OT Security Comprehensive Consideration

The evolving threat landscape, ensuring security, and risk is paramount tasks. While it comes to prioritizing OT security, leadership tends to fall short. C-suite often lacks awareness about the long-term risks and consequences of poor OT cyber hygiene, and OT security can easily get overlooked.

A well-defined process ensures consistent security measures. Cultivating a strong security culture and addressing insider threats helps mitigate risks and foster a proactive security mindset in OT environments. Below are some of the comprehensive steps

Operationalize resilience program.

By establishing an operational resilience program around OT core operations, decision-makers can proactively manage risks and drive a culture of safety and security across the enterprise. C-suite itself must take decisive action to bake an awareness of operational risk into the entire enterprise.

Leverage security frameworks and contextualization.

Organization should assess and leverage security frameworks such as NIST and IEC. These frameworks offer comprehensive guidelines, best practices, and standards tailored to the unique requirements of OT environments. By aligning with NIST and IEC frameworks, organizations can gain valuable insights into the maturity levels of their security measures at any time.

Address safety and security gaps.

With the growing digitalization of operations and increased connectivity across the supply chain, businesses are collecting more data than ever to enhance their security solutions. Greater visibility into the organization’s assets, including OT systems, equipment, and infrastructure. Often organizations often struggle with actual risk mitigation measures.

By leveraging enterprise management solutions that offer a comprehensive and strategic response to security gaps. It helps to align data collection practices with security objectives and integrate them into the overall management of the organization. This will address safety and security gaps more effectively and enhance their risk mitigation efforts throughout the supply chain.

Engaging stakeholders and building a security culture.

For OT security to become ingrained in the enterprise, businesses must have involvement among stakeholders. By actively engaging stakeholders and integrating risk, security, and safety considerations, organizations can create a culture where leadership views security as continuous and aligned with agile business processes.

Systematic approach with contextual decision-making.

A systematic approach to OT starts by giving stakeholders a holistic understanding of risk, security, and safety, enabling them to evaluate decisions from a comprehensive perspective. By integrating safety, security, and risk into the fabric of the business, decision-makers can drive operational resilience and protect the lives and assets that depend on their OT systems.

Once these steps are taken, organizations can navigate challenges and make informed decisions that prioritize OT security and drive operational excellence throughout the entire enterprise.

OT Security Framework

CISA Cybersecurity Best Practices for Industrial Control Systems
NCSC Cyber Security Design Principles
ISA/IEC 62443 Standards for Security of Industrial Automation and Control Systems
ENISA for Security of IoT in the Context of Smart Manufacturing
NIST Guide to ICS Security
Industrial Internet Security Framework
CIS Critical Security Controls ICS Companion Guide