The Risks and Rewards of IT / OT Convergence

Bridging the Security Gap in IT / OT Convergence

Connection requires protection throughout the enterprise

Industrial companies are often plagued by unpatched legacy infrastructure and a lack of skilled resources to manage cyber risk properly. Attackers know that these environments have many vulnerabilities and that an attack can mean major consequences for the infected.

The next question is, why do companies struggle to address these well-known issues?

Traditionally, IT and OT teams managed security for their own domains. OT prioritized production efficiency and uptime, and IT prioritized speedy data flow. Today, more companies are converging IT and OT, requiring leadership from both domains to plan and execute cybersecurity programs in tandem. This often works best with guidance from a cybersecurity partner with expertise in IT, OT and cybersecurity.

One key step in securing the network, is knowing what’s on it. Most industrial automation environments are poorly inventoried, yet today’s tools can automate asset inventories, moving from a typical 1-3 months+ between reports, to daily or hourly.

Does your organization have competing security priorities between teams, gaps in security strategies, or undefined roles in security? Are your employees working remotely, increasing risks to network infrastructure from unknown devices and insecure connections?

Three Methods to Simply IT / OT Convergence

Our specialized expertise helps improve convergence success

IT and OT convergence in industrial operations is driven by the need for better data visibility and utilization, full realization of system and software ROI, and enhanced cybersecurity. It’s also a key enabler for industrial companies to achieve their digital transformation goals.

While the value of business drivers continues to increase, executing IT / OT convergence remains challenging. In industrial companies today, the line between IT and OT is blurring as data becomes essential to productivity and profitability. Yet IT expectations and priorities can still vary greatly from those on the plant floor. Response time, for example, tends to be much more critical in OT than in IT environments.

Our solutions and services address the complete needs of industrial companies. We can speed the success of IT / OT convergence initiatives and deliver new levels of productivity, security and uptime, making convergence efforts highly valuable.

Establishing an IT / OT Security Operations Center

Present a unified front against cyber threats

While OT requires specific tools for industrial cybersecurity, one area where enterprises can use their existing resources and personnel is a Security Operations Center (SOC). The best industrial cyber defense strategy is to present a unified front against threats to IT and OT assets by establishing a converged SOC that protects these once-separate technology environments in a holistic manner.

The SOC is widely accepted as a hallmark of mature IT security programs. By consolidating OT security with your existing IT-centric SOC, you can achieve greater visibility across the entire enterprise, enhancing security monitoring and gaining comprehensive threat mitigation capabilities.

Not ready for this step? Talk to Rockwell Automation about our SOC as a Service capability. Our managed cybersecurity services can provide efficient, ongoing threat monitoring with many other benefits, saving CapEx and helping to close cybersecurity staffing gaps.