After the manager order to bolster the nations cybersecurity following the Colonial Pipeline assault, the U.S. Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) has been releasing new mandates for important infrastructure akin to freight and passenger rail, pipelines, and airports, with extra industries to observe.
The networks that help these important infrastructures are mission-critical, which implies that it’s important to have the ability to keep linked whereas securely administering coverage within the industrial house. Being an trade chief in networking and safety throughout each the knowledge know-how (IT) and operational know-how (OT) domains, Cisco is in a singular place to ship an end-to-end safety technique, whereas enhancing operational uptime and resiliency.
To strengthen the cybersecurity posture of the nation’s important infrastructure, there are 4 key necessities outlined by the mandates, highlighted in daring textual content beneath.
Community segmentation
The primary requirement is to “Implement community segmentation insurance policies and controls to make sure that the Operational Know-how (OT) system can proceed to soundly function if an Info Know-how (IT) system has been compromised.”
Utilizing a defense-in-depth strategy, Cisco addresses this requirement in lots of elements of the community, adapting to the distinctive structure wants of particular person organizations. The answer is a typical one, use the community infrastructure to phase a community. Don’t wait till you attain a “safety equipment” to do safety. Cisco offers an end-to-end segmentation answer by which knowledge is stored inside its personal digital community from supply to vacation spot, wherever that could be.
To help the distinctive necessities of business networks, the attain of Cisco SD-WAN has been expanded by Cisco Industrial Routers, which offer the connectivity, mobility, and safety required for important infrastructure. SD-WAN segments site visitors on the fringe of the community and maintains separation by all related factors within the community. Coverage could be orchestrated throughout a number of enforcement factors within the community utilizing Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, or—in case your group prefers—can help the evolution to a safe service edge (SSE) with Cisco Safe Entry.
Entry management
TSA highlights the necessity to “Implement entry management measures to safe and stop unauthorized entry to Crucial Cyber Techniques.” As OT units traverse each the LAN and the WAN with a unified id, Cisco can implement coverage in all places. Cisco Safety Group Tags (SGTs) determine the position {that a} gadget has on the community, and the related privileges are enforced by switches, routers, and firewalls, relying on the place the info flows.
Distant customers, whether or not inner technicians or vendor help, usually want entry to important cyber programs. Cisco Safe Tools Entry (SEA) offers versatile entry for distant configuration and upkeep of business belongings in distributed places whereas minimizing safety danger.
Steady monitoring
Segmentation just isn’t sufficient to finish a safety answer. By implementing “steady monitoring and detection insurance policies and procedures to detect cybersecurity threats and proper anomalies that have an effect on Crucial Cyber System operations,” we will frequently monitor and consider the belief of each customers and units on our networks and push coverage again into the community as safety posture modifications.
To offer visibility and safety posture to the economic community, Cisco Cyber Imaginative and prescient is embedded in Cisco networking infrastructure to be able to keep away from the necessity for devoted home equipment and/or pricey Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) options. Cyber Imaginative and prescient identifies belongings, their traits, and their communication patterns to “scale back the danger of exploitation of unpatched programs by the applying of safety patches and updates for working programs, functions, drivers and firmware on Crucial Cyber Techniques in a well timed method utilizing a risk-based methodology.” Cyber Imaginative and prescient routinely identifies gadget vulnerabilities and calculates danger scores so you may proactively construct an enchancment course of to handle dangers.
Cisco’s capabilities, highlighted above, not solely meet the present TSA Cybersecurity Directive necessities but in addition allow purchasers to ship extra sturdy cybersecurity capabilities to thwart efforts by trade threats. Most importantly, these capabilities are foundational for enabling each safety and operational resiliency in addition to optimizing the efficiency of mission-critical networks.
To study extra about how Cisco may also help you safe your industrial operations, please contact us or go to cisco.com/go/iotsecurity. And don’t neglect to subscribe to our OT safety publication.
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