Current threats require tank terminal organisations to be aware of security at all times. To protect your OT network environment, threats must be identified and acted upon as soon as they are detected. Suspicious network traffic must be analysed and measures taken before an incident occurs. This requires a 24/7 approach to monitoring OT network infrastructure, while keeping in mind the specific dependencies of your OT network infrastructure.
An increasing number of tank storage organisations realise that they need to continuously monitor their critical network infrastructure so that deviations in the network traffic of critical network infrastructure can be detected. This approach ensures that you stay in control of your OT network as well as compliant with existing and future policies, laws and regulations.
Anomaly detection and more
Anomaly detection alone is no longer sufficient. Organisations expect more from their OT monitoring solution than anomaly detection in regular network traffic. If entire communication flows are misunderstood or wrongly interpreted by the OT monitoring solution, it results in an incomplete picture of those assets that are vital within a tank storage terminal’s OT infrastructure. An OT monitoring solution must therefore recognise all protocols within the OT environment of a tank storage terminal. A solution that is developed entirely from an OT perspective is therefore essential.
Laws and regulations around OT
This directive requires member states to identify so called ‘essential services’. Organisations that are designated as ‘essential services’ are required to take appropriate cyber security measures. Such organisations must report cyber security incidents with a significant impact and have a duty of care for cyber security. By taking the right measures based upon recognised standards they increase digital resilience and demonstrate that they comply with applicable laws and regulations.
Gamechanger
Since using an existing monitoring solution that was not designed and developed for OT environments may expose an organisation to unwanted risks, Hudson Cybertec developed a new solution, OT Insight. OT Insight is a game-changer in the field of monitoring OT infrastructure. It offers the standard functionality expected from existing solutions, but what makes this solution unique is that the monitoring platform also detects and reports deviations in the aforementioned standards to the asset owner. OT Insight is an ideal solution for them.
Organisations with OT infrastructure are increasingly demanding OT monitoring solutions tailored to their operations due to greater cyber security demands
OT Insight is a modular OT monitoring solution, allowing comprehensive monitoring of OT network infrastructure, supportings connections to different data sources and applications. Detailed analysis within OT Insight with in-depth support is available when needed, with the presentation of the findings through customisable dashboards that show customised information relevant to the organisation.
Stakeholders and increasing integration of systems
A maintenance engineer of an OT environment needs very different information than a security officer or management team. In an environment where the integration of all kinds of systems through the technical network is increasing, a monitoring solution that adjusts and grows with an OT environment is not a luxury, but a necessity, especially since more and more building-related systems such as access control systems, HVAC and even fire alarm and burglary detection systems are using the same infrastructure.
In practice
With OT Insight, you do not only get a technical solution, but analysis and support by Hudson Cybertec’s experienced OT cyber security professionals. Tank terminal organisations should be vigilant, and take control of their OT network infrastructure through a monitoring solution that has been specifically designed and created for an OT environment, in order to protect their assets and infrastructure from cyber threats and ensure compliance with laws and regulations.
Source: Tank Storage Magazine, May 2021
HUDSON CYBERTEC
