Why should organizations segment networks and control access to OT networks?
Many organizations treat OT and IT networks separately due to the inherent differences in their security requirements. Implementing segmentation and access control can help ensure that these two networks remain isolated and can only interact in a controlled manner, thus preventing potential threats from IT systems from spreading to OT systems.
Reduced Attack Surface - Implementing a network segmentation application can reduce risk by keeping adversaries from moving laterally across the network and minimize damage by reducing the blast radius if a breach occurs.
Improved Incident Response - If a security incident occurs, access control and segmentation help quickly identify and isolate affected segments, making it easier to contain and mitigate the issue.
Granular Control Over Access - With access control in place, you can enforce strict policies that limit which users, devices, and systems can access particular network segments. This prevents unauthorized personnel from interacting with critical OT assets, protecting them from accidental or malicious changes.
Regulatory Compliance - Many cyber standards or frameworks including IEC62443, CMMC, NIST CSF and others put network segmentation and access controls at the top of their controls recommendations.
Vendor:BlastWave
