Start of Joint Research on Cyber Security With PwC Cyber Services and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology

Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc. ("Chubu Electric Power") and Chuden CTI Co.,Ltd. ("Chuden CTI") (Note 1) are proud to announce that they have today signed an agreement on collaborative studies partnering with PwC Cyber Services LLC ("PwC Cyber Services") and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology ("NICT") to improve technologies that allow for detecting signs of cyberattack, and have launched the studies accordingly.

To promptly detect signs of increasingly sophisticated and advanced cyberattacks, in cybersecurity there is a growing importance in the technology to identify suspicious communications from among systems' vast transactional history. Key factors to that end are the technology to efficiently check extensive amounts of transmission logs and the knowledge for recognizing suspicious communication.

NICT has leading-edge technology and knowledge on developing cyberattack observation networks as well as on fundamental technology for cyberattack analysis and prevention. The institute is also researching and developing NIRVANA-Kai: a software that observes and analyzes the vast amount of traffic flowing through live networks and visualizes that traffic in a readily understandable format, in turn enabling to detect signs of cyberattack.

A large number of cybersecurity specialists and researchers belong to PwC Cyber Services, and the firm has an array of research and development achievements involving the core technology of cybersecurity. Coordinating with PwC Group's global network, the firm also has the latest knowledge on international cybersecurity.

The new joint research will set Chubu Electric Power's system as a demonstration test field and test the technology NICT has developed to implement a more practical research, in turn leveraging NICT and PwC Cyber Services' knowledge to advance cyberattack detection technologies.

Both Chubu Electric Power and Chuden CTI (which monitors the security of Chubu Electric Power's systems 24/7 by having developed the Security Operation Center (SOC)) consider the joint research would allow for further enhancement in cybersecurity.

In another joint research ongoing in with Keio University and Hitachi, Ltd., Chubu Electric Power is developing pioneering security technology and methods for inter-organization coordination. Combining the ongoing and new joint research, Chubu Electric Power aims to smoothly share pioneering cybersecurity technology among organizations. (Previously announced on April 26, 2017)

Chubu Electric Power's goal is to partner with clients in the Chubu area and harness joint research results to contribute to ensuring the entire region's cybersecurity.

(Note 1) Chuden CTI: This firm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chubu Electric Power, responsible for such information technology businesses as the security monitoring of Chubu Electric Power Group. Chuden CTI will be involved in the new research as Chubu Electric Power's partner.

(Note 2) Security Operation Center (SOC): This organization observes networks and makes initial responses when security events occur.

[Reference]Information of the organizations

• Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc.
  President & Director: Satoru Katsuno
  Headquarters: Higashi-ku, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture
• Chuden CTI Co.,Ltd.
  President: Katsuyuki Naito
  Headquarters: Higashi-ku, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture
• National Institute of Information (NICT)
  President: Hideyuki Tokuda
  Headquarters: Koganei-shi, Tokyo
  Overview of organization: NICT is a national research and development agency under the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, and is the only public research institution specializing in information communication. They have a Cybersecurity Research Institute, and a system dedicated to researching cybersecurity.
• PwC Cyber Services LLC
  Chief Executive Officer: Susumu Adachi
  Office Location: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
  Overview of organization: PwC Cyber Services is a limited liability company and a PwC Japan Group member that provides cybersecurity services. A large number of cybersecurity researchers and specialists belong to PwC Cyber Services, and the organization has the latest international knowledge on cybersecurity.