Parsons has launched an integrated portfolio of technologies and services Domain6™, aiming to provide critical infrastructure resilience to cyber and physical threats
Domain6™ is the world’s first fully converged solution to thwart attacks on operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) environments. Technologies within the Domain6™ portfolio have been deployed including the US government intelligence and defence agencies, as well as commercial customer facilities.
“Domain6™ is a technology-enabled capability derived from three strategic pillars, Parsons’ decades of experience in designing and building OT environments, our investment in R&D and acquisitions of some of the world’s leading cyber and physical security companies,” said Carey Smith, president of Parsons’ Federal business unit.
“The core value in Domain6™ extends far beyond the dangerously narrow model of IT-centric, bolt-on software. Parsons’ customers in the intelligence and military communities have long demanded a converged OT-IT infrastructure security solution, with a focus on the escalating threat to industrial control systems. Domain6™ was created largely through this experience.”
Parsons has more than a half-century of experience in designing, building and protecting critical infrastructure for customers in transportation, energy, manufacturing, water, chemical and other sectors, as well as for the US military and intelligence agencies. In 2014, Parsons was selected by the Maryland Procurement Office (MPO) to provide comprehensive cyber-physical infrastructure protection consulting services at the customer’s locations where continuity of operations is vital.
In 2017, the MPO Industrial Controls System (ICS) Modernisation Programme was recognised by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) with the award of the best program of the year for the Intelligence Community. Parsons’ cyber-physical infrastructure protection services were a fundamental part of the design and implementation of the programme.
The Domain6™ portfolio was designed with a foundation closely aligned to the National Institute of Standards and Technologies cybersecurity framework—identify, protect, detect, respond, recover—with numerous proprietary Parsons technologies embedded in the framework.
In June 2018, Parsons released a survey of ICS engineers within fifteen critical infrastructure sectors. Among the findings, the survey noted that about 80 per cent of ICS engineers, responsible for integrating network-connected industrial internet of things IIoT devices, are not highly involved in cybersecurity planning and implementation.
“Domain6™ is a technology platform that Parsons believes will revolutionise how critical infrastructure owners and operators meet cyber-physical threats and manage risk,” said Carey Smith.
Parsons’ strategy in the critical infrastructure protection (CIP) market over the past decade has included the acquisition of numerous leading cyber and physical security companies, including:
· Polaris Alpha (May 2018) – Artificial intelligence and machine learning for critical infrastructure cybersecurity.
· Williams Electric Company (October 2017) – ICS and integration for critical infrastructure OT environments.
· Secure Mission Solutions (April 2014) – Cybersecurity, network and security operations center management, and information assurance.
· SPARTA, Inc. (November 2011) – Cyber mission critical technologies and services for industrial, national security, and intelligence organisations.
