Nashville, TN – The CIEDAR Consortium of the Materials Application Research Center at Texas State University has announced that it has expanded its existing relationship with a leading cybersecurity firm Sertainty.
In 2021, Texas State University and CIEDAR joined forces with Sertainty to integrate the Sertainty self-protecting data technology into CIEDAR projects aimed at eliminating potential threats to our critical infrastructure. Sertainty has granted CIEDAR and its Members a 12-month Sertainty software development kit evaluation and testing licenses to test matters inside the CIEDAR laboratories. The organization has also offered a similar license for CIEDAR members interested in developing “smart” solutions based on the Sertainty self-protecting Data Privacy Platform built on the Sertainty UXP (Unbreakable eXchange Protocol) technology. CIEDAR researchers and members include those from various sectors, including manufacturing, civil, electrical, industrial, mechanical engineering, and other disciplines.
“We are very pleased to be extending our relationship with Sertainty to include funded pilots aimed at utilizing the Sertainty UXP technology regarding LoRaWAN communications and Digital Twin implementations,” said CIEDAR Co-Director Andres Carvallo. “Maintaining optimum security is crucial to the long-term success of our Technology Enhanced Infrastructure (TEI) and Smart-Everything projects. Sertainty provides breakthrough technology in the zero-trust space.”
The expanded agreement will emphasize evaluating, testing, and piloting the Sertainty Data Privacy Platform within each of the CIEDAR labs and in partnership with its members. The licensing will allow for members of CIEDAR to use and test case particular areas in which the Sertainty Data Privacy Platform lends itself, such as enacting data as a sensor, establishing a data chain of custody, and developing a digital twin capability to negate ransomware and enable big data analytics. Through this partnership, CIEDAR members interested in the Sertainty Data Privacy Platform will be able to proactively identify and understand potential threats facing IIoT tools and mitigate exposures to enable interoperability and convergence between an Operational and IT environment.
The first testing ground for the Sertainty Data Privacy Platform technology will be inside a commercial Long-Range Wide-Area (LoRaWAN) network such as Everynet and Anterix. During these tests, CIEDAR will implement a zero-trust architecture — at the data layer, throughout the network — giving data the ability to identify and protect itself in cases where a cybersecurity perimeter has been compromised.
The second test will be aimed at the Utility sector in Texas through the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) as well as the Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative (GVEC). The Sertainty Data Privacy Platform technology will be leveraged to protect data in a distributed intelligence mode leading to its processing for situational awareness and analytics at the network edge.
“The CIEDAR consortium is a perfect embodiment of the many unique areas in which the need for the Sertainty Data Privacy Platform, in the context of privacy and compliance, is advancing rapidly,” said Amir Sternhell, Chief Strategy Officer for Sertainty. “Our partnership with CIEDAR has provided us with an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the range of what is possible with the Sertainty Data Privacy Platform.”
The CIEDAR-Sertainty partnership has proven to be fruitful in both directions thus far. Through the projects, Sertainty — already a leader in the world of zero-trust data privacy — has further developed its Self-Protecting Data and is in the process of asserting its Smart Messaging technology into infrastructure applications. These include a composite of sensors and mainstay devices, along the unique LoRaWAN topology.
“The revolutionary nature of CIEDAR infrastructure means that optimal security could not be achieved through conventional means,” adds CIEDAR Co-Director Stan McClellan. “Self-Protecting Data solutions provide a framework to secure an output and command of a sensor that will make the CIEDAR mission of Technology Enhanced Infrastructure (TEI) both smart and protected.”
For more information about the CIEDAR consortium, visit https://www.marc.txst.edu/CIEDAR. To learn more about Sertainty self-protecting data technology, visit https://live-currentsertainty.pantheonsite.io/data-composition-solution/.
About Sertainty
A leader in zero-trust security and self-protecting data, Sertainty provides companies in various industries with data tracking, compliance, security, and governance through their Sertainty Data Privacy Platform and Unbreakable eXchange Protocol (UXP). The company is also known as a thought leader in cybersecurity, having established partnerships with other industry pioneers, and is consulting for the United States Department of Defense as part of Sertainty Federal Systems.
About Texas State University and CIEDAR:
Founded in 1899, Texas State University is one of the largest public universities in Texas, with 1,800 faculty, 38,000 students, and 5,100 acres housing two campuses and multiple research labs. TXST is a 10-year Hispanic serving institution with over 50% of the minority student body participating in over 200 bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs. TXST is the only Texas university to have had a US President as a graduate. CIEDAR is a multi-disciplinary, connected infrastructure for education, demonstration, and applied research consortium at Texas State University, delivering nine living labs for smart cities, utilities, energy, water & wastewater, buildings & infrastructure, mobility, networks, sensors, and software (AI, ML, Analytics, Cybersecurity, Cloud, Databases, Blockchain, Autonomous X, Control Systems, and more).
For further information, please visit https://www.marc.txstate.edu/CIEDAR.html.