> SECURITY
- FEATURE
Enhance the Visibility of Your Network to
Increase Cybersecurity
Digitalization has prompted business owners to connect their devices and systems. This has given their physical assets digital profiles so that they can extract data from the edge and send it to the control center, where they can analyze data or develop applications. In this scenario, systems that were previously air-gapped become interconnected, which exposes them to cybersecurity threats. As the number of cybersecurity incidents continues to grow annually, business owners have started to think about how to embark on their industrial cybersecurity journey. Although there are many standards, frameworks, and guidelines for cybersecurity, we shall focus on what is considered by many to be the three most important points regarding cybersecurity: building visibility for your network and security status, activating network segmentation, and securing your critical assets. We will start by looking at how to enhance network visibility when performing configurations, operations, as well as how to respond to incidents and maintain the security of your network. Configuration
Follow Security Setting Guidelines and Visualize the Status of Your Network
In our daily life, we often see media reports stating how surprisingly easy it is to hack an IP camera if the default password has not been changed. Thus, we are encouraged to regularly update
> JULY 2021
our passwords and embrace other security features such as two-factor authentication to ensure we maintain good cyber hygiene. The same logic applies to industrial applications. A cybersecurity threat arises when the default password of industrial devices is not changed, or the devices are used without sufficient protection. As more devices are becoming interconnected at production sites, this risk that one device becomes corrupted and allows an attacker access to the entire network is growing exponentially. If you want to have a better understanding of how to keep your industrial devices secure by adhering to the recommended security settings, you can refer to our security hardening guide. To ensure industrial control systems have the appropriate cybersecurity protection, a long and often complex list of configurations must be performed. One of the most effective methods to simplify this task is to use a network management software that allows you to quickly visualize the security status and security parameters. Felipe Sabino Costa, whose current roles include ISA cybersecurity instructor and Moxa LATAM Industrial Cybersecurity expert, explained in this white paper, A Systematic Approach to Checking Cybersecurity, that a systematic and automatic approach to security configurations, with a focus on network assets, significantly decreases the probability of implementing incorrect or incomplete configurations that can occur when configurations are entered manually.
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