What Leonardo and Snam will do for the safety of foreign energy networks
Leonardo and Snam announced a memorandum on the cyber protection of energy networks and infrastructures, which are increasingly exposed to hacker attacks. All the details
Leonardo, a company active in the aerospace and defense sector, and Snam, an energy infrastructure company, today signed a memorandum of understanding on the digitization and cyber security of energy networks and infrastructures. The agreement – which has a duration of three years – also opens up a collaboration on hydrogen, a clean fuel considered essential for achieving the decarbonisation objectives.
CYBER RISKS FOR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
“Making the key sectors of industry sustainable and protecting critical infrastructures represent priority challenges for the future of our company,” said Snam's CEO, Marco Alverà.
The digitization of physical infrastructures that offer public utility services – hospitals, ports, dams, but also gas pipelines, electricity grids and energy plants – will guarantee greater management efficiency through the automation of processes and the possibility of remote monitoring. In addition to the opportunities, however, Internet connectivity is also increasing the risks of hacker breaches with potentially destabilizing consequences for entire nations.
The most glaring case of recent months was theransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline , one of the most important in the United States, which created fuel supply problems in the eastern part of the country. Energy companies will be called upon to equip themselves with adequate defenses against cyberattacks.
WHAT PERFUME (LEONARDO) SAID
In this sense, the partnership between Leonardo and Snam – reads the press release – "will have a particular focus" precisely on "digitization, monitoring, physical and cyber security of processes, networks and infrastructures in order to increase their resilience and operational efficiency ".
These are aspects that, as declared by Leonardo's CEO, Alessandro Profumo, fall "within the framework of our technological and market development roadmaps identified in the Be Tomorrow – Leonardo 2030 strategic plan, based on long-term sustainable growth , which also provides for the development of advanced systems to monitor and defend critical infrastructures ”.
WHICH TECHNOLOGIES INCLUDES THE LEONARDO-SNAM AGREEMENT
In the joint statement, the two companies state that their collaboration "will explore the possibilities offered by the most innovative technologies for increasing the operational efficiency and resilience of industrial plants".
More specifically, we talk about Industry 4.0 – a term that refers to industrial automation to improve the efficiency and productivity of factories – and of "applications for the digitalized management of infrastructures and industrial processes" based on operating technologies and 'information (OT and IT), on the Internet of things, artificial intelligence, the blockchain and the digital twin (i.e. the virtual' copy 'of a physical system).
The safety of the infrastructures will be guaranteed through the use of communication technologies, advanced sensors and drones and satellites for monitoring physical assets. As regards the cyber domain, the memorandum will concern the analysis of threats, the detection of cyber attacks and response.
THE PRESENCE OF LEONARDO AND SNAM IN THE WORLD
In the press release, Leonardo presents itself as the "only Italian company dedicated to the supervision of strategic technologies for the security of the countries in which it operates": in addition to Italy, it also has a significant presence in the United Kingdom, Poland and the United States.
Snam, on the other hand, manages energy infrastructures in Italy, Albania, Austria, the United Arab Emirates, France, Greece, the United Kingdom and recently also in China and India. It is the first energy company in Europe for the extension of the transport network (over 41 thousand kilometers) and for the storage capacity of natural gas (20 billion cubic meters).
PARTNERSHIPS TO EXTEND TO OTHER COMPANIES?
The security agreement is not limited to Leonardo and Snam, but provides that the joint security solutions developed can also be applied to other international players operating in the sector of large energy networks.
The memorandum between its companies can be subsequently developed through a series of binding agreements.
AGREEMENT ON HYDROGEN
In the press release of the memorandum, mention is also made of facilitating the introduction of hydrogen in the aeronautical sector, to favor its decarbonisation.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/leonardo-snam-sicurezza-reti-energia/ on Thu, 08 Jul 2021 13:30:53 +0000.