Power infrastructure is often overlooked as agencies begin reaping the benefits of digitalization and gain more control over and visibility into their environments, Martin adds.
“It’s extremely important,” he says. “If you don’t have your power infrastructure locked in, nothing else in your environment will work.”
Data Center Solutions Should Ensure Continuity During Cyber Incidents
Eaton’s Gigabit Network Card meets both and International Electrotechnical Commission 62443-4-2 cybersecurity standards and works with its Intelligent Power Manager to improve continuity.
In the event of power or environmental anomalies, the card triggers policies configured to keep mission-critical applications running, such as virtual machine relocation or automated disaster recovery actions.
“We’re selling reliability, almost like an insurance policy,” Martin says. “If something happens, this unit will take care of it and keep the power on for the period of time you’ve specified so that it becomes more of an abstract exercise.”
Agencies invest money in return for a certain level of uptime, he adds.
LEARN MORE: How to simplify your data center with hyperconverged infrastructure.
Cyberattacks also have the potential to interrupt service, and agencies are particular about the cybersecurity requirements for data center solutions. That includes encryption requirements, which is why Eaton incorporated the latest encryption algorithms into its various protocols, Martin says.
Eaton’s network cards integrate with email systems, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol or communications protocols such as Simple Network Management Protocol.
“If you’re not using the latest encryption standards, you could be vulnerable to something like a man-in-the-middle attack," Martin says.
Eaton products also support X.509 certificates, which bind an identity to a public key using a digital signature. The certificates prove that users are who they claim to be and make it “almost impossible” to access and change data, Martin says.
EXPLORE: Quantum cryptography challenges and opportunities for federal agencies.
Eaton Makes Firmware Updates Easy
While Eaton’s products do integrate with more advanced IT systems to provide agencies with more features around control and reliability, this also exposes them to potential attacks.
“UPS systems specifically have been identified as something malicious actors are going after because they know a lot of apps out in the field are connected to a network but may not have robust cybersecurity protections,” Martin says.
