Cybersecurity Leadership

Unlike the majority of supply chain disruptions, cyber-based threats like ransomware can cause sudden and systemic impacts to organisations or the wider ecosystem. They can be prolonged – beyond what is contemplated in most business continuity plans. These characteristics set them apart from traditional disruptions such as labour and raw material shortages, or power outages.

Critical infrastructure organizations need to recognize that the technology and cybersecurity landscapes have changed.

How to ensure cybersecurity in the operational technology environment, at a time of increasing digitalization and convergence of the OT and IT environments.

Data may be “the new oil” but it cannot be taken for granted; it needs to be protected as a valued and valuable asset

If you’ve been putting off redesigning your IT-OT security systems, now is the time to make it a priority.

Historically, the financial services sector has been the most attacked by cybercriminals. Still, in 2021 there was a substantial shift, and a different industry ranked at the top for the first time – the manufacturing industry.

While securing OT systems can seem overwhelming…the task is not impossible. The power of attack surface management provides the technology needed to lock down assets in your organization.

OT developed as a siloed environment focused on production. Convincing people that OT cybersecurity is required needs collaboration that breaks down the silos.

Cybersecurity in OT continues to lag behind IT security in terms of maturity and focus.

Dragos research has found a surge in ransomware attacks on operational technology, disproving that such threats only target IT

OT involves a collection of dedicated systems and physics, and that creates distinct security requirements, said Robert M. Lee, CEO and co-founder at Dragos.

As a result of this shift from the IT to OT landscape, the C-suite must educate themselves and drive change into the organization to ensure a robust cybersecurity program is in place that addresses OT separately from IT.

It is not rare for OT Security to end up in some form of organisational no-man's-land, poorly integrated into wider security practices.

Recent warnings about advanced persistent threats from China against critical infrastructure suggest a shift in goals, but other nation-state adversaries have their own agendas.

As IoT devices become more common, lack of a clear IoT security strategy could leave businesses open to attacks

Because of the criticality of remaining operational, industrial companies and utilities are far more likely to pay, attracting even more threat groups and a focus on OT systems.

Here’s how OT cybersecurity practitioners should protect their industrial environments to improve security posture and meet insurance coverage requirements.

OT/ICS cybersecurity incidents are increasing in volume and frequency, and are targeting critical infrastructure, such as energy producers.

Read how organizations must draw up a security framework for their IoT solutions and proactively adopt best practices to efficiently mitigate security risks.

Traditional focus on IT security has left operational technology (OT) vulnerable. New report reveals organizations turning to CISOs for OT security.

Innovation in Industrial Control Systems (ICS) may well be helping businesses get the best from their data, but it’s also helping cyber attackers see new ways to attack these critical systems.

For today’s fragmented Internet of Things (IoT) to reach its potential as a fully interconnected ecosystem, the answer may lie in the convergence of cybersecurity and the IoT.

When industrial environments integrated connected systems into their assets, attack surfaces are expanded, opening once-closed critical infrastructure sites and the companies that manage them to attacks from threat actors.

There’s no justifiable case for economising energy consumption at the expense of security, so it’s simply critical that manufacturers urgently consider how they can remain cyber secure during this transition.

Operational technology (OT) networks control the devices critical to the continued operations of production lines, power plants, and energy supplies, and as such are typically segmented from a company’s internet-facing IT networks to better isolate critical hardware from cyberattacks. Now security researchers are warning of the risks posed by the embedded devices that sit on those OT networks.