Kepware Enters into Partnership Agreement with Industrial Defender

Portland, ME, September 23, 2008 – Kepware Technologies, the leader in Communications for Automation, announces that it has partnered with Industrial Defender, the global leader in Cyber Risk Protection™ for industrial automation systems, to deliver comprehensive, integrated cyber security technology for use with KEPServerEX. In joining the Company’s Industrial Defender Enabled Partner Program, Kepware will strengthen the cyber security posture of its automation control system technology by delivering functionality to monitor, alert and defend automation systems from compromise due to cyber security vulnerabilities and attacks.

Industrial Defender, Inc., is the first company to offer a completely integrated Defense–in-Depth™ cyber security solution designed to protect the industrial control system and SCADA environment in a flexible and cost effective platform. Kepware will deliver a jointly developed version of Industrial Defender’s host intrusion detection software as a new, free-of-charge, KEPServerEX Security Agent Driver Plug-in. This new Plug-in will provide valuable security information with the ability to track and monitor cyber security parameters of the environment including failed login attempts, file system consistency, removable media access, registry modifications, process and socket violations, and many other HMI / SCADA system parameters. When an Industrial Defender Security Event Management Console (SEM) is present, it will aggregate, correlate, store and report security events from all systems using KEPServerEX as well as other systems being monitored by the console. The SEM uses agent information to monitor the cyber security posture of the control system environment and also provide secure back up of all related configuration files. The new KEPServerEX Security Agent Plug-in will be available from Kepware, its sales channels and Kepware OEMs.

Industrial Defender is now part of the “Connected with Kepware” partner program and the two companies will work together to expand their offerings in the areas of both OPC and industrial protocol including security, monitoring, intrusion detection and prevention.

“We have been very impressed with what Industrial Defender has created over the past few years,” said Roy Kok, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Kepware. “Automation system security and reliability is at the forefront of every automation engineer’s mind. Kepware’s relationship with Industrial Defender will enable our customers to take immediate steps toward monitoring their environment, with their existing HMI/SCADA, and then easily expand with Industrial Defender technology as their security planning matures.”

“As an Industrial Defender Enabled Partner, Kepware is leveraging Industrial Defender’s advanced SCADA and process control expertise, providing industry leading cyber security intrusion detection and monitoring technology throughout the automation industry,” said Brian M. Ahern, President and CEO of Industrial Defender. “As companies look to adhere to the stringent compliance requirements set forth by our government to ensure our nation’s critical infrastructures remain secure, Kepware is now well positioned to offer a more comprehensive cyber security protection solution to its automation process control end users.”

[an error occurred while processing this directive] “The situation with cyber security continues to be very dynamic. Application software suppliers are helping with new security solutions and better access management tools. These suppliers now know that they must build security into their products and partner with experts to jointly develop new comprehensive approaches that require less effort, said Craig Resnick, Research Director, ARC Advisory Group. “Both Kepware and Industrial Defender are major players in their respective spaces and this partnership will enable the automation marketplace to take a significant step forward in the adoption of security practices and the installation of an appropriate infrastructure.”

About Kepware
Kepware is the world leader in communication software for automation and offers a unique experience in both OPC and embedded device communications. Since 1995, Kepware has focused on the development of communication drivers to automation controllers, I/O and field devices. Applications include M2M (Machine to Machine) and M2E (Machine to Enterprise) communications. Operating system support includes; Microsoft Windows Desktop, Windows Server and Windows Embedded (Windows CE and Windows Embedded NT/XP). Today, with over 130 communication protocols, and through the efforts of our direct sales, distribution and embedded partners, Kepware is the leading provider of communications with annual shipments exceeding 100,000 units. Kepware’s responsiveness to customer needs and strong partnerships with other leading automation suppliers ensures that your next application will be a success. Ask around and you’ll hear why automation professionals everywhere consider Kepware Technologies "Automation’s Best Friend". www.kepware.com

About Industrial Defender, Inc.
Industrial Defender, Inc., the global leader in Cyber Risk Protection™, is the first company to offer a completely integrated Defense-in-Depth™ cyber security solution designed to protect the industrial control system 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 industrial control system and SCADA industry experience, and more than 6 years of industrial cyber security experience – recently recognized by Frost and Sullivan’s 2008 Company of the Year Award. Industrial Defender has completed more than 100 process control / SCADA cyber security assessments, more than 2,500 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. www.industrialdefender.com

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