Kaspersky Lab is developing its own operating system which claimed to securely run computer network inside the "critically important" industries like nuclear power stations, energy supply, transportation, financial and telecommunications systems.
Russia based anti-virus application developer said the system is currently at the prototype stage and the company is now talking to government institutions for installation of the new operating system.
The new operating system is claimed to protect critical industries from targeted cyber attacks such as Stuxnet, Duqu, Flame and Gauss, amidst reports of targeted attack on Middle East companies.
Kaspersky Lab founder and CEO Eugene Kaspersky told in a blogpost that: "Quite a few rumors about this project have appeared already on the Internet, so I guess it’s time to lift the curtain (a little) on our secret project and let you know (a bit) about what’s really going on."
The company said energy and water plants, factories and transportation systems use SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems which could be accessed conventional computer networks, making them vulnerable to cyber attacks.
SCADA software becomes even more vulnerable as they are updated regularly to protect against bugs, Kaspersky said.
"It’s not possible to design SCADA in a secure way, so the most obvious solution is to have a secure envelope which monitors what’s going on within SCADA," Kaspersky added.
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"We’re developing a secure operating system for protecting key information systems (industrial control systems (ICS)) used in industry/infrastructure."
The new OS is planned to use entirely new code which will not allow any vulnerabilities, and developed with the help vendors and users of industrial control systems.
Kaspersky also added that all ICS software required to be rewritten, incorporating all the security technologies available and taking into account the new realities of cyberattacks.
