Speaking at CyberSec European Cybersecurity Forum in Krakow, Joel Brenner, senior research fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) spoke out, saying an effective attack on critical sectors such as energy, communications, finance and transport, which rely on industrial control systems (ICS), could have potentially shattering human and economic effects across all sectors. His top recommendation is that key ICS controls must be isolated from public networks if they are to be made reasonably secure. Justin Coker, Vice President at Skybox Security commented below.
Justin Coker, Vice President at Skybox Security:
“From a technology perspective, these networks are especially attractive, which is why we’re seeing more attackers target them. The standard defences IT networks rely on don’t translate to these environments. Combined with their legacy technology, out–of–the–box settings and lackluster patching, this is a huge area for cyber risk, so merely isolating key ICS devices does not eliminate the risk of cyberattacks entirely. You need multiple layers and approaches of security, just like in your IT network. Proper segmentation is one of those layers.
“Another is vulnerability management. It is imperative to have complete visibility across ICSs to identify any potential vulnerabilities in the system. Having a detailed and seamless model of your IT and OT networks will give you the foundation to analyse, prioritise and mitigate vulnerability risks with complete context, and see how best to properly isolate vulnerable or critical systems. Taking informed security management action will not only make critical infrastructure networks safer but also help to reduce operational disruptions and improve uptime.”
