Make no mistake: The convergence of operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) has opened new doors for industrial organizations. It’s brought immense benefits in terms of efficiency and productivity, and the data-driven insights it provides has assisted organizations with visibility and decision-making.
However, this convergence is not without its risks. Organizations that previously relied on air gaps to keep critical process- and control-driven systems offline now face a new reality: Exposure to cyberattacks. Bringing all this equipment online for the first time exposes the company to outside threats, which often include nation-state cybercriminals whose tactics are constantly evolving. To protect the business, these new cybersecurity challenges require a strategic, proactive approach from IT and OT teams alike, which can be a challenge in itself.
What is Operational Technology Cybersecurity?
Operational technology cybersecurity focuses on protecting the hardware and software that monitor and control physical industrial processes. This includes systems like:
These systems differ from IT in that they interact directly with the outside world, and manage critical infrastructure that can lead to severe consequences if suddenly brought offline. Depending on the severity of the attack, these consequences can include everything from physically damaged equipment to compromised public safety.
Understanding Operational Technology Cybersecurity
In the data-driven age we live in, businesses require process data to function. Having access to this data means high-level decision-makers can:
Based on device purpose, assess an incident’s potential impact to the business
Understand how efficient the business is
Get insights into production processes
Enable remote monitoring
Optimize their resourcing
Connecting your OT infrastructure to the network is essential for obtaining data like this. Historically, only IT systems would be in the crosshairs of threat actors, but as soon as OT systems are brought online, they’re assigned an IP address. This exposes them to the same threats faced by IT, underscoring the importance of getting serious about OT cybersecurity.
The 5 Core Principles of OT Cybersecurity
Case in point: Since May 2024, 68 percent of OT administrators in the federal sector say they’ve experienced a cyber incident. On top of that, 90 percent of admins say they’ve placed greater emphasis on OT cybersecurity, but only about half of those say they’d feel comfortable detecting and mitigating a threat now.
With that in mind, here are five core principles to use when securing an OT environment.
Visibility and Asset Inventory
If you can’t see it, you can’t protect it. That’s why getting a comprehensive inventory of all connected assets is so important. This includes everything from how they’re configured to which other devices or systems they communicate with, Continuously monitoring these assets is essential to detecting anomalies or specific threats they may be facing.
Network Segmentation
Attackers often only need one entry point within your network to access the rest of it. A best practice to limit this is network segmentation, which isolates areas that may be most vulnerable. Doing this via risk prioritization is often the best method.
Threat Detection
Oftentimes, IT-specific cybersecurity measures aren’t designed with OT networks in mind. Be sure you have a specialized OT threat detection solution to identify network anomalies, abnormal behavior, and potential indicators of compromise (IOCs). Also ensure that your solution has real-time monitoring and alerting capabilities.
Remote Access Risks
WIth so many remote workforces around the world, remote access to OT systems is now an essential part of an OT cybersecurity strategy. Securing an OT environment with a remote access solution that includes encrypted tunnels, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and strict access controls is paramount to staying protected.
Exposure Management
Identifying and addressing known security weaknesses is crucial in an OT environment. The most logical place to start this is prioritizing the riskiest devices that need mitigation and remediation. From there, correlate your asset inventory with the common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVE) system. Beyond that, though, it’s also important to keep patches current for hardware and firmware, and to regularly assess vulnerabilities and uncover any threats that might not be easy to spot.
Advanced Threats to OT and Critical Infrastructure
As organizations strengthen their security posture, threat actors are continuously finding new ways around it. There’s a wide range of threats to be aware of these days, and here are a few of the most common.
Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs)
An advanced persistent threat (APT) is a nation-state adversary with significant means, resources, and skills to launch a multi-pronged, sophisticated cyberattack. The goal of these attacks is to disrupt operations via espionage, sabotage, or other means.
Ransomware and Extortion Attacks
A type of attack in which the threat actor gains access to networks, moves laterally, and steals sensitive information before locking users out with ransomware. Often, ransomware is coupled with a double-extortion attack that includes threats to leak the stolen data publicly unless a ransom demand is met. On top of this, threat actors rely on ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS), a subscription-based model that sells predeveloped ransomware kits to enable less-sophisticated threat actors with the means for executing extortion attacks.
Third-party Access
Due to the frequent need for remote access to OT systems for troubleshooting and maintenance, third parties can pose a risk. If this access isn’t meticulously controlled and monitored, this can also become a major weak point. Furthermore, any lack of visibility and control over what that third-party user is doing on the network, as well as insight into whether the device they’re using is secured or insecure, can inadvertently expose critical infrastructure.
A Holistic Approach to OT Cybersecurity
Securing OT environments requires a holistic and layered approach. It's not just about implementing security tools. It's about establishing a strong security culture, implementing robust processes, and continuously monitoring and adapting to the evolving threat landscape. Organizations must recognize that OT cybersecurity is not just an IT problem; it's a business imperative that requires collaboration across all departments.
With industry-leading capabilities in exposure management, secure remote access, asset inventory, and others, the Claroty Platform offers organizations complete protection for their OT environments. With the deepest level of asset visibility and the broadest built-for-CPS solution set on the market today, Claroty can secure mission-critical infrastructure — in the cloud or on-premise.
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