�
PREDICTIVE
INTELLIGENCE
Collaborative
approach
to cybersecurity in a converged
IT/OT environment
The road to the future is filled with potential
cybersecurity challenges – and these are only
exacerbated by the longstanding divergence between
IT and OT security teams. Antoine D’Haussy, BD Director
EMEA of OT, Fortinet, explains how to take a collaborative
approach to cybersecurity in a converged IT/OT environment.
n industry,
I
technical
evolutions are
transforming
operations and
driving innovation.
And at the same
time, devices, endpoints and networks
across both IT and OT environments
are more connected than ever. In fact,
Forrester research commissioned by
Fortinet shows that 66% of industrial
firms say their factories now run
through IP-connected networks. But
the road to the future is also filled with
potential cybersecurity challenges –
and these are only exacerbated by the
longstanding divergence between IT and
OT security teams.
For example, despite business
environments being more connected
than ever, IT and OT security teams still
operate in silos – interacting but falling
shy of true integration. Historically, IT
and OT have had very different security
concerns; OT’s domain generally wasn’t
a part of the connected IT world, thereby
minimising the threats it faced.
But as OT operations become
increasingly digitalised, their networks
are being exposed to more cyber-risk.
In fact, almost three-quarters (73%) of
industrial firms believe that the attack
surface of their IP-connected factory
machines has expanded. So, in a world
where even a factory production line
could now be controlled by malicious
actors, cybersecurity is no longer just
about protecting emails and users – it’s
also about keeping factories, production
systems, processing plants, refineries,
energy plants, transportation and
delivery networks and other essential
infrastructures safely operating. To
achieve this, a collaborative approach to
security solutions and incident response
is essential.
Benefits worth converging for
The business benefits of converging
IT and OT are significant: 66% of firms
agree that such collaboration can
provide access to real-time data insights
from manufacturing operations, while
59% believe it can create new business
opportunities via increased insight into
production data.
The security benefits of converging IT
and OT strategies are also numerous.
Forming effective processes, adopting
specific, stringent industry standards
and delivering an orchestrated response
www.intelligentciso.com | Issue 28
33