What OT/IT Convergence Means for your Industrial Organization

Operational technology (OT) and informational technology (IT) convergence is transforming across different industries such as oil and gas, energy, manufacturing and more.

What was once viewed as solely connectivity has evolved into a holistic cybersecurity practice that includes assessing, designing, integrating and advisory consulting. Often, convergence and integration terminology get misused, which causes confusion about what businesses really need in terms of cybersecurity. 

IT/OT convergence can be thought of in two parts:

• Technology convergence: Which has been happening across organizations for over 40 years. This includes IT technology such as ethernet, domains, and virtual infrastructure being used in an industrial control system environment.
• Integration: Driven by business need. Organizations have found that there is a business need to connect control systems with IT systems for driving data.

By connecting these networks, we are following the convergence of technology, where IT systems are brought into control system environments and the integration of these – and the increased cyber risk – comes along with that.

How IT/OT Convergence Is Affecting Cybersecurity Risks

Cybersecurity risk comes into play because now our environments and our businesses are more dependent on new technologies that are now converging, integrating and connecting.

As we become more dependent on technology due to IT/OT convergence, the impact of cyber incidents increases significantly.

Industries such as chemicals, oil and gas, and refining, which prioritize safety, have been early adopters of control systems security and cybersecurity. Protecting critical infrastructure is crucial for these sectors, as cyber incidents can have severe health and safety implications. Adopting convergence technology helps legacy facilities save costs, enhance reliability, reduce emissions, improve production, and increase quality without the need for costly rebuilds. 

Success in cybersecurity hinges on understanding your current position and continuously mitigating risks.

Cybersecurity is a Journey, Not a Destination

Each company, customer and individual have a different starting point or different maturity level that they are on when it comes to cybersecurity within their organization.

Your organization may have just started figuring out that it needs cybersecurity but does not know where to begin, or it could be on the other end of the spectrum, where it is very mature and just needs some advanced advisory to help fine tune efforts or fill in a couple of gaps. By categorizing organizations into three phases, it helps to realize what is needed to progress: 

PHASE 1: At this beginning phase, your company is just focused on foundational items. Getting assessments to understand what to do next with consultants or experts is important. You’re working on your network infrastructure and network perimeter to get your control systems isolated and protected from the internet and business networks, and trying to deal with malware prevention, patching, and more. But mostly, these phase 1 organizations are just trying to reduce their risk without a ton of control systems’ knowledge.

PHASE 2: At this phase, your organization is starting to improve. You are focusing on the perimeter, basic blocking and tackling, and moving onto training to change your cybersecurity processes and procedures such as change management procedures, document management, and approval processes that now include cybersecurity. With basic detection capabilities, your company is starting to build data with dashboards to help with risk management.

PHASE 3: This is the more progressive and advanced phase. Your organization is looking at contracts, embedding cybersecurity into your engineering processes to address and manage cyber risk before a new control system goes live, and becoming more risk informed. Meaning, you evaluate the risk of a new investment, new technology and move into a mode of continuous improvement.

External Services That May Benefit Your Organization

Many organizations initially try to solve cybersecurity issues internally but soon realize the necessity of external assistance due to the need for advanced technology, skills, and cost-efficiency. Managed services can assist at any phase, prioritizing needs, outsourcing control systems, and providing significant cost savings. They can bring leading capabilities in months, rather than years.

Honeywell can easily identify when organizations need to enhance their cybersecurity. A common red flag is uncertainty about the next steps, which is where assessments help prioritize actions. Other indicators include rogue devices on the network, lack of detection capabilities, or insufficient 24/7 monitoring.

With consistent monitoring and early detection, organizations can become proactive rather than reactive. Detecting and investigating suspicious behaviors, unauthorized software, and more allows intervention before incidents occur, thus minimizing risks. For businesses prioritizing health and safety, controlling cyber risk is crucial. 

Learn more about OT cybersecurity and how we can partner with your organization to help protect what matters most.