How connected enterprises can build a roadmap for OT cyber security

Amid the ongoing crisis, workplace safety is imperative to protect worker and prevent operational disruptions. Industrial Internet of Things [lloT], also known as the Industrial Internet, is the convergence of enterprise-level information technology (IT) and plant level operations technology (OT) systems, to enable companies to access production, quality, safety, and other data. lloT brings together complex machines, advanced analytics, and people at work. lloT is changing the game and tearing down old silos by improving safety, productivity and profitability.

When OT and IT join forces, organisations unlock several benefits from process automation and business intelligence to a simplified system for ensuring regulatory compliance. With cyber threats rapidly increasing, and the remote desk protocol also being vulnerable, it crucial to implement tools and procedures to monitor both OT and IT environments. But OT network security tools generate large amounts of data, so the IT infrastructure needs to robust to manage that.

To chart a roadmap for operational technology cyber security and uncover how IIoT can substantially improve safety compliance and performance, Pradeep Chakraborty, Editor, Dataquest, had a virtual discussion with Sabyasachi Goswami, connected services commercial leader, Asia Pacific, Rockwell Automation, and Moon Eluvangal, OT cyber security consultant, Asia Pacific, Rockwell Automation.

Sabyasachi Goswami began by speaking about cyber security landscape, the challenges it poses and how we can address them, “What we have learned in the past few years is that digitally-transformed companies are in a better position to respond to the current pandemic. Digitalisation means the convergence of IT and OT. Adding to the complexity of convergence is deploying this whole thing across your enterprise. But how do we manage it and mitigate risks such as cyber security threats across geographical borders?” He further elaborated on how IT and OT may look similar, but there are differences between the two, which lies in the architecture, priorities, endpoints, and outcomes. In the OT environment, uptime is king with respect to reliability and integrity of the system, but in IT, data confidentiality is king. In OT, the architectures are proprietary in nature consisting of labelled, task-specific systems, while in IT, they consist of multi-layered systems to encourage accessibility.

He went on to talk about challenges that cyber security threats and unscheduled downtime hold, the opportunities that smart manufacturing hold, the holistic approach that’s required for robust security, and OT infrastructure best practices. Goswami also emphasised the need for protecting industrial assets requires an in-depth defence approach that addresses internal and external threats, and why a secure, scalable OT information infrastructure is critical to digitalisation and business continuity. He also detailed how Rockwell Automation provides a step-by-step approach in identifying opportunities, addresses cyber security concerns holistically across the enterprise, creates an effective strategy, and lends expert advice in building a framework using its technological prowess.

This is a partnered post.