Why your ICS Architecture needs Visibility

HMIs are the unsung heroes of industrial control systems. They control the automation that make life easier. From ATM machines that dispense cash, to entertainment screens in automobiles, HMIs are that human-machine-interface that make stuff happen in factories, plants, and in the field.

The HMI, with its simple on-screen commands that control the PLC has become a favorite target for hackers because the headless, ruggedized, mostly Window-based computer known as the programmable-logic-controller, controls the equipment. And the equipment does the work.

Note that the HMI controls not just one PLC, but typically multiple PLCs. In fact, the HMI could control all of the PLCs on the factory floor. It’s easy to imagine what a hacker could do with the ability to issue commands through the HMI, to all of the equipment controlled by PLCs. Could they shut down the power for 225,000 people (Ukraine 2015)? Attempt to poison the water supply to 15,000 residents (Oldsmar Water 2021)? Or stop vaccine production, disable 37,000 computers, and ultimately cost $1.3B when insurance companies refuse to cover ‘Acts of War’ (NotPetya 2017)?

Yes. But it wasn’t always this way.

There was a time when keeping your ICS environment physically off the enterprise network was a major component of the ICS cybersecurity strategy. And for years, it worked. But in a world where just about everything-- from consumer goods to industrial goods-- are connected to the internet, that time has passed. Because hackers have already proven that the physical air gap can neither prevent malware intrusion, nor identify malware once it gets inside your network.

A strong cybersecurity strategy for ICS must now include the ability to see what network traffic is flowing inside your entire network; both the IT enterprise network, and the OT operational technology network. And we call that, Network Visibility. Why?

Because you can’t protect what you can’t see.

HMIs might be the unsung heroes of the ICS world, but the HMI is a hacker’s dream.

Network Taps or SPAN Ports?

For most utilities and industrial organizations, network visibility starts with the addition of a monitoring layer within your ICS environment.

But how? Do you install purpose-built monitoring devices called Network Taps, or do you enable the port mirroring capability of the switch, also known as the SPAN port? It’s an age-old question that’s been boiled down to this simple rule of thumb:

Tap where you can. SPAN where you can’t.

Why? Because you can’t realistically tap every link. But you would if you could because taps offer significant advantages over SPAN ports.

Several of the advantages of taps versus SPAN ports include:

• Taps are simple plug-and-play devices that don’t need CLI configuration

• Taps pass 100% of traffic, including layer 1 and layer 2 traffic

• Taps don’t drop packets

• Unmanaged taps can’t be hacked (no IP address)

• Tap administration costs are $0

• Taps can be added where you need them

• Taps can be air gapped to prevent injection of malicious traffic

Now is the time for visibility in your Industrial Control environment. Which means you need taps that are purpose-built to withstand the same tough environments of your industrial equipment.

Keysight Visibility for Industrial Control Systems

Solorigate, Sunburst, and Supernova are the three faces of the backdoor supply chain malware also known as the SolarWinds hack. It’s been called the most sophisticated attack ever seen. And while the news media has discussed what this means to the Enterprise IT environment, few have noted that the SolarWinds Orion platform hack also gave hackers access to ICS networks. After the 2010 Stuxnet malware, the 2015 Ukraine power grid hack, and now the 2019 SolarWinds Orion attack, more and more organizations are scrambling for network visibility solutions for their ICS environments, both inside and outside of the datacenter.

Keysight has been providing visibility solutions for conditioned datacenter environments since 1996. Now Keysight offers independently certified network monitoring solutions, purpose-built to give you visibility where you need it— in tough spots with harsh operating environments.

For a deeper dive, see Keysight Taps vs SPAN Port Monitoring at Keysight.com

To learn more about the Stuxnet, Sunburst and ICS Hacks see Keysight Blogs

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