How to trust your OT networks

Even as enterprises make progress on securing traditional IT networks, the OT, or operational technology, side of networks remain surprisingly vulnerable. Why? In the IT world, administrators regularly patch, use more current versions of hardware and software and use a variety of security tools. Latency is not a big issue, and if the network goes down briefly, nothing explodes or takes down the power grid.

In contract, on the other side of the house in the manufacturing environment, patches are rarely applied. Legacy systems are rampant and often exist in widely distributed locations with few, if any, updates. Equipment can be decades old. Latency and safety are critical - more important than anything else in many cases. Keeping the lights on, the line running or the water, gas or oil safely flowing is paramount.

So how do we take existing standards and widely adopted and vetted security and trust concepts and apply them to this environment?

TCG takes a look at this issue in a new article published recently in Embedded Computing Design (http://embedded-computing.com/guest-blogs/securing-networks-in-manufacturing/). Cisco’s Stacy Cannady talks about not only why IT and OT networks differ but more importantly, how to use trust and other technologies to add security.