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Practically every tech professional understands that the IT acronym stands for information technology. However, over the last few years, a new concept entered the industry lexicon: OT. It defines operational technology, which relates to the monitoring of manufacturing and industrial processes.

With the Industrial IoT (IIoT) growing in importance, naturally, the world of IT and OT increasingly overlap. Not surprisingly, this convergence requires cybersecurity teams to consider new ways to protect these systems from cybercriminals. In fact, unethical hackers are creating new threats aimed specifically at the industrial control systems (ICS) used for OT. So let’s look more closely at this critical topic for modern SecOps professionals.

What Does The Convergence of IT and OT mean for SecOps?

The New Cyber Threats Targeting ICS and OT Systems

The proliferation of IP-connected devices in the manufacturing/industrial space creates a host of new targets for cybercriminals. At the same time, companies in this sector leverage third-party providers for maintenance and support of these devices. In many cases, they use a remote desktop protocol for access. Needless to say, this is a critical security risk.

A new cyber threat called “disruptionware” focuses on stopping industrial processes in their tracks. It leverages techniques found in ransomware, bricking, botnets, and more for nefarious purposes. Cybercriminals from novices to state-sponsored criminals use disruptionware to target manufacturers and other industrial businesses. As such, companies operating in these sectors must use the right monitoring tools for both IT and OT networks.

The Growth of The IoT and 5G Networks Raises The Stakes

As noted earlier, manufacturing businesses increasingly use the IIoT to monitor processes in their factories. The expansion of 5G networking and its lower latency makes this remote monitoring more seamless. However, many of these IoT devices are consumer-grade. Therefore, connecting them to ICS systems raises the risk of a cyberattack.

Closely track the use of these lower-grade IP-connected devices with state-of-the-art SecOps monitoring tools. Ultimately, more IoT devices mean more entry points for unethical hackers. Ensure your SecOps team also has everything it needs to protect your company’s OT and ICS systems.

Ensure Your Cybersecurity Staff is Large Enough to Protect OT Infrastructures

Ultimately, the convergence of IT and OT systems increases the workloads for your SecOps staff. Is your team large enough to handle this additional responsibility? Don’t let the difficulty found sourcing experienced cybersecurity professionals put your industrial business at risk.

Ready to Hire Cybersecurity Professionals?

If your company needs to hire more cybersecurity engineers, connect with Redbud Cyber. As one of the top SecOps staffing agencies in the country, we provide the influx of talent your business needs. Schedule a meeting with us to discuss your current hiring needs.

With conflict becoming more commonplace across the world, expect an increase in cyberattacks from foreign nation-states. In this situation, a strong SecOps posture remains critical to protect your business’s technical assets and data. After all, these new forms of attacks target both government agencies as well as private businesses.

Having the right cybersecurity systems in place remains an important piece in the SecOps puzzle, especially during cyberwarfare. Here are some insights on what technology and policies your business needs to improve its cyber footprint. Leverage this advice to ensure your organization maintains its vigilance against foreign cyber threats, no matter their form.

Install Top-Shelf Systems to Protect Your Endpoints

The move to remote working greatly expanded network perimeters for most businesses. This diaspora makes it critical to protect every endpoint on your company’s network. Any connected devices in your business’s facilities and each employee’s home office need protection.

Obviously, increased adoption of the IoT also contributes to this risk factor. Strong endpoint systems protect your assets against cyberattacks from both nation-states as well as general cybercriminals. Consider adopting an Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) for the strongest cybersecurity approach.

Consider Using a Secure Data Storage Service Provider

Data security and privacy become especially crucial considering the vast array of threats during cyberwarfare. For this scenario, partnering with a secure data storage service provider provides vital protection for critical business data. Choose a provider known for leveraging a state of the art encryption methodology.

Encrypt Any Data Shared on The Internet

Speaking of data encryption, your organization also needs to leverage industry-best algorithms when interacting with business data. Foreign cybercriminals regularly try to steal business data. Any information transferred between employees and your business applications must be encrypted. Also consider adopting end-to-end data encryption in tandem with a VPN service to provide an extra layer of protection.

Enact Mutual Cybersecurity Policies With Your Business Partners

Of course, it’s an increasingly interconnected business community out there. Your company likely partners and shares data with a host of other companies. As such, they need to take a similar approach to SecOps as your business. When cyberwarfare rages, you need to craft mutual cybersecurity policies with your organization’s business partners.

Sharing your SecOps best practices with business partners makes perfect sense in this scenario. Additionally, ensure they take a similar approach to encryption with any data transferred between you and your partners.

Looking for tech talent?

