Protecting Critical Infrastructure With OT Risk Management

OTORIO Insights on Operational and Business Resilience Strategies with OT Risk Management

The Nordic OT Security Conference, hosted by AFRY in Stockholm, Sweden, where we discussed a successful risk-based approach to OT Risk management cybersecurity. It was an event jam-packed with insights and strategies for protecting critical Infrastructure, and we had the privilege of presenting OTORIO's view on using a risk-based approach to ensure operational resilience.

The threat of cyber-attack is real and is an ever-constant threat to manufacturing operations. Organizations must turn to the holistic approach of unified IT-OT security to properly secure operations. This approach considers the interconnectivity of physical and digital components within an organization, seeking to comprehensively protect all parts of the system. 

Solving real-world security challenges for OT environments, OTORIO proactively mitigates risk to ensure operational resilience, aligning cyber risk with business priorities and industry regulations to provide a safe, productive, and reliable OT security solution.

Traditional IT security approaches depend heavily on manual processes, leaving your organization vulnerable to cyber threats. 

Isolated fixes and distractions from minor threats can be misleading in traditional IT approaches. Many Security solutions can only cover part of the IT-OT infrastructure, causing practitioners to invest more time and resources on seemingly urgent issues while neglecting long-term strategies that could avert significant security risks in the future. A comprehensive security strategy is necessary to prevent organizations from being exposed to malicious actors.

Evaluating Your Current OT Security Practices with OT Risk Management

Organizations can evaluate current security gaps and weaknesses by performing an on-demand OT risk assessment. Additionally, organizations should review their policies and procedures related to cybersecurity to ensure that all employees follow the same security standards. Organizations must recognize the increased risks and threats associated with the traditional security approach and should take steps toward adopting more comprehensive measures to protect their operations from cyber attacks. 

The Power of Implementing A Risk-Based Strategy in OT Security

A risk-based strategy in OT security entails looking at a system holistically alongside its associated processes and operations to identify, analyze, and mitigate high-impact risks and vulnerabilities. Organizations can assess the potential threats facing their systems and take countermeasures to protect themselves. This approach gives organizations more significant insight into the attack vector landscape and can create strategies tailored to their needs. Access to actionable insights and staying up-to-date on emerging threats better inform risk management decisions. 

Organizations should prioritize exploitation vectors in their threat intelligence strategies to protect against cyber threats adequately. Knowing which vectors attackers are likely to target and where their points of entry might be will help organizations protect their assets more effectively. It is also essential to know which techniques attackers are using so that organizations can integrate preventive measures into existing security controls. 

Leveraging Existing Security Tools for OT Risk Management

You don't need to reinvent the wheel to enhance OT security. You can start by leveraging existing security tools and infrastructure. Organizations should look for tools that integrate with the existing environment while providing visibility across all IT and OT systems and networks. Developing a comprehensive plan that considers all elements of their security posture will help organizations identify where improvements are needed. 

Managing existing systems and ensuring new technologies or processes seamlessly integrate into the current infrastructure. By consolidating security across multiple platforms, organizations can reduce the time and resources needed to monitor and maintain their systems. 

The deployment of OTORIO is scalable and flexible to your network architecture. Built for OT, it seamlessly integrates with IT and OT systems to ensure advanced asset visibility for more effective OT risk and vulnerability management.

OTORIOs edge devices enable the platform to access separated VLANs, segregated areas of the environment, or remote sites while maintaining central visibility. Each Edge device can manage different integration plugins while a team of OT and cybersecurity experts tailor the platform to your specific environment needs. It’s critical to tailor security practices in complex and dynamic environments. 

Optimizing Security Policies and Procedures 

Developing and maintaining security policies is a must for any organization. Organizations should review their security policies to ensure they are up-to-date, comprehensive, and compliant with industry standards. Implementing procedures such as access control ensures that only authorized users can access the system.

Conducting regular security assessments identifies potential vulnerabilities and ensures compliance with industry regulations. A comprehensive risk-based strategy should include vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, and employee training to create an effective security program. Additionally, utilizing automation tools can help streamline routine tasks and ensure continuous OT security monitoring.

Conclusion

In conclusion, transitioning to a risk-based security approach is essential for any organization looking to protect critical infrastructure, ensure operational resilience, and safeguard business continuity in the face of rising cyber risk in OT environments. 

In the face of increasingly sophisticated threats, traditional approaches to securing operational technology (OT) systems must consider the complexity of today's threat landscape. Existing solutions do not have the ability to integrate with multi-generational industrial and security systems and multi-vendor OT environments, and this is a problem.

By implementing a risk-based security approach that focuses on assessing, evaluating, and mitigating risks, organizations can take proactive steps to protect their assets against threats. This approach also helps organizations decide which security controls to integrate and implement. Additionally, risk-based security allows organizations to optimize their investments in security resources, products, and services.

As the digital transformation of operations continues to move forward, now is the perfect time to rethink current practices and embrace a new focused approach that enables true resilience.

Are you looking for a more effective way of managing OT cybersecurity needs? OTORIO’s platform integrates with IT and OT to protect all assets from external and internal threats. We empower you with the ability to detect and proactively mitigate risks before they become a problem. 

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