SA Power Networks boosts cyber resilience with Tanium

SA Power Networks has expanded its use of Tanium to strengthen its cyber resilience, with the deployment covering the electricity distributor's endpoint and exposure management systems.

The move comes as critical infrastructure operators face rising cyber threats. The Australian Signals Directorate's Annual Cyber Threat Report 2024-2025 found that notifications to critical infrastructure entities about potential malicious cyber activity affecting their networks rose 111% from the previous year.

SA Power Networks distributes electricity to more than 900,000 homes and businesses across South Australia. A major cyber incident could disrupt essential services across the state and create risks including data security issues, financial loss and reputational damage.

Before the rollout, patching was managed across separate tools used by cyber, endpoint and server teams. That setup caused delays and made it harder to manage the volume of vulnerabilities and patches faced by a critical infrastructure operator.

Platform shift

Consolidating those functions onto one platform has improved visibility across systems and reduced the time needed to fix vulnerabilities. It has also cut manual work and helped teams operate from the same information.

A recent incident illustrates the change in workflow. After a Windows Server Update Service vulnerability was identified, affected systems were remediated within hours, compared with a process that had previously taken days.

The deployment is also intended to reduce after-hours patching work and improve software licence management by removing unused licences. SA Power Networks has also gained more detailed reporting and control across server and endpoint environments.

Critical infrastructure operators face growing pressure to strengthen cyber defences as threat activity rises and regulatory requirements evolve. Electricity networks are particularly sensitive because service interruptions can have broad effects on households, businesses and public services.

Team alignment

For SA Power Networks, the operational case appears to have been as important as the security one. Separate teams had previously worked from different screens and data sources, adding complexity to routine tasks and slowing response times.

"Merging everything into one tool just made sense. We chose Tanium not only for the technical acumen of the people, but also because of the continuing growth of the platform and the ability to manage everything under one banner," said Lindbergh Caldeira, Cyber Security Operations Manager, SA Power Networks.

"Even though we have three different teams, now they are better equipped to tackle the increasing volume of vulnerabilities and patching, be more efficient with their time and are all talking the same language," said Caldeira.

Faster response

Near-instant visibility across the server estate has changed how quickly teams can assess and act on new risks. That is significant in environments where patching windows are tight and delays can leave systems exposed for longer.

SA Power Networks serves 99% of South Australia's 1.89 million people across a service area of 178,000 square kilometres. That scale means both operational technology and traditional IT systems are critical to day-to-day service delivery.

Unified tools

Tanium, which sells endpoint management and security software, has positioned unified tools as a way for large organisations to replace a collection of separate products. In this case, consolidating tools has reduced data lag and simplified remediation work.

"The move to a unified platform has eliminated data lag inherent in legacy systems, and provides near-instant visibility across our entire server estate," said Phil Manning, Technology Design Manager, SA Power Networks.

"Now with Tanium, everything happens seamlessly at the push of a button, and we have confidence in the platform and how it's enabling business resilience. We are now faster and more efficient when a vulnerability hits, removing stress from our team, reducing costs and keeping our systems even safer," added Manning.