Page 29 - Cyber Defense eMagazine April 2023

But OT people need to do it the other way around because, in OT environments, system availability is
king.

OT Zero Trust methodology is a framework wherein every asset is covered by at least one security
countermeasure during its entire lifecycle. An asset’s lifecycle includes pre-service inspection, endpoint
protection, and network defense.

The Practicalities of OT Zero Trust Methodology

In our field experience, the No.1 hurdle for OT security managers hasn’t been budgetary limitations, nor
their professional knowledge of cybersecurity that prevents them from pursuing a higher level of security.
It’s a lack of manpower.

Imagine a factory plant with thousands of devices scattered over tens of acres, managed only by two
professional OT security managers. That should paint a clear picture of why fancy IT security features
are not the solution.

Only when OT Zero Trust is applied to practical security implementations will it make sense. Avoid
bringing up more questions while trying to answer one. Pinpoint the exact path for the user to follow
instead. The answer does not lie within the slight differences of detection rates among ill-suited solutions,
but in an environment tailor-made to address OT-specific security requirements and conditions.

A Higher Call for OT Zero Trust – The Last Frontier of Defense

In our recent survey from 300 C-level executives or directors in charge of OT security, 94% of them
experienced OT incidents that originated from IT. We see a clear trend that more and more ransomware-
based outbreaks in OT are targeted attacks. If hackers can break through layered IT security defenses
and retrieve all credentials to drop/spread ransomware in the OT space, deploying the same solutions in
OT is not likely to help intercept malicious acts. The only solution is extensive OT security awareness –
a contextual, situational awareness involving deep insight of OT activities.

In addition to examining the level of security with OT-specific signature intelligence, the Extended OT
Zero Trust also reacts to items based on insights into the day-to-day operation norms in OT. For example,
an Extended OT Zero Trust can confidently trigger the alarm when it sees a commonplace command
over common protocols if the operation context never involved such protocols before.

This contextual awareness goes beyond traditional security approaches and requires a great deal of
industrial insights and technologies such as AI; achieving this level of awareness is the ultimate goal of
OT Zero Trust. Never trust. Always verify - and verify with industrial context.

To sum up, OT Zero Trust is a new but significant security paradigm that we need to shift into. We’re
eager to see it realize its potential and thrilled to be among its first pioneers.

29