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Case study · Grid operator

Zero-trust access for 40,000 field devices

Identity-based access replaced shared credentials on substation and field equipment.

High-voltage transmission pylons at dusk
Client
Grid operator
Industry
Energy & resources
Practices
Security & risk, Operations
Duration
20 weeks, then managed service
Context

A transmission and distribution operator with 1,200 substations and 3,000 field engineers.

Challenge

Engineers reached substation devices with shared passwords kept in a spreadsheet, and the regulator had flagged it as a critical finding.

Approach

How the work ran

  1. WK 0–4
    Frame
    Mapped every access path to substations and agreed a target: no shared credentials anywhere.
  2. WK 4–8
    Prove
    Put 50 substations behind an access broker tied to people, devices and work orders.
  3. WK 8–20
    Build
    Rolled out to all 40,000 devices in regional waves, with session recording for audit.
  • Access broker
  • PKI
  • Azure AD
  • IEC 62443 zones
  • Splunk
Results

What changed

40,000
Devices enrolled
0
Critical audit findings in two cycles
12min
Median time to grant access

“Our auditors asked for the evidence and we sent a link.”

Chief Information Security Officer, grid operator
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Still sharing passwords in the field?

We will map your access paths to substations and plants in a two-week review.

Review your field accesshello@speey.com