TALKING POINT
SMART UPS: SEAMLESS SECURITY, FROM ELECTRIC TO CYBER
By Aluízio Ábdom, Commercial and Marketing Director, Engetron asset comparison and intervention recommendation. But this capability is only valuable when the data is reliable and access is protected. The greater the autonomy offered to the infrastructure, the greater the rigour on identities, access permissions and integrity of the information that guides each decision.
This new reality expands the surface that needs to be protected. Network interfaces, remote services and corporate platforms can create paths for attacks if they do not receive adequate controls. In a critical system, a digital vulnerability can affect precisely the equipment responsible for preserving the physical continuity of the operation.
What happens when the system created to ensure the continuity of an operation also needs to resist digital threats? This question is becoming increasingly relevant in data centers, industries, hospitals, telecommunications and banks, where a few minutes of unavailability can compromise service, production, revenue and even essential services. With artificial intelligence, automation and denser computing loads putting pressure on electrical infrastructure, ensuring reliable energy has become a strategic decision. In an increasingly connected environment, this reliability necessarily includes cybersecurity.
This change is clear when we look at the evolution of UPS( Uninterruptible Power Supply). In addition to protecting equipment against interruptions and instabilities of the power grid, the new generation of UPS incorporates IoT, cloud platforms and complete remote monitoring in real time. This connectivity allows you to monitor the power utility, generator, the UPS itself, batteries and dependent loads, centralise different units and act earlier in the face of signs of failure. The same advance, however, introduces firmware, credentials, remote access and integrations that need to be protected. Operational intelligence and digital protection must be born from the same architecture.
Predictive models can correlate histories and operational conditions to identify degradations before they affect the operation, while AI agents begin to support alarm classification,
Therefore, I consider it insufficient to treat digital security as a functionality added to the end of a UPS development. Strong authentication, encryption, redundancy, privilege control, secure boot, protected update mechanisms and segmentation need to be part of the product architecture. Responsibility also continues after installation. Because a UPS can remain in operation for many years, manufacturers need to track vulnerabilities, make patches available and maintain support compatible with an everevolving threat landscape.
Regulation should accelerate this change in mentality. Requirements related to the security of digital products, updates and vulnerability treatment are gaining ground in different markets and are beginning to influence approvals, contracts and global supply chains. Power, autonomy and efficiency remain essential, but they are no longer enough to evaluate a smart UPS.
If intelligent systems and agents begin to interpret events, recommend interventions or participate in operational responses, it is necessary to establish clear limits of autonomy. These questions bring critical energy, digital governance and cybersecurity even closer together.
It is this convergence that defines the future of smart UPSs. The challenge for the industry is not to choose between connectivity and protection, but to develop both as part of the same architecture – business continuity. •
18
INTELLIGENT CIO LATAM www. intelligentcio. com