By Jay Gignac, Head of Global Sales & Marketing, Framatome Cybersecurity, Cyberwatch & Foxguard
February 29, 2024
Ensuring smooth performance amidst various constraints is imperative in the complex landscape of industrial operations. Industrial plants often face operational challenges such as limited shutdown windows, critical process availability requirements, and demanding safety considerations. In such environments, implementing effective remediation measures becomes crucial to maintain operational integrity while addressing security vulnerabilities. Here, we dive into the strategic approach to address operational constraints and propose remediation actions.
Many industrial plants operate with annual shutdowns or planned maintenance slots. These limited windows restrict the opportunity for implementing security updates or modifications to systems. Certain assets within industrial processes must operate continuously without interruption and the processes must be available at all times. Halting these processes for maintenance or security updates is not feasible due to the potential impact on production and operations. Finally, industrial systems often play integral roles in safety mechanisms. Any modifications to these systems should be approached with extreme caution to prevent compromising safety protocols or regulatory compliance. In some sensitive Industries like Nuclear or Pharma, any change in the system requires a new qualification phase which can be long and costly.
There are some pre-implementation considerations to take. For example, it is critical to maintain up-to-date backups of critical systems and data to facilitate recovery in case of unforeseen complications or failures during remediation activities. It is important to develop documents and test comprehensive restart or fallback procedures, outline steps to revert changes or mitigate adverse effects if remediation measures result in disruptions or unforeseen consequences. Make sure to verify the authenticity and integrity of patches to mitigate the risk of introducing malicious code into the industrial environment. With that in mind, acquiring patches and updates from a single trusted source and through secure channel could be beneficial and time saving. Then thoroughly validate patches and remediation measures in a controlled environment before deployment to production systems. Testing should encompass compatibility, functionality, and security impact assessments. Make sure to have your vendors approved and warranties contracted.
In the specific case of patch management, after patches have been thoroughly tested and approved, the focus shifts to effectively rolling out these updates across the organization's network. Centralized patch management tools play a crucial role here, enabling administrators to orchestrate the deployment process efficiently. These tools provide a centralized dashboard where administrators can schedule deployment times, target specific groups of devices or systems, and monitor the progress of patch installations in real-time. Automated deployment mechanisms streamline the process, ensuring that patches are applied promptly while minimizing disruptions to normal operations. Additionally, organizations may employ techniques such as phased deployments, where patches are rolled out gradually to different subsets of devices or systems, allowing administrators to monitor for any unexpected issues and adjust deployment strategies as needed. In environments with air gap equipment, specialized methods such as offline patch distribution may be required, where updates are manually transferred to isolated systems via physical media or dedicated network segments. Throughout the deployment phase, careful coordination and communication are essential to ensure that patches are applied effectively across all endpoints, reducing the organization's exposure to security vulnerabilities.
To summarize, navigating operational constraints in industrial environments requires a meticulous balance between security and continuity. By adopting proactive remediation measures such as patching, hardening, and asset isolation, industrial plants can fortify their defenses against evolving cyber threats while ensuring uninterrupted operations. However, a cautious and methodical approach to implementation, including secure patch acquisition, pre-implementation considerations, and robust fallback procedures, is indispensable for safeguarding both security and operational integrity in industrial settings.
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