Secure OT for enhance productivity

Manufacturing process systems that were mostly stand-alone and operated by experts are now open to cyber threats. It’s time to plug the hole

- Aanchal Ghatak

The rise of digital technologies brings a new level of cyber complexity to factories. The Fourth Industrial Revolution heralds an era of tremendous potential for innovation and growth. It also brings new risks and challenges. And this might be most evident in today’s manufacturing cyber landscape. Speaking at the Dataquest-Fortinet webinar OT Cybersecurity Best Practices in Manufacturing Industry Aasef Iqbal, Solution Architect, OT Cybersecurity, EMEA, Fortinet said that OT security solutions includes a wide range of security technologies – from next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) to security information, event management (SIEM) systems, and identity access and management.

There have been several OT attacks on the infrastructure over the past decade. Iqbal spoke about two attacks, specifically. The first was on SolarWinds Orion, which faced a ransomware attack on Honda, Fresenius, at the end of 2020. There was also an attempted poisoning of the Tampa Water Supply in Florida, USA.

“There are major security concerns, especially for remote access. This is applicable for any ICS/OT infrastructure, which includes HMI, PLC/RTU, sensors, and CCTV, etc. In the current situation, where we have COVID-19 lockdown, a lot of engineers are working remotely.”

“The hacker accessed the facility and tried to add some chemicals via the HMI. There could have been poisoning of water and damage to the community. For the remote engineer, there is the remote desktop, as well as monitoring and diagnostics (M&D). The malicious actor can access those and cause potential damage to the systems and the environment. However, there are several ways to protect oneself,” he said.