Securing Cyber-Physical Systems with the Fortinet OT Security Platform

No matter the industry-be it energy, manufacturing, transportation, communications, building management, healthcare, utilities, warehousing, or others-most operational technology (OT) environments now incorporate a mix of cyber-physical systems (CPS), smart building solutions, Internet of Things (IoT), Industrial IoT (IIoT), and Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) devices.

These systems have several things in common. First, they are increasingly digitally connected to the IT network and/or the Internet. Next, most are now being monitored and managed remotely. And lastly, a defining characteristic of such systems is that they interact directly with the physical world, including dangerous environments or critical infrastructure. And as more devices are connected to these systems, this attack surface becomes wider and more vulnerable.

Staying Ahead of the Curve

As with IT networks, remaining secure requires OT networks and security to rapidly evolve to keep up with new threats and changing technology-particularly the need to connect every device. Traditionally, OT security has relied on obscurity because everything was air-gapped and nothing was connected to external systems. But this approach has changed rapidly over the last five years, resulting in nimbler, more responsive OT environments-and increased risk.

As a result, CISOs have begun taking on more responsibility for connecting and protecting OT networks, often by adopting an OT secure networking strategy. However, as OT security matures, CIOs are also taking on OT risk mitigation responsibility as they look to expand their security operations (SecOps) capabilities to include OT. But change doesn't stop there. The increased global pressure of regulation and compliance is forcing the entire C-suite to rapidly survey the evolving OT security space, looking for OT-specific solutions that work together as part of a platform. And because this market is new, it is quickly filling with unproven security start-ups, resulting in the same security sprawl, vendor overload, and siloed solutions that have plagued IT networks for years.

Selecting an OT Security Platform

An OT security platform needs to secure devices, networks, and applications. But there are also some additional unique requirements across the OT security platform that need to be addressed, for example:

• Rugged Networking Devices: An OT platform must include a variety of ruggedized form factors to withstand harsh environmental conditions.
• OT Agents: Integrated, purpose-built tools should be designed to run on, monitor, and support OT-specific systems, including ICS.
• Secure Remote Access: An effective OT platform ensures that OT users and devices can securely connect to connected devices and external systems, including supporting zero-trust controls.

Fortinet OT Security Platform

An OT security platform needs to protect devices, employee & supply chain access, application access, the IT/OT convergence and integrated into the wider ecosystem of vendors.