FOXBOROUGH, Mass., June 30, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) today announced the release of the latest version of the Industrial Defender Automation Systems Manager™ (ASM), a single platform that addresses cyber security, compliance and change management requirements for industrial control systems (ICS).

This latest Industrial Defender ASM – available for current and potential customers this summer – brings an exceptional level of situational awareness to the enterprise and virtually eliminates the manual processes required to secure global critical infrastructure.

Businesses that operate today's critical infrastructure including electric utilities; oil and gas; chemical; transportation; and water companies are increasingly challenged with building sustainable, cost effective security programs to combat escalating cyber threats and growing regulatory pressures. The Industrial Defender ASM v6.0 further advances the reliability and performance of ICS operations by adding capabilities that:

• Increase situational awareness and visibility across critical infrastructure
• Interoperate with 90 percent of substation devices
• Automate change management processes
• Improve scalability and ease of use
• Speed deployment and performance

"Uptime and reliability remain the number one priorities for critical infrastructure providers. Our vision with Industrial Defender ASM was to unify cybersecurity, compliance and change management applications onto a single platform; breaking down data silos and automating the tedious manual tasks security professionals face on a daily basis," said Brian M. Ahern, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin Industrial Defender Solutions, Inc. "Version 6.0 takes this approach to the next level bringing a holistic level of situational awareness and actionable intelligence from the production environment to the enterprise. Industrial Defender ASM version 6.0 is an important step forward in our mission to secure critical infrastructure while improving operational effectiveness."

"Over the last few years we have been able to improve our operational effectiveness using Industrial Defender ASM as a single-pane of glass view into cyber security and compliance activities across our control systems environment," said Scott Smith, senior analyst at Commonwealth Edison. "This has led to an 80 percent reduction in the time it takes to identify, analyze, and report on these activities."  Smith has reported substantial operational gains from implementing the Industrial Defender ASM.

New features in the latest version of Lockheed Martin's Industrial Defender ASM include:  

• FleetView – provides an unprecedented level of visibility for control systems including changes that occur by location, over a period of time, or to a specific group of assets such as workstations, switches and firewalls, ensuring critical infrastructures maintain a strong security posture.
• Work Automation Suite – integrates document management and ticketing as part of a structured workflow, enabling operators to initiate, track, approve, document and report changes made to control system assets.
• Improved substation cyber security – Industrial Defender ASM is the only solution in the marketplace tested and validated to maintain system performance by major original equipment manufacturer vendors including ABB, GE, and Schneider Electric and supports data collection from 90 percent of the devices commonly found in substations.
• Enhancements to policy management- includes turnkey policies and automated reporting for NERC CIP (V3 & V5), NIST 800-82, and Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) 08-09 standards.

Additional details and demonstration videos about ASM version 6.0 are available at id.lockheedmartin.com.  

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 113,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's net sales for 2013 were $45.4 billion.

For additional information, visit our website: www.lockheedmartin.com

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SOURCE Lockheed Martin