4 Months to a Secure OT Environment: A Practical Guide
The prospect of implementing robust cybersecurity measures in a complex industrial environment can seem daunting. However, it doesn't have to be an overwhelming task. The Claroty + Copia whitepaper provides a clear and actionable 4-month plan to help you get started on your journey to a secure OT environment.
The 4-Step Plan
This plan outlines four key phases, each building upon the previous one to create a comprehensive cybersecurity foundation:
Month 1: Establish Visibility & Control
- Asset Discovery: Begin by gaining a complete understanding of your OT environment. Use Claroty's deep visibility solutions to conduct a thorough inventory of all assets, including their configurations and vulnerabilities.
- Risk Assessment: Once you have a clear picture of your assets, identify, assess, and prioritize cybersecurity risks based on asset criticality and vulnerabilities.
- Implement Backup Solutions: Deploy robust backup and recovery solutions for critical OT data and systems to ensure business continuity in the event of a cyberattack or system failure.
Month 2: Secure the Network
- Network Segmentation: Segment your OT network to isolate critical systems and limit the lateral movement of attackers in the event of a breach. This helps contain the impact of an attack and prevent it from spreading throughout your environment.
- Access Control: Enforce strict access controls and authentication mechanisms to prevent unauthorized access to OT systems. This ensures that only authorized personnel can access and modify critical systems.
- Vulnerability Management: Patch and remediate vulnerabilities in OT systems, prioritizing those with the highest risk. This helps reduce your attack surface and protect against known exploits.
Month 3: Strengthen Security Posture
- Continuous Monitoring & Threat Detection: Deploy solutions, such as Claroty's Continuous Threat Detection (CTD), to continuously monitor and detect cyber threats in real-time. This enables you to identify and respond to suspicious activity quickly, minimizing the impact of an attack.
- Secure Remote Access: Implement secure remote access solutions to enable authorized personnel to connect to and manage OT systems without compromising security. This allows for remote support and maintenance while maintaining a strong security posture.
Month 4: Embrace Industrial DevOps
- Version Control & Configuration Management: Use tools like Copia's Industrial DevOps platform to implement version control and configuration management for OT code, ensuring efficient and controlled change management. This helps prevent unauthorized changes and ensures that all modifications are tracked and documented.
- Automated Testing: Employ automated testing procedures to confirm that code changes do not introduce new vulnerabilities or disrupt operations. This helps ensure the stability and reliability of your OT systems.
- Collaboration & Training: Foster collaboration between IT and OT teams and provide ongoing training and education on cybersecurity best practices. This creates a culture of shared responsibility and ensures that everyone is aware of the importance of cybersecurity.
This 4-month plan provides a roadmap to enhance your cybersecurity posture and protect your critical infrastructure. To get a detailed breakdown of each step and learn how to implement it in your organization, view our recent partner webinar with Claroty here.
