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New Report Ranks Electric Utility Industry By Darknet Exposure

Denver-based cybersecurity company ranks each of the EEI-US Utility companies based on the extent of their darknet footprint


Denver, CO – WEBWIRE

“With the recent revelations that North Korea is targeting U.S. Electric Power Companies, it is more important than ever to secure our critical infrastructure with a fully comprehensive security plan- which you cannot have without darknet intelligence.” – Andrew Lewman, Executive VP, DarkOwl

DarkOwl, a Denver-based information security company specializing in darknet intelligence, today announced the release of their DarkOwl Darknet Index: Electric Utilities Edition, a study that assessed the top 70 Edison Electric Institute U.S. Investor-Owned (EEI-U.S.) Electric Companies and ranked them based on the extent of their exposure on the darknet.
 
According to new research, 76% of North American utility executives say there is either a moderate or significant likelihood that a distribution company in their country will undergo a cyber attack within the next five years, resulting in an interruption to the electricity supply. As the recent cyber attacks in the Ukraine highlighted, electricity grids are at significant risk from a potential adversary with malicious intent. [Source]
 
By assessing the extent of this risk based on the exposure of electric utility company’s data on the darknet, DarkOwl offers an eye-opening glimpse into key vulnerabilities facing critical infrastructure that are likely to be exploited by threat actors.
 
“With the recent revelations that North Korea is targeting U.S. Electric Power Companies, it is more important than ever to secure our critical infrastructure with a fully comprehensive security plan- which you cannot have without darknet intelligence.” – Andrew Lewman, Executive VP, DarkOwl
 
To compile their darknet index of Electric Utility companies, DarkOwl ran each organization through its DarkOwl Vision database, focusing on specific darknets for matches on each company’s website and email domains. After adjusting the results based on computations of “hackishness"— a proprietary algorithmic rating system—each company was assigned a Darknet Index Score and ranked accordingly.

Among other findings, the study revealed that:

  • Large Electric Utilities are the largest darknet targets. All of the top 10 footprints were held by companies with a market capitalization of over $10 billion.
  • Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) leads the index, though Entergy and Consolidated Edison were not far behind. 


Based on the results of the report, it is apparent that top companies in the electric utility industry have a darknet footprint. Analyzing and monitoring darknet data as an integral part of a complete cybersecurity program allows organizations to swiftly detect security gaps and mitigate damage prior to the misuse of compromised data.
 
DarkOwl, who recently rebranded from the former name of “OWL Cybersecurity" is based in Denver, Colorado and provides darknet threat intelligence data to enable companies and organizations to understand their own digital risks. DarkOwl’s data platform allows companies to see in real-time the theft or breach of their proprietary data on the darknet, thus allowing them to both mitigate damage prior to the information being misused and to highlight gaps in their cybersecurity perimeter. This database is believed to be the world’s largest commercially available database of darknet content.
 
To read the full study, please visit www.darkowl.com/utilities-darknet-index


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 Dark Web
 Utilities
 Electric Grid
 Cyber attack
 North Korea


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