NetAlly

NetAlly makes handheld network test tools, the kind a technician carries to the problem instead of waiting for a central system to notice it. The company became independent in 2019. Before that its product lines were part of NETSCOUT, and earlier still part of Fluke Networks, and NetAlly traces that lineage back to the first handheld network analyzer in 1993. It is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and sells through channel partners. Network engineers know it for LinkRunner, AirCheck and EtherScope nXG. CyberScope is the newer addition and the one we carry. It keeps the same handheld format and is built for security assessment as well as troubleshooting, which makes it useful to a team that has to do both jobs.

An OT security program usually starts with an inventory, because you cannot segment or monitor devices you do not know about. CyberScope builds that inventory from wherever you plug it in. It discovers the devices connected to wired, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth networks, including ones a central tool has missed, and draws a topology map of what it finds. It has Nmap built in for vulnerability scanning, and it can save a baseline and flag devices that appear, disappear or change between visits. Results upload to NetAlly's Link-Live cloud platform for reporting. For a small utility or plant, that makes CyberScope a way to run your own network assessment and repeat it on a schedule, without installing fixed sensors or bringing in an outside firm each time.

One caution applies to any active scanner. Older controllers can react badly to being probed, so on a control network the scan should be scoped with whoever owns the process and run first against a segment that can tolerate it. Our OT cyber experts can help you plan that. CyberScope is listed with its price and datasheet and ships direct from NetAlly with tracking sent to you. It is also sold in our OT Cybersecurity Starter Kit Bundle with the BlastShield Segmentation Gateway, which pairs discovery with segmentation. And because it works on office networks as well as plant networks, the IT side of the house can share the tool.