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OSI's monarch™ SCADA Platform To Undergo Cyber Security Testing at Idaho National Laboratory through a U.S. Department of Energy Initiative

Open Systems International, Inc. (OSI) is pleased to announce its participation in the U.S. Department of Energy's National SCADA Test Bed program.

The program, jointly operated by Idaho National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories, performs extensive Cyber Security assessments on SCADA and process control systems to identify potential equipment and system vulnerabilities and to provide vendors with recommended solutions in order to increase the resilience of the nations critical infrastructures.

The Department of Energy's Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability provides funding to INL and other national laboratories for research and development projects related to control systems security. OSI has volunteered its technology and resources for this important effort. The project is expected to be completed in 6 months.

The National SCADA Test Bed (NSTB) employs SCADA, Cyber Security and critical infrastructure protection experts to research and develop solutions that will strengthen computer systems operating infrastructures, such as the electric power grid, from attacks by viruses, hackers and terrorism.

Comprehensive testing facilities at INL include an independent, 138kV power grid, several SCADA test bays and an emulation system, all of which can be configured to communicate with SCADA systems via several means including wireless, telephone, Ethernet, and Internet using proprietary and public domain protocols including MODBUS, DNP3 and ICCP. All aspects of intrusion into the SCADA platforms are tested by INL and recommendations given to the participating suppliers.

"Working together with key SCADA vendors such as OSI is absolutely essential if our test bed operations are to have the positive impact on security expected of us by the DOE. We look forward to working with OSI and anticipate results that will be mutually beneficial," said Bob Hill, INL's project manager for the NSTB Program.

"We have long been awaiting approval by the Department of Energy for the opportunity to cooperate with INL in formally assessing our technology through this important project," said Bahman Hoveida, President and CEO of OSI. "Our secure technology has undergone independent auditing and certifications prior to this, however, the INL initiative will add another level of approval and peace of mind for our customers."

Idaho National Laboratory (www.inl.gov) is the U.S. Department of Energy's lead nuclear energy research and development and demonstration laboratory. INL conducts programs in nuclear energy, national and homeland security, science and environment research. Battelle Energy Alliance manages and operates the laboratory for the DOE.

OSI (www.osii.com) provides open, state-of-the-art and high-performance automation solutions to electric utilities worldwide. These solutions include Energy Management Systems (EMS), Distribution Management Systems (DMS), Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Systems, and Generation Management Systems (GMS), as well as individual software products and e-business solutions for electric utility operations. OSI is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

For additional information regarding this news release please contact news@osii.com.