Operational technology (OT) systems have grown increasingly interconnected due to the fact that manufacturing companies, utilities, transporters, and other industrial organizations are connecting their control systems to enterprise systems, cloud services, remote workers, and connected devices.
The difference between OT and IT is the fact that OT systems have the ability to impact the physical machines and processes of the organization. Disruptions in OT operations can cause problems in production, safety, availability of equipment, or delivery of critical services.
There is much more to choosing an OT security solution than just listing down the features of different products. It is important to study various parameters such as asset visibility, segmentation, threat detection, remote access, industrial protocol support, and implementation, among others.
The following are five solutions that can be considered while choosing an OT security solution.
1. Fortinet
Fortinet follows an integrated architecture approach for OT security that aims at securing both IT and OT environments. The capabilities of Fortinet include network security, segmentation, secure connectivity, access control, monitoring, and security operations.
The benefits of integration can include better handling of security within converged environments. Visibility of assets and communication can aid teams in recognizing unusual behavior and implementing control measures in relation to sensitive systems.
Those evaluating the basics of OT security can refer to the basics of OT Security from Fortinet to learn about aspects such as segmentation, access control, monitoring, and risk management.
Organizations must evaluate integration with existing firewalls, switches, security operations tools, industrial devices, and more.
2. Nozomi Networks
Nozomi Networks concentrates purely on providing visibility and cybersecurity for OT, IoT, and industrial network environments. The company’s philosophy places emphasis on asset discovery, network monitoring, vulnerability management, and anomaly detection.
In its recommendations concerning OT security best practices, Nozomi Networks mentions difficulties associated with legacy technologies, expanded attack surfaces, asset visibility, connectivity, and network monitoring. It also places emphasis on continuous monitoring, segmentation, vulnerability management, and anomaly detection.
Such an approach may be appropriate for organizations that require comprehensive visibility of industrial network environments without using exclusively traditional IT security solutions. Integration with firewalls, SIEM systems, vulnerability management software, and incident response procedures should be considered.
3. Barracuda Networks
The Barracuda Networks strategy involves secure connectivity, network protection, remote access, and segmentation. All these solutions may be used in industrial companies where distributed devices and OT require limited connections with the corporate environment.
The OT security considerations of Barracuda Networks consider the issues that arise because of increasing connections, flat architecture, old hardware, and remote maintenance of equipment. Limiting unnecessary exposure will become especially crucial for industrial companies that become more interconnected.
Network segmentation will help separate critical systems from less secure networks and reduce unnecessary communications. Secure remote connectivity can provide access to authorized people without making management interfaces exposed to the internet.
Barracuda Networks can be used in companies that manage distributed industrial facilities or work in an environment that requires secure connectivity. The team will need to analyze protocol compatibility, remote access requirements, deployment options, ruggedization requirements, and OT infrastructure integration.
4. Armis
Armis’ approach to OT security is based on asset intelligence and cyber physical security, with a focus on discovering and knowing assets in IT, OT, IoT, and other environments.
OT security and operational resilience have also been mentioned by Armis, including how asset intelligence, exposure management, access control, and operational resilience relate.
The approach could potentially be used to help manage assets effectively. Asset context would provide assistance in prioritizing remediations, investigating activities, and identifying systems that need extra protection.
Organizations considering the use of Armis need to consider how well it will integrate into their existing operations regarding security operations, asset management, vulnerabilities, and incident responses. Scale and asset context also need to be considered.
5. Zscaler
Zscaler offers a zero-trust-focused strategy for access between users, devices, applications, and connected systems. It may apply to OT environments in which employees, contractors, vendors, and other third parties require controlled access from outside the organization.
Zscaler’s zero trust strategy for OT security talks about implementing zero trust principles in industrial systems and leveraging more granular controls rather than relying on network-wide access. Zero trust can give companies flexibility to allow access based on user, device, application, and policies.
It can be useful for distributed systems with increasing demands for remote access.
