Second part of the Top 20 mitigations for industrial environments. This part will focus on mitigations related to network architecture, industrial protocols, network configuration and vulnerability scanning.
In the industrial world, there are a large number of systems, equipment, networks, areas, ducts, cloud environments, IT-OT environments, etc. In recent years, the number of attacks on industrial environments has been growing exponentially, and not only on purely industrial environments, but also on corporate environments that are connected to industrial environments. These IT environments being access points for attackers due to this IT/OT connectivity.
The security gaps and issues that exist within industrial environments are sometimes unknown to many information consumers. This article aims to bring first hand some of the most interesting issues and attack trends in 2023 in the industrial sector. Different industrial cybersecurity incidents so far this year will be described at a high level and a comparison will be made with the trend presented at the beginning of the year.
OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence) is a technique that focuses on the collection, evaluation and analysis of public information through different methods and techniques, with the objective of discovering vulnerabilities or collecting sensitive information that could become threats.
It should be emphasized that the data collection is not called OSINT, it would be raw information. Once this information is evaluated and treated, it could be said that we are really talking about open-source intelligence (OSINT).
Initially it has been used in the military and government sector. Its use in OT, with disciplines such as SIGINT (Signals Intelligence), IMINT (Imagery Intelligence) or even 'Sock Puppets' (fake profiles or intruders in technical forums) is making havoc due to the criticality of this equipment. Disinformation or the compilation of sensitive industrial technical information are some of the serious consequences that this sector is exposed to.
The automotive sector is currently moving towards electric consumption, as society is becoming more and more aware of the problems that environmental pollution can cause.
One of the big challenges of this trend is how to charge electric vehicles, for which charging points are currently used.
But like most of today's technological devices, they will also need to have access to an Internet connection in order to be able to monitor in real time the use of the station, the customer's banking information, etc.
For this reason, in this article we want to talk about the different risks or cyber-attacks that these charging points may suffer and the problems they may cause, as this is a very important sector for society and one that is capable of managing very sensitive information
The presence of Shadow IT, i.e., the unauthorized or unmanaged use of IT technologies and services by employees, poses challenges and risks of considerable magnitude.
The rapid adoption of personal devices and applications, as well as accessibility to cloud services, have increased the complexity of the security landscape. This situation poses a risk that can compromise the confidentiality and integrity of the organization's information.
The Zero Trust methodology is based on the premise that no user, device, or network can be trusted, and that access privileges and security levels must be continuously verified in all interactions.
The motivation for applying the Zero Trust methodology is the need to protect a company's sensitive data and digital resources against potential internal and external threats.
In recent decades, the need to control processes remotely to improve efficiency, productivity and accelerate decision making on industrial systems has led to the interconnection of operation technologies (OT) with information technologies (IT). This interconnection has given rise to a number of security risks in industrial control systems, and to meet these challenges, specific tools and technologies have been developed and adapted to help ensure cybersecurity in industrial environments. One such tool is the Security Operations Center (SOC).
In this article we will focus on the importance of advanced monitoring in a SOC OT.
Firmware analysis can help to uncover potential vulnerabilities that would otherwise never have been discovered.
Although there are multiple types of attacks on IoT and IIoT devices, this guide focuses on the firmware of these devices to check for potential vulnerabilities, using security testing and reverse engineering to allow for an in-depth analysis of the firmware.
The increase of malware specifically designed to run on systems that support industrial processes creates a need in the industry that can be partly covered by different technological solutions. This article will focus on the different options available on the market to detect malicious files that aim to modify the operation of industrial environments or simply cause denials of service.
Both portable and agent-deployed solutions can be an option, and this article will reflect on these and other options as well as provide guidelines on when it is best to use one solution or the other.