Keynote Speaker John Hayes of BlackRidge Technology to Discuss Security of Industrial Control Systems

CALABASAS, Calif., Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – National Technical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTSC) (NTS), a leading provider of testing and engineering services, announced today that it will host a Smart Grid Educational Series Seminar with a concurrent Webinar on August 13^th, 2012 at1 p.m. Pacific Time at its Culver City, CA Advanced Technology facility. Keynote Speaker John Hayes of BlackRidge Technology will discuss the topic “Industrial Control Systems In The Electric Sector: How Secure Are We Today?”

The Webinar will be streamed over the Internet for attendees around the world.  The in-person Seminar scheduled from 12 p.m. – 3:30 pm Pacific Time will provide industry stakeholders in theLos Angeles Metropolitan area an opportunity to network with contemporaries and see a live demo of a few Smart Grid technologies at vendor tables before and after the Webinar.

The presentation by Hayes will cover BlackRidge’s security solution which has been designed to provide innovative, proactive protection to network resources by preventing attackers from performing reconnaissance of high-value and mission-critical network assets, and by denying them the ability to communicate anonymously. Hayes is BlackRidge Technology’s CTO and founder, and specializes in cyber security, networking, I/O interface design, storage architecture and communications protocols.

Hayes’ presentation is part of the Smart Grid Educational Series Webinar that The Bit Bazaar LLCoffers bimonthly as a free public service to bring world-class experts in the Smart Grid field to educate the industry on critical issues and create a forum for interaction to solve complex problems in this field. Dr. Erfan Ibrahim, Founder & CEO of The Bit Bazaar – A Marketplace for Digital Ideas, established this forum in January 2012.

“NTS is continuing to grow its business in the Smart Grid market,” said NTS President and CEOWilliam C. McGinnis. “Our ZigBee certification testing and test harnesses are just a small part of the testing we are performing to support manufacturers and utilities providing Smart Grid technologies to consumers, as well as testing of solar panels and electric vehicles. We look forward to learning more about BlackRidge’s technology, as well as expanding our relationships with members of the Smart Grid community around the world.”

NTS Chief Technology Officer Osman Sakr said, “NTS has supported manufacturers and utilities in the Smart Energy and Smart Grid markets over the past several years.  We are extending our commitment further by helping Dr. Ibrahim and Mr. Hayes to educate Smart Grid industry professionals in a critical area of cybersecurity. We look forward to the upcoming webinar and seminar, and the opportunity to provide a forum for further discussions among industry professionals.”

The Bit Bazaar webinar distribution has grown to more than 1,600 people in 10 countries worldwide over the past seven months.  Webinar attendance has ranged between 45 – 145 people. Previous webinars have covered topics such as Distributed Energy Resources (DER), Smart Grid Cybersecurity, XMPP for the Smart Grid, RF Safety of Smart Meters and Smart Grid Network Management.