But access control is just one component of OT security. Visibility, segmentation, monitoring, vulnerability management, incident response, and legacy controls are still needed.
Comparison of OT Security Solutions
| Solution | Primary focus | Useful for | Key consideration |
| Fortinet | Integrated network and OT security | Converged IT-OT environments | Architecture and infrastructure fit |
| Nozomi Networks | OT/IoT visibility and monitoring | Asset-heavy industrial environments | Integration with existing security tools |
| Barracuda Networks | Secure connectivity and segmentation | Distributed industrial networks | Remote access and deployment requirements |
| Armis | Asset intelligence and cyber-physical security | Complex connected environments | Asset visibility and exposure management |
| Zscaler | Zero trust and secure access | Remote and distributed OT access | Complementary OT monitoring capabilities |
What to Look for in an OT Security Solution
Choosing the correct OT security solution will depend on many different characteristics unique to the organization and its operational environment. There are several key considerations that need to be made.
Visibility: The security team needs to determine what OT devices there are, how they communicate, and keep track of everything. This provides information about unknown connections, which helps prioritize security efforts.
Network segmentation: Limiting unnecessary communication between systems can help minimize the threat surface and limit lateral movement. Network segmentation needs to take into consideration the facility’s specific operational layout.
Industrial awareness: The security controls need to consider the presence of industrial protocols, legacy systems, specialized hardware, and the overall sensitivity of the OT devices.
Remote Access: Contractors, vendors, and employees might have to gain access to industrial systems. Before allowing remote connections, organizations should consider issues related to authentication, authorization, least privilege, monitoring, logging, and session management.
Monitoring and Detection: Effective OT security is more than just the perimeter. Employees should be able to detect abnormal communications, unauthorized access attempts, malicious activities, and damaging changes while knowing what is considered normal behavior.
Industry Standards: Organizations can benchmark their cybersecurity programs against existing cybersecurity standards like ISA/IEC 62443 standards. Such standards cover all aspects of securing industrial automation and control systems, including the system lifecycle and cybersecurity needs.
Risk Management: In addition to that, organizations implementing industrial connected technologies can refer to ENISA’s cybersecurity recommendations for Industry 4.0. This document covers issues that arise with Industry 4.0 and industrial IoT implementation including cybersecurity architecture, legacy systems, supply chain, interoperability, and risk management.
Operational Compatibility: Security solutions should not affect operations in any way. They should be tested in terms of deployment, performance, maintenance, and equipment compatibility.
Final Thoughts
Cybersecurity approaches in the current industrial era need to take into consideration not only cyber attacks but also the physical processes of production. The Fortinet, Nozomi Networks, Barracuda Networks, Armis, and Zscaler solutions each take a distinct perspective when addressing OT security.
It can be a question of combined network protection, OT visibility, secure connectivity, asset intelligence, or zero-trust access. Depending on the architecture, priorities, needs, and convergence of IT and OT, you can choose an appropriate approach in conjunction with standards and cybersecurity recommendations.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is OT security?
OT security encompasses the tools and processes that are used for the protection of those systems that monitor or control physical processes and devices. Such systems can range from industrial control systems, manufacturing machines, utility networks, transport networks, etc.
2. Why is OT security different from IT security?
The OT environment will have some operational considerations that do not exist in an ordinary IT environment. The considerations could include availability, safety, predictability, and reliability. In addition, OT equipment uses some old operating systems or unique industrial protocols.
3. Is network segmentation important for OT environments?
Yes. Network segmentation can limit the ability of an intruder to communicate within the industrial environment and to conduct lateral movements in case of any infiltration. The design of the network must cater to the needs of the organization.
4. How should organizations choose an OT security solution?
Organizations should start by looking at their assets, network topology, operational needs, remote access, and any gaps. They can then benchmark against visibility, segmentation, monitoring, industrial protocols support, access control, integration, and management considerations.
