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Kongsberg achieves Achilles Level 1 cybersecurity certification

09/29/2008

Vancouver, B.C., CANADA - September 29 - Wurldtech Security Technologies today announced that the Kongburg AIM 8.2 RCU501 industrial controller as been awarded the Achilles Level 1 Cybersecurity Certification from Wurldtech Labs.

The Achilles Certification Program presents device manufacturers with an independently verified result from which to demonstrate the quality, reliability and security of their industrial Ethernet control systems to customers, while providing the end user with the most complete, accurate and trustworthy information possible on the security posture of their deployed products.

"Operators of critical process automation systems are demanding the highest levels of safety, security and reliability when deploying new industrial Ethernet networks," stated Solve Raaen, product manager of Kongsberg Maritime. "By integrating the Achilles certification requirements into our internal QA testing processes, Kongsberg is well positioned to continue providing customers in the offshore oil and gas, marine transportation, defense and aerospace industries with automation technology that conforms with industry-accepted cybersecurity benchmarks for performance."

The Achilles Certification Program is also an important worldwide evaluation standard for many of the world's largest endusers of SCADA and industrial control systems with the brand now trusted and recognized as a selection criteria in many internal vendor procurement documents. As the tenth controller to be awarded Level 1 Certification, the Kongsberg Maritime AIM 8.2 controller RCU501 reinforces the increasing industry adoption of the Achilles Certification Program among suppliers and operators of mission-critical automation systems.

The Achilles Certification Program was developed in 2007 to provide a benchmark for the development and deployment of secure industrial Ethernet devices by testing control process resilience and robustness under real-world conditions and validating that operational integrity is not jeopardized. The Achilles Certification testing methodology employed by Wurldtech Labs is the result of more than two years of research, industry cooperation and end-user feedback. The testing includes attacks targeting hundreds of medium-to-high severity vulnerabilities, numerous complex evasion techniques, denial-of-service attacks and latency requirements.