Energy

With the conversion of IT and OT networks and a growing number of OT devices connected to each other as part of the IoT (internet of things) evolution of industrial applications, the threat to cybersecurity is greater than ever. The energy sector is one of the most vulnerable, as it depends on digitalisation to succeed with the transition to renewables. The goal for Siemens Energy when creating the Industrial Cybersecurity (ICS) Portal is to simplify security, reduce risk and increase transparency of business. To do that, they need a portal that supports the secure by design implementation of their solutions and services.

Becoming secure by design

The ICS portal is designed to simplify security by providing specific function modules within a central repository. Tasks and outcomes are stored centrally and can be evaluated and documented. This facilitates providing transparency for the central ICS team and the different business units.

To ensure that critical information is not missed, we have used color coded warnings and tailored screens to display the most essential information to the specific user, depending on role and the risk level.

To balance simplification of complexity and the accuracy and high data-density that a professional system with professional users requires, we focused on thorough user insight work. The design of UI and UX, as well as front and back-end 

, was done in close collaboration with Siemens Energy’s product owner, users as well as developers from 

. Siemens Energy’s own systems expertise has been essential, while we have contributed with process facilitation, new perspectives on usability and designing for effective workflows and clear 

Front-end Development

Information Architecture

Design for data-heavy systems and professional users

Each business unit in Siemens Energy has its own industrial cybersecurity resources, but with the new ICS portal, the central ICS office can coordinate their efforts more easily. It facilitates and optimizes implementation of cyber security in processes, technology and guidelines across business units and projects. The main goal is to increase control to be able to assess risk on an organizational level.

Simplifies integration across projects

The ICS portal is still in development, and when ready, it will have modules to support both Siemens Energy and its customers. With the first release of the ICS Portal it is already possible to:

Define the ‘project context’ by adding project information, security zone hierarchy, asset definitions; software/hardware components

Evaluate standards and requirements by the mapping of requirements between different standards

Siemens Energy plans to also introduce functions like: risk assessment to indicate the type of cybersecurity that should be planned for in projects, secure supplier evaluation process evaluation and project security activities guidance.

Design and development of an industrial cybersecurity portal