Parsons, FireEye Partner To Boost Cybersecurity

by JOHN GREGERSON | Jan 17, 2016

Nefarious hackers, beware.

Parsons, the 72-year-old engineering services giant from Pasadena CA, is teaming with cybersecurity expert FireEye Inc., to reduce risks and provide clients with enhanced protection for 24/7 connectivity on critical infrastructure projects around the globe.

Announced last week, the new partnership will combine Parsons’ extensive experience with security solutions for the transportation, energy, buildings, water & wastewater markets with FireEye's own proprietary expertise in gathering threat intelligence, assessing vulnerabilities, and improving incident response efficiency. Its own Mandiant Consulting aims to educate both executives and field personnel with on-demand webinars that demonstrate how best to investigate and resolve computer security events ranging from single-system compromises to enterprise-wide intrusions by advanced attack groups targeting hundreds of thousands of systems.

Parsons' Harrington — **Parsons**' Harrington

“For 30 years, we've worked behind the scenes to deliver cybersecurity services to protect our nation’s most sensitive information and critical infrastructure,” explained Parsons Chairman and CEO Chuck Harrington. “We're partnering with FireEye to build on that foundation. Together, we're committed to developing best-of-breed solutions to address the evolving cyber threat faced by energy producers, transportation infrastructure entities, telecommunications companies and government agencies.”

Critical infrastructure providers are considered uniquely vulnerable to cyber attacks, given the required connectivity between physical and cyber worlds. The same cyber-based technologies that improve control over operations create targets for stealing data and intellectual property, disrupting services and damaging equipment.

Cybersecurity is the subject of this week's BW Workshop, hosted by SWC Technology Partners.

Threats emanate from "nation-state groups looking to improve their domestic infrastructure, cyber criminals trying to monetize customers’ data, and non-state actors working to create disruption to support a cause,” said David DeWalt, FireEye chairman and CEO. “FireEye and Parsons are coming together to provide the best security solutions available today, from the physical world to the cyber domain, and help protect critical infrastructure providers from this diverse set of adversaries.”