Choosing the Right Secure Remote Access Solution for OT: What to Consider in Today’s Digital Age
In today’s dynamic digital realm, businesses are tasked not just with keeping stride, but with charting their unique path
ICS/OT Cybersecurity: 2023’s Challenges and Tomorrow’s Defenses
As the threats to industrial control systems evolve, our strategies and tactics as network defenders must keep apace. To aid in this effort, SANS has recently released the results of an ICS/OT cybersecurity survey, which polls security practitioners and decision makers from a wide range of industrial verticals, including energy, chemical, critical manufacturing, nuclear, water management and others. This survey provides us with valuable insights into the nature of the real-world threats that control systems operators face every day. It also yields a wealth of information about industry trends and ICS/OT security priorities, from the field. Read RMC’s main takeaways below.
Most organizations still have immature ICS/OT security programs
When asked about planned future initiatives to improve ICS security, survey participants’ top responses indicated a focus on foundational components of any OT security program, such as increased asset visibility, intrusion detection systems, better physical security, and cybersecurity education and training.
There is increased interest in conducting risk assessments and penetration tests in ICS/OT environments
Survey participants are more commonly performing risk-based assessments, including penetration tests, to identify gaps in security controls within their ICS/OT environments.
The penetration tests tend to be conducted at the higher levels of the Purdue Model (3-5). The objective is to identify attack paths from the enterprise network to the ICS network, or vice versa. Penetration tests can provide important insights, but are most effective for more mature OT environments where previously identified vulnerabilities have already been addressed.
RMC is here to help
Although foundational investments are a necessary component of any ICS/OT security program, program design, sequencing, prioritization of investments, and proper coordination must be considered from the start to maximize risk reduction. We support you to:
- Help you understand your program’s maturity and adherence to OT security best practices
- Help you set realistic goals for your ICS/OT environments, and help you achieve them
- Suggest and implement security solutions tailored to your business goals and regulatory requirements
- Implement safe, complete, and effective security controls
- Identify vulnerabilities actively placing your operations and infrastructure at risk
For large organizations, building a strong relationship between security leadership and sites is key to efficient project execution. Improving cybersecurity in ICS/OT environments requires a coordinated effort between enterprise IT (security) teams, site leadership, plant engineers, vendors, integrators, and more. RMC can help foster these relationships, aligning your program’s cybersecurity goals with your sites, achieving buy-in, and building a positive and proactive security culture. During our engagements, we follow these guiding principles:
- Speak the sites’ language and build trust between the program and the sites
- Foster increased cybersecurity awareness with site personnel and leadership
- Communicate the goals of our proven assessment methodology – we are there to help, not audit
- Share insights to inform funding decisions for system upgrades and process redesigns
How can RMC help your organization?
Contact us today: sales@rmcglobal.com
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AI’s Impact on OT Cybersecurity: The Double-Edged Sword of Innovation
The advent of generative AI technologies, most notably ChatGPT, has brought about both excitement and apprehension within the Operational Technology (OT) cybersecurity community. Among the latest advancements in this domain is PentestGPT, a specialized tool adept at conducting automated penetration tests, a cornerstone in pinpointing security vulnerabilities.
The Role of Cybersecurity Assessments in Building a Resilient OT Environment
As the demand for operational technology (OT) security services rises, cybersecurity managers and executive-level CISOs are facing the challenge of securing their organization’s OT assets and industrial environments. While their expertise may primarily and traditionally lie in overseeing IT security, the complexities of the OT landscape present new and quickly evolving operational risks and vulnerabilities.
What’s the Difference Between OT, ICS, SCADA and DCS?
Every day, multiple technologies work in the background to make modern life possible. Two of the most important examples include Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT). While most of us recognize IT as a term that broadly encompasses digital computing, what about OT?
OT can be difficult to understand, but that’s only because most of us are unaware of the nomenclature. In recent times, exciting developments are bringing about a convergence between OT and IT that have big implications for technology and industry.
In this article, we’ll define what it is, and how it relates to other terms.
Operational Technology
OT or Operational Technology encompasses the computing systems that manage industrial operations. This includes monitoring of Oil & Gas, the Electric Utility Grid, manufacturing operations, and more.
Simply put, OT runs the networks that allow common civilized norms to continue like the electricity turning on in your house or the clean running water coming out of your faucet.
Industrial Control System
Industrial Control System (ICS) is an umbrella term that includes both SCADA and DCS. An ICS network can monitor many infrastructure and raw material systems. For instance,
- Conveyor belts in a mining operation
- Power consumption in the electric grid
- Valve pressures in a natural gas facility
ICS networks are mission critical, requiring immediate and high-availability. In many ways, this emphasis represents the main difference between IT and OT/ICS systems. For IT, security is high priority preserved by the Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability (CIA) triad. In OT/ICS networks, both integrity and confidentiality come second to availability.
SCADA
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) is a systems architecture for managing large and complex processes. SCADA systems are normally found in utility providers such as natural gas and electric power transmission, where control functions are distributed over a large geographic area.
SCADA systems consist of three main components:
- A central command center consists of all the servers running SCADA software
- Multiple, remotely located local control systems directly control and automate process equipment
- Communication systems connect the servers at the central command center to the remote locations
The main purpose of SCADA is data acquisition: the networks consist of multiple remote terminal units (RTUs) that are used to collect data back at the central command center, where they can be used to make high level decisions.
Distributed Control System
Distributed Control System (DCS) is a type of process control system that connects controllers, sensors, operator terminals and actuators. The data acquisition and control functions are performed by distributed processors situated near the peripheral devices or instruments from which data is being gathered.
While DCS and SCADA are functionally very similar, DCS is generally employed at large, continuous processing facilities. Operations are almost always controlled onsite rather than remotely.
