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
In today’s dynamic digital realm, businesses are tasked not just with keeping stride, but with charting their unique path
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.
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.
Washington, DC, June 8, 2023 – Today, the Operational Technology Cybersecurity Coalition (OT Cyber Coalition) announced that RMC Global will join the diverse group of leading cybersecurity vendors in support of the organization’s effort to enhance the resiliency of the nation’s critical infrastructure. RMC is the 16th company to join the OT Cyber Coalition since its launch in April 2022.
“The addition of RMC further bolsters our coalition’s ability to inform federal policies in the most comprehensive way possible to enhance our collective cyber posture for operational technology,” said Andrew Howell, Executive Director, OT Cyber Coalition. “We look forward to bringing their expertise to bear in our efforts to move the needle on solutions needed to make the United States the leader in hardening our critical infrastructure for current as well as future threats.”
RMC protects and prepares government and commercial partners with risk management, mission assurance, and industrial cybersecurity solutions which allow their customers to prevail in an evolving threat environment.
“RMC is proud to be a member of the OT Cyber Coalition and play a part in illuminating OT cyber risks and advocating for meaningful OT cybersecurity policies,” said Vince Kuchar, CEO of RMC Global. “As a leading provider of ICS/OT cybersecurity services to federal and commercial customers, we believe that constructive dialog between industry and government will help produce meaningful change toward our vision of assuring tomorrow for critical infrastructure, our military missions, and the communities they serve. We look forward to collaborating with industry and government partners to advance this important domain of cybersecurity.”
More information about the OT Cyber Coalition is available on the coalition’s website, otcybercoalition.org.
About RMC Global
RMC provides a full lifecycle of Mission Assurance and risk management solutions, with deep expertise in critical infrastructure protection and industrial cybersecurity, to protect our country’s most important and vital assets. Operating worldwide, RMC provides federal government and commercial organizations the analysis, assessments, strategy and remediation required to protect personnel, facilities, networks, and critical infrastructure. Founded in 2011, RMC has offices in Destin, Florida, and Arlington, Virginia. www.RMCGlobal.com
About the OT Cyber Coalition
The Operational Technology Cybersecurity Coalition is a diverse group of leading cybersecurity vendors dedicated to improving the cybersecurity of OT environments. Representing the entire OT lifecycle, the OT Cyber Coalition believes that the strongest, most effective approach to securing our nation’s critical infrastructure is one that is open, vendor-neutral, and allows for diverse solutions and information sharing without compromising cybersecurity defenses. The OT Cyber Coalition was founded by Claroty, Forescout, Honeywell, Nozomi Networks, and Tenable in 2022. For more information, visit https://www.otcybercoalition.org/.
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,
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:
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.