Page 26 - Cyber Defense eMagazine July 2024

In the study, Guardians of Government: The State of Federal OT Security, 90 percent of Federal OT
administrators reported they have placed greater emphasis on OT security. And for good reason. Sixty-
eight percent reported an OT cyber security incident in just the past year, and only 20 percent gave
themselves an ‘A’ grade for OT security preparedness. When asked if they could mitigate and respond
to an OT threat today, half of the respondents expressed a high degree of confidence.

The study provides a comprehensive assessment of the critical gaps they face and what best practices
they’ve adopted to enhance operational security. The obstacles to achieving a desired state of resilience
and readiness are multi-fold. They report gaps they seek to close in their OT security, including improved
asset visibility, secure remote access and monitoring. Many Federal agencies face additional OT security
challenges, such as managing broad geographic distribution of their connected endpoints and limited air-
gapping. And 65 percent estimated that assets in their organization have reached end-of-life yet are still
internet facing, thus adding to their cyber attack surface.

The good news is these leaders are taking proactive measures within their agencies to address their
security needs, despite the complexity. First, they report significantly greater coordination between IT
and OT organizations, and some agencies have even aligned these functions in their organizations.
Second, more report that they have implemented continuous assessments and have begun standardizing
risk models. And, they’ve focused on upskilling their teams to keep pace with both evolving technologies
and persistent threats. These are all steps in the right direction and will ultimately result in greater
resilience and higher levels of confidence in their ability to meet the threats of today and in the future.

As our Federal systems – and world – have become increasingly interconnected, and the extended
Internet of Things has become a reality, it is vital that we safely protect the cyber and physical
components of connected organizations. As these Guardians of Government have reported, the threats
are real. However, the organizational processes and technologies exist today and, if implemented well -
with up-to-date best practices and expediency - can meet these threats with confidence.

About the Author

Heather Young is regional vice president, US Federal, for Claroty. She is
responsible for supporting and enabling clients across Federal, State and Local
Government, and the Education sectors.

Heather can be reached at [email protected] (@youngheather20 on X) and
at https://claroty.com/.

Cyber Defense eMagazine – July 2024 Edition 26
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