Zero Belief Community Entry (ZTNA) is a safe distant entry service. It verifies distant customers and grants them entry to the fitting assets on the proper instances based mostly on id and context insurance policies. That is half 3 in our weblog sequence about ZTNA for operational expertise (OT). Try Half 1 for why ZTNA beats out always-on VPNs for OT distant entry and Half 2 for the way ZTNA reduces the assault floor by proscribing entry strategies and verifying distant customers’ safety posture.
Video cameras are in every single place, together with in amenities with the strictest bodily entry controls. Even in case you belief a person to enter a delicate space, you continue to want to observe their actions as soon as they’re within the door. Seeing a suspicious exercise, you’ll be able to step in to cease it. And if issues crop up after the go to, reviewing a recording will help pinpoint what went mistaken.
Monitoring and recording actions are equally vital in terms of distant customers accessing your OT networks. It’s not sufficient to confirm the id of distant workers, distributors, and contractors. Neither is it sufficient to know who’s linked to what OT/ICS property. You additionally must know what customers are doing throughout distant entry periods. Most organizations lack that visibility right this moment, a shortcoming for cybersecurity compliance, governance, the flexibility to cease and get better from breaches, and incident investigation.
Conveniently, Cisco Safe Tools Entry (SEA) offers you an all-in-one answer to grant distant entry, implement entry controls, and monitor and report distant session exercise. Listed here are 3 ways you’ll be able to make the most of Cisco SEA to actively management OT distant entry.
1 – Monitor, be a part of, and terminate energetic periods
See a listing of all energetic periods on the Cisco SEA console. By clicking on the session between ‘Person A’ and ‘Asset B’ you’ll be able to watch session actions as they occur, together with instructions despatched to the asset. Watching a vendor configure an OT/ICS asset could be useful for coaching, for instance. And in case you see one thing suspicious, like an try to vary the code or a variable in a programmable logic controller (PLC), you’ll be able to terminate the session with a click on and disconnect the distant person. Distant session termination is required by ISA/IEC62443-3-3 FR2.
2 – Preserve a whole log of previous periods
Cybersecurity greatest practices require sustaining an in depth historical past of all previous periods, helpful for safety audits, forensic investigations, and regulatory compliance. The EU’s NIS2 Directive, for instance, requires a full audit path for each occasion that impacts vital infrastructure and OT safety requirements reminiscent of ISA/IEC62443-3-3 require information of all login makes an attempt. Cisco SEA logs each system-generated and user-generated occasions. For instance, evaluation how distant customers authenticate, together with usernames, time, gadget posture, and session actions. Or see who added new customers or new property to the system.
3 – File periods to see what occurred
Optionally report periods for chosen property, just by deciding on the asset on the console and checking a field. Recordings enrich your audit path and could be significantly useful for troubleshooting. If an asset like a robotic arm, wind turbine, or freeway signal stops working, for instance, you would possibly uncover {that a} vendor lately upgraded the software program or made a typo in a brand new configuration. Sooner troubleshooting helps you place the asset again into manufacturing sooner.
Hold it easy, with an all-in-one answer for safe tools entry
Summing up, Cisco SEA offers you a single interface to guard your ICS and OT property with ZTNA. Require all distant customers to authenticate by means of a single level. Management which property they’ll entry and at what instances. And do what a video digital camera does by monitoring all distant session actions and recording information for safety audits.
Study extra about Cisco Safe Tools Entry right here.
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