Shell enters partnership to reduce cyber risk

Vancouver, Canada - Shell has signed a deal with cyber security firm Wurldtech Security Technologies covering a cooperation to improve the security and reliability of its global oil operations. The Vancouver-based firm operations include a running database, which it claims is the world’s only source of vulnerability and threat analysis for the controls industry.

Under the agreement, Shell will integrate Wurldtech’s network testing platform, called Achilles Satellite, into its internal testing & risk assessment activities. The deal also covers the adoption of its Achilles Level 1 Certification into procurement requirements and factory acceptance tests, and joint R&D in the cyber risk area.

Shell’s internal DACA security team will adopt Wurldtech’s Achilles Satellite testing platform in the first stage of the deal. The technology will be used throughout Shell’s testing facilities and as a major part of ongoing cyber risk assessment activities to gain a greater level of visibility into the robustness of their current and future industrial automation networks, the companies said.

The oil company will then phase-in Wurldtech's cyber security certification criteria into its vendor procurement requirements and factory acceptance tests. This will start with the introduction of Achilles Level 1 certification for embedded controllers and evolve into categories for other devices and applications such as DCS HMI’s and network communication infrastructure.

The partners also aim to jointly accelerate the development of new cyber risk management technologies to address patch management issues currently facing operators of industrial automation networks. Wurldtech said its work with Shell will help to advance risk mitigation strategies by integrating automated intelligence into existing infrastructure to resolve errors that impact process integrity as soon as they are identified.

"This cooperation will complement Shell’s ongoing cyber security initiatives and provides our security team with the technology necessary to drive significant security improvements throughout our process control networks, " said Ted Angevaare, global technology leader, process automation for Shell.

"The security team at Shell has consistently demonstrated strong leadership and a proactive approach when it comes to protecting the reliability of their global infrastructure," said Tyler Williams, president & CEO of Wurldtech. "This cooperation will not only enable Shell to enhance their own internal cyber security posture, but also represents the first step in a larger scale effort to provide a scalable reference model and business case from which to drive benefit-driven cyber security improvements throughout critical infrastructures worldwide."