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Idaho National Laboratory engineer unveils Omnitap tool to help protect industrial control systems
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Summary
Keith Meacom of Idaho National Laboratory described Omnitap, a tool his team developed to capture data across disparate control-system networks for cybersecurity monitoring; INL has filed for a patent and says commercialization is underway.
Keith Meacom, a cybersecurity engineer at Idaho National Laboratory, described a new monitoring tool called Omnitap and said his team has filed for a patent and is commercializing the technology so facilities across the U.S. can buy it.
Meacom said Omnitap was developed after researchers “didn't have the right tools to do the job,” and that the system lets operators “interface with all the different networks that exist in critical infrastructure to capture data and to make them more accessible for cyber security tools.” He said Idaho National Laboratory filed for a patent on the technology and that commercialization is in progress.
Why it matters: Meacom framed Omnitap as responding to real-world gaps in industrial cybersecurity tools. He warned that attacks on embedded control systems are not only about data loss but can have physical consequences. “The power grid actually could be impacted or the plants that produce our food, might go down and cause shortages,” he said, underscoring the potential public-safety and supply-chain implications of compromised control systems.
Details: Meacom said the research at Idaho National Laboratory focuses largely on cybersecurity for control systems, from consumer devices and vehicle engine control units to the industrial control systems that run factories and plants. He described Omnitap as an interface technology that captures and makes networked control-system data accessible to security tools.
Status and next steps: Meacom stated INL has filed for a patent on Omnitap and the team is “in the process of commercializing it.” He did not provide a patent number, a commercialization timeline, pricing, or specific customers. Those details were described as “in process” and were not specified in the presentation.
Meacom framed the work as serving both private-sector and government customers and said the tool is intended to be broadly available to entities that need to protect critical infrastructure.
