Strengthen industrial cybersecurity without compromising production efficiency
While companies are tapping into the opportunities that the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has to offer, digitalization has become a key initiative for industries. Digitalization has allowed the industrial control system (ICS) landscape to develop quickly in recent years. Originally, ICS networks were physically isolated and almost immune to cyberattacks. However, recently, there has been a rise in the sophistication of cyber attacks, which has prompted everyone from IT to OT personnel to produce solutions that enhance industrial cybersecurity. Thus, understanding industrial cybersecurity requirements will help companies mitigate cybersecurity risks. Read on to learn more.
There are some myths about industrial cybersecurity that may put your facilities and businesses at risk. Watch the video to learn how to debunk the myths and build defense-in-depth security for your industrial networks to ensure continuous operations and the safety of personnel.
There are some myths about industrial cybersecurity that may put your facilities and businesses at risk. Watch the video to learn how to debunk the myths and build defense-in-depth security for your industrial networks to ensure continuous operations and the safety of personnel.
IT  |
OT  |
|
|---|---|---|
| No. 1 Priority | Confidentiality | Availability |
| Focus | Data integrity is key | Control processes cannot tolerate downtime |
| Protection Target | Windows computers, servers | Industrial legacy devices, barcode readers |
| Environmental Conditions | Air-conditioned | Extreme temperatures, vibrations and shocks |
You can use the checklist below to make sure you do not forgot any of the defense-in-depth security measures and select solutions that fit your needs.
To enhance our Device Security, Moxa has identified a big set of cybersecurity features based on the component requirements of IEC 62443. The set of security features have been implemented in a wide portfolio of devices, including Secure Routers, Rackmount Switches, EDS-500E series DIN Rail Switches, select models of Device Sever, and Protocol Gateways.
To prevent network intrusions and attacks, it is essential to have a good access control mechanism in place that can identify, authenticate, and authorize users. Moxa’s network devices support user account management, password policy, and authentication interface management features that meet the technical security requirements of the IEC 62443 standard.
Moxa’s devices support advanced HTTPS/SSH features, which provide a secure channel for data transfer over unsecure networks ensuring reliable processing and retrieval of data. To protect data from being stolen or corrupted, Moxa provides functions such as SNMP password encryption and network configuration encryption, which ensure the highest level of protection for your network devices.
The NPort 6000 secure servers use SSL to implement secure data transmission for Secure TCP Server, Secure TCP Client, Secure Pair Connection, and Secure Real COM modes.. The NPort’s drivers follow the SSL standard and automatically negotiate the encryption key. To prevent hacker attacks, the NPort will automatically switch from DES/3DES to AES encryption for highly secure data transmissions.
Your cybersecurity journey does not end when your network security solution is up and running. You must constantly monitor your networks and audit network events for potential threats. Although it is quite difficult to detect breaches in real time, security event logs can help you identify the source of the issue. Information from these data logs can be used to track network activities, analyze potential threats, or identify devices that are incorrectly configured, which you can then use to disconnect user access, delete user accounts, or restart devices.
As ICS networks keep expanding and more networks continue to converge, it is important to understand the benefits of the defense-in-depth approach when designing security architecture. However, having cybersecurity building blocks deployed in an ICS network is not sufficient to completely protect critical assets from unauthorized access. According to a report published by ICS-CERT, a sound security management model should include the following stages:
Those with malicious intent can still access the secure network if individuals who use the ICS network do not adhere to the security management model. In order to guarantee that the network has not been compromised, check if the ICS network is following the management principles and ensure that all users have read the guidelines to ensure a more secure ICS network.
To prevent unauthorized access to your data and assets, it is essential to have secure access and identity management even for users who are accessing the ICS network from separate sites. It is very important to ensure that only authorized users are the ones accessing the network.
Moxa’s network devices support RADIUS, Role-Based Access Control, web login page alerts, centralized account management, and authentication management. In addition, Moxa also provides WPA2 wireless network security for its wireless devices
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No single product, solution, or approach can completely secure an ICS network. Therefore, it is very important to have an understanding of all the network devices and focus efforts on assets that, if disrupted, could have the greatest impact to the organization. Users should start by compiling a network topology to identify which ports can be connected to the network and which should be locked. In addition, the IP access table should be clear to all OT operators in order to prevent users who have not been granted access from connecting to the network.