If your company needs to add talented cybersecurity professionals, connect with the team at Redbud Cyber. One of the top SecOps staffing agencies in the country, we provide the exceptional candidates to protect your assets. Schedule a meeting with us at your earliest convenience.

AI continues to make a transformational impact throughout the technology world. The FinTech world leverages it for various use-cases, including customer service chatbots and automated trading powered by machine learning. Other business sectors use this tech innovation to improve efficiency, ultimately lowering costs while improving a business’s bottom line.

The practice of cybersecurity also boasts a growing impact of AI and machine learning on its operations. Unfortunately, this also includes nefarious online criminals using the tech to pierce corporate firewalls and technical infrastructures. So let’s take a high-level overview of the emergence of AI on SecOps posture at the enterprise.

What is the Impact of AI and the Practice of Cybersecurity?

AI Powers Behavior-Based Tools Used to Detect Suspicious Network Activity

One of the leading methods where AI makes a difference in cybersecurity involves behavior-based detection of suspicious network activity. Machine learning models help in this regard, comparing current network usage with established norms. This approach makes detecting potential breaches and other suspicious actions a more effective process.

Explainable AI Helps Cyber Engineers Understand ML Models

Of course, machine learning models need to be trained to identify the differences between normal and suspicious network activity. However, using a trained model on the front lines of a corporate tech infrastructure sometimes seems like a proverbial “black box.” Essentially, it provides cybersecurity engineers with few insights on why it identified a certain action as potentially harmful.

Explainable AI hopes to change this perception wherever machine learning makes an impact across the tech world. Related to SecOps, it provides engineers and their management tangible information on why the model flagged certain network actions. These extra insights also provide peace of mind to tech leadership. More importantly, they lead to designing more effective ML models, leading to improved cybersecurity protection.

Reducing The Number of Cybersecurity False Alarms

Somewhat related to that previous topic, reducing false alarms in an AI-powered cybersecurity tool increases trust in the system. Again, this is another area where machine learning comes into play. It relies on AI techniques like casual reasoning and learned dependency models to identify cyber attack sources.

This approach improves the effectiveness of real-time analysis of network activity, ultimately reducing the amount of false alarm fatigue. In the end, it also allows network engineers to focus more on preventing and responding to actual cyber-attacks.

Are You Utilizing AI with Your Cybersecurity Practices?

If your company needs an influx of talented SecOps professionals, connect with the team at Redbud Cyber. As one of the top cybersecurity staffing agencies in the country, we provide exceptional candidates to protect your IT assets. Schedule a meeting with us to discuss your current hiring plans.

As cyber crime increases all over the business world, a new approach to cybersecurity is gaining popularity. Zero trust architecture moves the focus of SecOps from the network perimeter to the application, microservice, or data layer. A simple four word phrase expresses its basic concept: “Never trust, always verify.”

Let’s look more closely at the concept of zero trust to see if it makes sense for your business. Ultimately, this newer cybersecurity model provides a better fit for a business world where remote working is commonplace. The increased reliance on remote access and Cloud-based services requires a more vigorous approach.

Zero Trust Makes More Sense in The Wake of COVID-19

Before the Coronavirus pandemic upended the traditional employment model, employees typically worked behind a corporate firewall. The transition to remote working expanded that network perimeter to encompass the home networks of each remote employee. Importantly, a recent IBM study noted that 61 percent of employees also lack sufficient security on remote devices accessing networks.

Add to this situation the growing complexity of corporate networks embracing Cloud-based services. Simply put, a zero trust cybersecurity model provides stronger protection when given this scenario. Providing access to a host of remote devices on Cloud services also remains too risky from a SecOps protection standpoint.

The Business Benefits of The Zero Trust Cybersecurity Model

Zero trust builds off an older SecOps concept called least privilege access. In short, limit the trust given to anything attempting to access a network resource. Adopting this approach actually simplifies the operational aspects of a company’s cybersecurity posture. Network breaches also get detected faster while cyber engineers gain additional insights to all network activity.

In the end, the zero trust model better supports a largely remote workforce. Employees and Cloud services only receive permission to access certain resources. This enhanced control also limits the lateral movements cyber criminals use after breaking into to a network perimeter. This approach provides more protection to a company’s critical databases.

IT operations teams benefit from being able allocate limited resources in other areas. Network performance also improves due to less traffic on subnets. Users also find it easier to access what they need, without having to sign-in to multiple applications. Ultimately, this approach helps improve their productivity. All told, these significant positives mean any company needs to look at adopting zero trust as a SecOps strategy.

Searching For Cybersecurity Talent?

If your company needs an influx of cybersecurity talent, connect with the team at Redbud Cyber. As one of the top SecOps staffing agencies in the country, we provide the candidates to help protect your IT infrastructure. Schedule some time with us at your earliest convenience.