Industrial Defender and RuggedCom Join Forces to Provide the Industry's Most Comprehensive...

Industrial Defender and RuggedCom Join Forces to Provide the Industry's Most
Comprehensive Cyber Security Solution
Leading Communications Equipment Provider and Leading Cyber Risk Protection
Provider Deliver Integrated Technology for Global Critical Infrastructure
Industries

FOXBOROUGH, Mass., Jan. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Industrial Defender, Inc., the
global leader in Cyber Risk Protection(TM), and RuggedCom, a leading provider
of rugged communications networking solutions designed for mission-critical
applications in harsh environments, today announced they will jointly develop,
market, and co-brand the industry's most comprehensive cyber security solution
for critical infrastructure industries including power, oil and gas,
transportation, water and chemical sectors.
In particular, with North American electric utility customers facing
mandatory NERC-CIP compliance by mid-2008 (which are now enforceable due to
the recent January 17th FERC approval of the NERC-CIP standards), combined
technology solutions from Industrial Defender and RuggedCom provide the unique
benefit of delivering an integrated solution for compliance, since bulk
electricity asset owners were previously forced to deploy single-purpose,
non-integrated solutions from multiple vendors.
RuggedCom offers industry-leading rugged communications networking
infrastructure products for environments requiring hardened specifications
including the electrical substation environment, as well as RuggedCom
Gauntlet(TM), a user authentication solution for the electric power market
that provides secure access to critical cyber assets.
As part of this new strategic partnership and technology integration,
RuggedCom will benefit by tapping into Industrial Defender's comprehensive
Defense in Depth(TM) approach to cyber security, which includes network
security professional services, cyber security technology and managed security
services. In addition, Industrial Defender can now extend its process
control/SCADA network cyber security monitoring and management capabilities
into harsh network environments.
"Working with RuggedCom provides customers with a completely integrated
and easier roadmap to NERC-CIP compliance for their critical cyber assets,"
said Brian M. Ahern, president and CEO of Industrial Defender. "Joining
forces with the global leader in hardened network infrastructure products
extends Industrial Defender's Defense-in-Depth technology offering through the
seamless integration, monitoring and management of RuggedCom devices within
the Industrial Defender Security Event Management (SEM) console, while also
enabling a managed security service offering for global RuggedCom products."
"Mandatory NERC-CIP compliance deadlines are forcing electric power
companies to ensure the most critical elements of their systems meet stringent
security requirements on an abbreviated timeframe," said Marzio Pozzuoli,
president and CEO of RuggedCom. "Our partnership with Industrial Defender
enables us to deliver our technology with an increased level of cyber
security, providing customers with a more comprehensive and complete
solution."
RuggedCom also has become the first Industrial Defender Enabled Premier
Partner in a new program designed to match technology providers with
Industrial Defender's cyber security solutions for the real-time process
control/SCADA market. Key integrated solution components include:
-- Industrial Defender's Defense-in-Depth(TM) cyber security monitoring
and management through the company's Security Event Management (SEM)
console
-- RuggedCom hardened network infrastructure products for harsh
environments, including electrical substations (routers, switches,
serial servers, wireless devices, media converters and Gauntlet(TM)
user authentication)
-- Industrial Defender cyber security technology products for non-harsh
environments including Firewall/UTM, HIDS and NIDS capabilities
-- Industrial Defender network professional services and managed security
services with proven experience and expertise enabling customers to
meet NERC-CIP assessment requirements

For more information on the joint cyber security solution or the
Industrial Defender Enabled Partner Program, please visit
http://www.industrialdefender.com. For more information on RuggedCom, please
visit http://www.ruggedcom.com
About Industrial Defender, Inc.
Industrial Defender, Inc., the global leader in Cyber Risk Protection, is
the first company to offer a completely integrated cyber security solution
designed to protect the real-time process control and SCADA environment in a
flexible and cost effective platform. This comprehensive Cyber Risk
Protection Lifecycle solution enables the efficient assessment, mitigation and
management of cyber security risk within the critical infrastructure network
domain.
Formerly known as Verano, Inc., Industrial Defender is a privately held
company with over 17 years of real-time process control and SCADA industry
experience and more than 6 years of industrial cyber security experience.
Industrial Defender has completed more than 80 process control/SCADA cyber
security assessments, more than 1,800 global technology deployments in
securing critical infrastructure systems, more than 3,000 mission critical
SCADA deployments and provides managed security services for 160 process
control plants in 21 countries.
About RuggedCom Inc.
RuggedCom is a leading provider of rugged communications networking
solutions designed for mission-critical applications in harsh environments.
RuggedCom's technology solutions include Ethernet switches, network routers,
wireless devices, serial servers, media converters, software and professional
services. RuggedCom's products are designed for use in harsh environments such
as those found in electrical power substations and "Smart Grids", intelligent
transportation systems, industrial process control and military applications.
SOURCE Industrial Defender, Inc.

Todd Nicholson of Industrial Defender, Inc., +1-508-337-0305,
tnicholson@industrialdefender.com; or Katherine Manning of GolinHarris,
+1-213-438-8788, katherine.manning@golinharris.com, for Industrial Defender,
Inc.