Why is cybersecurity for operational technology so essential?
Together, we can increase the security status of your operational technology. With our advanced Cybersecurity for Operational Technology, Equans supports you in exploring, protecting, identifying, responding to, and remediating all the security systems within your industrial network. Within an ever-changing cybersecurity landscape, OT cybersecurity is of essential importance for guaranteeing the continued availability of your industrial installations.
What is the difference between IT cybersecurity and OT (operational technology) cybersecurity?
The difference between IT and OT cybersecurity can be found in the words themselves. The security priorities for each of these systems are different.
For example, in OT, the priorities related to availability will be very high; yet in IT, they are lower. For OT, real time is obviously critical, and the components will have lifespans that are longer than 20 years. An IT system accepts delays in real time, and its components need to be replaced sooner. IT cybersecurity will result in regular software updates. And this includes regular audits. The same cannot usually be said of OT.
Awareness of security issues in the realm of OT continues to grow, whereas security awareness in IT has by now matured and stabilised.
What are the risks to your company?
We recommend performing a cost-benefit analysis for a few scenarios in which the three risks (operational, financial, and reputational) become a reality in your company.
A customised cybersecurity solution will always be the most cost-effective choice.
Lifecycle of an OT security incident
Cost of an OT security incident
Equans as your OT cybersecurity partner
Our team
The OT cybersecurity team consists of specialised and certified experts who have extensive experience in various control systems and programs.
With our immense dedication to and passion for our field, we make sure to always keep abreast of the very latest developments, and we regularly exchange expertise with other professional specialists.
Our services
✓ OT Cybersecurity assessments
Evaluation of the security status of your operational technology.
✓ Security level calculations
Calculation of security levels SL-C and SL-A
✓ Advice
Advice on implementable measures to reduce risks and increase security
✓ Asset discovery & management
Identification and management of network assets
✓ Remote monitoring
24/7 monitoring of system security and timely responses to potential threats
✓ Patch management
Management and implementation of patches to protect against known vulnerabilities
✓ 24/7 intervention team
Rapid intervention in security incidents and the implementation of proactive, damage-control measures
✓ IEC 62443 compliancy checks & advice related to applicable legislation (NIS2)
Our methodology
We employ a well-substantiated and clear-cut methodology to ensure the optimal security of your company.
That is why we always start by carefully documenting and prioritising all your business-critical systems and available resources. We then design, develop, and implement the necessary security measures.
We then identify irregular and/or suspicious activities early enough to respond adequately and effectively.
And finally, we guarantee rapid recovery from all cybersecurity incidents within the operational technology environment.
Purpose: document and prioritise business-critical systems and available resources.
The roadmap within the IDENTIFY category shows you how to efficiently identify gaps in your cyber security landscape. This will give you insights into risks and vulnerabilities, internal and external, and allow you to focus on areas of greatest impact with limited resources.
Assessments:
- Risk and vulnerability
- Network architecture
- Asset inventory
- Employee cyber security hygiene
We take into account:
- the specific context of the organisation:
- the industry in which the organisation operates
- the number and locations of branches
- the potential impact on both the organisation and its customers in the event of downtime or damage due to a cyber-attack
- government or industry compliance requirements
- the insurability of cyber security
- the impact of the environment
Purpose: design, develop and implement security measures that protect the systems, assets, applications, data, people and other critical components needed to deliver your critical services.
After you have identified the gaps via IDENTIFY and the priorities have been set, we start working on them. We want to avoid the presence of threat factors in your systems, which could cause serious damage to your systems.
Possible measures to achieve this are:
- updating the network design with a demilitarised zone (IDMZ) and segmentation
- continuous threat monitoring and auditing of the asset inventory
- identity and access controls (including secure remote access)
- management of removable media
- patching of operational technology
- employee awareness and training
- data security
- information protection processes and procedures
- incident response and recovery planning
Purpose: Early identification of anomalous and suspicious activities indicating possible attacks, failures or other security incidents within the industrial control system (ICS)
By closely monitoring the security status of OT systems and identifying anomalies in a timely manner, companies can protect their industrial processes and ensure the reliability and integrity of their OT infrastructure.
With continuous monitoring and advanced detection techniques, organisations can detect potential threats faster and respond proactively.
Implementing the DETECT category within OT cybersecurity requires the use of specific technologies and processes aimed at collecting, analysing and interpreting data from ICS environments.
Here, we consider
- monitoring network traffic
- analysing logs
- detecting unusual patterns or behaviour
- applying anomaly detection algorithms
Purpose: Adequate response to cybersecurity incidents in the operational technology (OT) environment.
Within the RESPOND category, we focus on developing and implementing effective measures to mitigate the impact of an incident, restore systems and address the causes of the incident.
The category provides guidelines and best-practices to develop a structured response strategy.
It includes activities such as
- identifying the nature and scope of an incident
- communicating with relevant stakeholders
- implementing temporary measures to prevent further damage
- restoring systems to a safe state
- analysing the incident to learn lessons and prevent future incidents
Purpose: Rapid recovery from a cybersecurity incident in operational technology (OT) environments.
For this, it focuses on minimising the impact of an incident, restoring normal operation of processes and implementing measures to prevent future incidents.
In OT cybersecurity, the recovery process is critical because it helps minimise the disruption of industrial processes, ensure continuity of operations and protect worker safety and the environment.
* Activities subdivided according to the NIST framework and aligned with the IEC-62443 standard