Ralph Langner is expanding his consulting business to the United States and managed to recruit a true luminary in the world of ICS security: Perry Pederson, well-known to most in the critical infrastructure protection community, is co-founder of The Langner Group (based in Arlington, VA) and will be in the driver’s seat for US operations, starting at the beginning of next year.
Perry began protecting critical infrastructure against cyber attacks with the US Department of Defense and continued that effort as the Director of the Control Systems Security Program (CSSP) at the US Department of Homeland Security. At DHS, he managed projects such as AGA-12 (cryptographic protection of SCADA communications) and the Aurora project where it was demonstrated that electrical generators can be destroyed by a cyber attack. Perry then moved to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission where he helped to build the regulatory framework for cyber security at US nuclear power reactors and has consulted with the International Atomic Energy Agency on applying security controls to digital instrumentation and control systems globally. He received the 2006 SANS Process Control / SCADA Security leadership award and served as an inaugural member of the Governing board for the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel.
Says Ralph, “I’m truly excited to get Perry on board. There is only a handful of talented people out there with his experience and integrity. With this strategic move we now do have a good chance to make a difference in protecting critical infrastructure against sophisticated cyber attacks.”