Overview
Managing and reducing the risk of malicious digital attacks on operational technology (OT) is a critical challenge. Industrial operations and business continuity depend on continuous, effective OT security to protect digitallyconnected production floors. According to Gartner, Inc., “[t]hrough 2025, 70% of companies will deploy cyber-physical systems protection platforms as the first step in their asset-centric security journey.”
Manufacturers, critical infrastructure operators, and smart infrastructure companies rely on industrial control systems (ICS) to control their hardware and software powering production. This includes machinery, manufacturing robots, and sensors. Reliable OT security tools empower operational and security teams to proactively mitigate digital risks that impair ICS and the assets they digitally control.
First-generation OT security solutions use intrusion detection systems (IDS). Typically, an IDS is combined with other security measures to protect a company’s network.
With firewalls, antivirus, and anti-malware software in place, an IDS provides a second line of defense. But IDS only warns about suspicious activity already taking place; it does not prevent it.
IDS technologies are based on a sensor that uses passive monitoring of network traffic and active querying of assets, analyzes protocols, and performs Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) to detect anomalies. Industrial IDSs use the same technology while also supporting ICS protocols. They monitor the operational network via the span port. By design, IDS technology primarily alerts and reacts to activities as they occur in the network.
That is why a proactive approach to OT security and cyber-physical systems (CPS) risk management, rather than a reactive one, is critical. A reactive security posture is largely ineffective, since a breach and operational damage will have already occurred by the time you discover it.
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Proactive OT Security
