to threat detection and response, so our customers stay resilient and ahead of what’s next,” said Adam Burke, the vice president of sales and partnerships at Quest Technology Management. “The collaboration delivers innovation where it’s most needed, and together, Quest and Crytica are setting a new standard for edge cybersecurity and business continuity.”

According to IBM, the average cost of an IoT-related data breach now exceeds $4.5 million, and Mandiant reports that the average dwell time for undetected threats is 10 days.

“Crytica’s unique and patented solution fits beautifully into the challenging environments typical of operational technology systems used by utilities around the world,” said C. Kerry Nemovicher, Ph.D., the founder, CEO, and president of Cryptica Security. “Using a probe with a footprint of around 100 kilobytes – rather than megabytes – our technology excels at continuously detecting abnormal system activity.”

Crytica’s Rapid Detection & Alert system

Earlier this year, Crytica announced the deployment of the Rapid Detection & Alert (RDA) system, designed to detect malware and zero-day threats in a major U.S. metro public utility system.

The system utilizes a 70-kilobyte probe designed to protect edge-of-the-network infrastructure, such as water and power system controllers and meters.

“From the start, we understood the challenge of building a threat detection technology that could operate within systems used in power, water, natural gas, traffic control, and industrial manufacturing environments – so we made it a priority to meet that need,” said C. Lloyd Mahaffey, executive chairman at Crytica. “We’re excited to now broadly deploy this patented, cutting-edge cybersecurity solution at a time when global threats to our nation’s critical infrastructure are on the rise. Crytica is committed to protecting edge devices in mission-critical systems from ‘bad actors’ so communities can trust that their water, power, gas, and other essential services remain secure.”

The new solution comes at a time when cybersecurity attacks against water and power utilities have increased, according to the National Security Advisor, the Director of the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the National Security Agency.

“Crytica Security’s RDA solution is the first to directly address these evolving threats facing critical infrastructure,” said Kenneth Bible, recently retired CISO for DHS and a Crytica Security Board Member. “It delivers true active edge protection for control and monitoring devices that, until now, were believed to be incapable of this level of defense.”

IoT security is becoming an increasingly significant priority for organizations as devices become increasingly connected. Read more about Aeris expanding its global partner ecosystem to deliver scalable IoT solutions that unify connectivity, visibility, and security.