ADDISON, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--N-Dimension Solutions, a market leading Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) with innovative solutions that protect smart energy networks from cyber threats, announced today Benton Rural Electric Association (Benton REA) has adopted use of N-Sentinel Monitoring on its corporate network. N-Sentinel Monitoring provides round-the-clock vigilance in detection of suspicious activity and has helped the utility’s IT staff by identifying potential cybersecurity issues and actions for them to take to reduce risk and fine tune their security posture.
Benton REA is a rural utility with headquarters in Prosser, Washington. They deliver power service to approximately 13,500 accounts in Benton and Yakima counties, with an average of seven customers per mile of distribution line. Benton REA is also an Internet Service Provider (ISP), delivering wireless broadband services to almost 1,000 customers, in addition to offering web hosting and website development, and PC/network consulting services.
With the significant escalation in cyber threats against utilities coupled with the fact the utility processes credit card payments on their corporate network, Jeff Bastow, IT manager, Benton REA, became concerned that more cybersecurity diligence was needed. He determined that to help his IT staff, he needed a solution to increase visibility and insights about potential cybersecurity issues and have access to cybersecurity experts that could provide them with one-on-one guidance on reducing risk. N-Sentinel Monitoring uniquely delivers these as a managed service specifically designed for utilities.
“N-Sentinel Monitoring identifies about 10% more cybersecurity issues than our firewall, which could be critical,” stated Bastow. “In addition, it provides us with the insights and guidance we need to fine tune our firewall policies. It is a resource we rely on to help us keep cybersecurity risks in check.”
Bastow estimates a cyber attack used to hit the utility on average every 5 seconds but now sees the frequency has increased to an attack every second. While many of these attacks are not sophisticated and quickly thwarted by their firewall, he realizes that keeping his defenses up-to-date is key to reducing risk.
“Threat monitoring has evolved into a foundational cybersecurity building block essential for utilities of all sizes,” said Tom Ayers, president and CEO, N-Dimension. “We offer this as a managed service to make it easy for any utility to deploy.”
Upcoming events in which N-Dimension will be participating include EDIST 2017 (January 18-20) and TechAdvantage 2017 (February 26-March 1).
About N-Dimension Solutions
N-Dimension is a market leading Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) with innovative solutions tailored to protect smart energy networks from cyber attacks, improving system reliability and safeguarding critical infrastructure, data and assets. The company’s N-Sentinel line of services delivers vigilance, detecting and alerting on cyber threats. It combines cloud-based security intelligence and cybersecurity experts to deliver actionable guidance that enables utilities to take timely, preemptive action to protect themselves against cyber threats and vulnerabilities.
Company headquarters are in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada and U.S. headquarters are located in Addison, Texas. N-Dimension is the exclusive cybersecurity partner of Hometown Connections; and associate member of the APPA, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and Electricity Distributors Association (EDA).
For more information about N-Sentinel and to request a free demo, visit our website at www.n-dimension.com. Please follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn; check us out on YouTube and CrunchBase.