Moxa offers many Ethernet switches that can be used with sticky MAC addresses in order to significantly enhance security.
Get the Easy-to-Follow Management Guidelines for Critical Infrastructure
Based on the technical recommendations of the IEC 62443 standard, all event logs should be recorded. By having complete event logs, OT operators can trace any cybersecurity incident that occurs on the network and respond to the event in a timely manner. Moreover, network device configuration data should be kept confidential. If the configurations are changed without permission from the network operator, it could result in all of the data being corrupted. Therefore, configuration encryption and regular backups are very important to ensure that the network can return to normal quickly if a cybersecurity incident occurs.
Moxa’s MXview network management software has a job scheduler function, which helps users routinely back up the configuration data and newtork settings. Moxa also provides ABC-02 automatic backup configurators to save the configuration files, which enhances maintenance efficiency and reduces system downtime.
Get the Easy-to-Follow Management Guidelines for Critical Infrastructure
MXview's Security View visualizes the security parameters of your network devices and shows their status on a single page.
MXconfig helps you configure your network to meet established industrial standards in just three steps.
MXview and MXconfig tools help both general industrial users and security experts efficiently manage device security levels on their networks.
Security Status at a Glance
Security Setup in 3 Steps
With over 30 years of experience in industrial networking, Moxa draws on this expertise to help customers build secure networks by offering protection for PLCs, SCADA systems, factory networks, and remote access. Download the case studies to learn more.
Customer: Oil & Gas Service Company
High-capacity oil and gas pipelines are very volatile and often span thousands of kilometers. The pump stations along the pipeline are equipped with analyzers and PLCs. The company found it challenging to maintain a secure and stable network connection between the stations and the remote SCADA system because the PLCs and I/O devices did not have any security features.
Customer: Automotive Parts Plant
An automotive parts plant manager planned to digitalize their production processes. The field devices run on the EtherNet/IP protocol for control unification and data acquisition. As the network infrastructure in this plant is on a large scale, it is very difficult for the plant manager to monitor all devices and visualize the network topologies. In addition, to realize digitization, all networks are interconnected from the field site all the way to the ERP and even to the cloud. It is essential to have good cybersecurity measures to allow this transformation to occur, without compromising production efficiency.
Customer: CNC Machine Builder
Maximizing network uptime enhances machine productivity. Therefore, a leading manufacturer of mechanical power presses needed to provide a timelier and more efficient after-sales service in order to ensure improved machine performance and effective troubleshooting. At first, the machine builder adopted Windows-based Remote Desktop Control (RDC) technology, but security risks and additional costs came at a high price. Furthermore, the Windows-based computer by itself is susceptible to security risks, and the possibility of attacks increases even more when the computer connects to the Internet.
Moxa’s product portfolio is based on the defense-in-depth concept that includes secure devices, secure network infrastructure, and security management.
Moxa takes a proactive approach to protect our products from security vulnerabilities and help our customers better manage security risks.
Moxa has partnered with Trend Micro to respond to the growing security needs of industries as well as the security demands from IT/OT personnel.
MXview provides an integrated management platform that can manage network devices installed on subnets from a web browser at both local and remote sites. In addition, Security View helps users visualize the security status of network devices. By utilizing Security View, network administrators can view the security level of a device, as well as check the security parameters such as the password policy status in real time for each network device. For general industrial users, this view provides built-in user-friendly profiles to meet the technical security requirements of the IEC 62443 standard. Security View also provides security experts the flexibility to create profiles. Network administrators can easily gain a complete overview of the network’s security level and quickly respond to any vulnerability that is identified on their networks.
MXconfig helps users install, configure, and maintain multiple Moxa network devices in just a few clicks. MXconfig’s Security Wizard allows users to select multiple network devices and launch a wizard that can set up or change security-related parameters for those devices. Even though some devices on the network might require complex parameter configurations, network administrators can rest assured that the MXconfig tool will set up each device on their network with the correct configurations.
There are multiple security settings for each and every network device that need to be checked and enabled to meet the technical requirements of the IEC 62443 standard. Without the help of tools such as MXview and MXconfig, network administrators have to manually check network devices one by one to set the parameters, which is time consuming and prone to errors. MXconfig’s Security Wizard drastically cuts down on configuration time by supporting batch configuration of large numbers of network devices, which also helps when configuring each device manually.