Critical Insight Partners with PISCES to Provide a Public Option for Cybersecurity Monitoring

Benefits include infrastructure protection, workforce development and research

SEATTLE, May 9, 2018 — Critical Insight, a leader in managed detection and response cybersecurity services, announced its partnership with the Public Infrastructure Security Cyber Education System (PISCES), an incorporated nonprofit, along with partners Global Business Resources, Cyber Range Poulsbo, and the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate, and the Washington State Fusion Center to provide no-cost cybersecurity event monitoring to several local governments in Washington state.

This partnership provides training and technology for Western Washington University student-analysts to train and access real data as part of the cyber-analyst curriculum that is focused on investigating online security threats. Students training to be information-security analysts are able to use “live fire” data, which augments their classroom study and helps them to better prepare them to enter the cybersecurity work force. The Washington State Fusion Center will receive information about any significant threat findings, in order to share information with trusted regional partners, critical infrastructure sectors, and the federal government, as well as take down attack sites and organized crime networks.

“Critical Insight has provided a streamlined technology stack to the project to facilitate on-premise collection of data, aggregation of intrusion detection and network flows, and tools to allow analyst access for investigation and event confirmation,” said Michael Hamilton, Chief Information Security Officer, President, and founder of Critical Insight. “While this is not our full commercial product, the stack provides rapid data access and investigation tools. The student-analysts will be much better prepared to enter the workforce after serving as an actual operational analyst for government organizations that own and operate critical infrastructure.”

According to David Shaw, Founder and CEO of Global Business Resources, the partnership has yielded a coalition from the private and public sector focused on training the next generation of Washington state students for this in-demand field. “Global Business Resources is working with the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate to deploy research projects in the area of analyst operation. These technologies provide detection analytics, investigation tools and trusted communications capabilities,” notes Shaw. “Those technologies provide value to the project and may be permanently integrated into the stack to transition from research-grade projects to operational components of the PISCES stack.”

About Critical Insight

Critical Insight is an information security company that provides Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services to a wide variety of industries, with specialized expertise in healthcare, financial services, and the public sector. Their Information security and expert consulting services help customers protect networks, secure data and reduce risk in a rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape.