Dragos, Inc., provider of an asset identification, threat detection and response platform, acquires Atlanta-based NexDefense, a provider of industrial controls system (ICS) visibility technology. The company also introduces Dragos Community Tools, a set of free assessment tools to help organizations achieve comprehensive ICS security.
NexDefense developed and sold Integrity, a tool originally funded by the United States Department of Energy and developed as "Sophia" at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). NexDefense was one of the earliest and most well-known ICS security companies in the space, according to Dragos.
“Dragos is committed to safeguarding civilization, and central to this mission is finding ways to provide tools and resources for the entire community,” says Robert M. Lee, CEO and founder of Dragos. “With the acquisition of NexDefense, we can provide a free asset identification tool specifically for operators looking to start with situational awareness and enable continuous asset monitoring capabilities, thereby helping move our entire community closer to the next level of maturity in security against cyber threats.”
Dragos Community Tools provide organizations with free asset identification capabilities, an important first step to effective threat detection and response. This is especially important in ICS environments, as they can contain thousands of assets – many potentially unknown to industrial organizations – with interconnected communications. The tools include both the NexDefense product Integrity, as well as Cyberlens, an assessment tool developed by Dragos team members before founding Dragos Inc.
Dragos says it is providing free access to Dragos Community Tools so that the community can take steps to effectively understand what assets they have and how their ICS assets function, communicate and behave. This visibility is the prerequisite for development and deployment of cybersecurity architectures to detect and respond to threats, according to the company.
For more information, visit: www.dragos.com
