Membership-based cyber security group launched to secure smart factory eco

Date: 13/06/2022
IIOT based smart manufacturing industry is continuously threatened by possibility of security breaches with new emerging security threats getting unnoticed before they let hackers take advantage of them. With everything is connected to Internet, these new generation digital system driven smart factories need round the clock security management. To keep such smart factory environment well-informed about threats, a new security initiative is launched by group of manufacturing companies. Industrial cyber security expert Dragos announced membership-based Dragos OT-CERT (Operational Technology - Cyber Emergency Readiness Team), in identifying and fixing security risks in industrial infrastructure. Dragos partnered with the National Association of Manufacturers, with a membership base of 14,000 manufacturing companies in every industrial sector. This initiative supports them in identifying cyber threat and preach proactive security practices, so that the entire supply chain is secured. Along with National Association of Manufacturers, the other potential partners of Dragos OT-CERT partners include industrial automation electronic/computer equipment makers such as Emerson, Rockwell Automation, and four Information Sharing and Analysis Centers: E-ISAC (electricity), ONG-ISAC (oil and natural gas), DNG-ISAC (downstream natural gas), and WaterISAC.

The small medium and large organisation can become member of this services which are delivered through OT-CERT portal, where they can have free access to OT cybersecurity best practices, cybersecurity maturity assessments, training, workshops, tabletop exercises, webinars, and more. OT-CERT to coordinate with OEMs regarding disclosures for vulnerabilities discovered by Dragos threat intelligence researchers, and cyber threats detected by Dragos targeted at the OEMs’ products. Larger organizations can access free resources such as OT best-practices blogs and OT vulnerability disclosures from Dragos’s industry-leading Threat Intelligence team. Dragos said OT-CERT will also aid large companies by helping to improve the security posture of smaller organizations in their supply chain that can pose a risk to their business operations.

Dragos OT-CERT addresses a serious gap in securing industrial infrastructure, particularly the gap is critical among small and medium sized businesses that often have limited expertise and resources to address ICS/OT cybersecurity risks.

“Dragos’s stated mission is to safeguard civilization, and that means protecting all industrial infrastructure, not just the most skilled or the best resourced organizations,” said Dawn Cappelli, Dragos’s newly appointed OT-CERT Director. “Our goal for Dragos OT-CERT is to be a useful, relevant, and actionable community resource for industrial asset owners and operators by aligning them with the resources, training, partnerships, and community needed to make securing their OT environments possible.”

“The National Association of Manufacturers is deeply committed to supporting its members as they navigate the challenges and opportunities that arise from digital transformation and Manufacturing 4.0, and it’s critical that their OT security remain paramount as they undertake this evolution,” said Todd Boppell, Chief Operating Officer, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). “Of the National Association of Manufacturers’ 14,000 member companies, 90 percent are small and medium-sized manufacturers that often lack the kind of resources and OT cybersecurity teams that larger organizations have. Dragos OT-CERT is the first community-focused resource of its kind to provide practical solutions to this often under-served community.”

“Industrial Infrastructure organizations, and the services they provide, impact all of our lives, and the operational technologies that underpin these organizations are under attack now more than ever before,” said Michael Lester, Director of Cybersecurity Strategy, Governance and Architecture for Emerson’s Automation Solutions business. “We're eager to work with Dragos OT-CERT in its mission to protect OT infrastructure by partnering on threat and vulnerability discovery and mitigation as well as assets for resource-constrained organizations.”

“As the cyber threat environment escalates and cyberattacks increasingly impact industrial infrastructure, we’re excited to team with Dragos OT-CERT to bring greater awareness to the risks to the ICS/OT community and the need for OT cybersecurity,” said Tony Baker, Chief Product Security Officer at Rockwell Automation. “This free resource comes at just the right time, and the OEM collaboration will help enable effective threat response and coordinated vulnerability research.”

Learn more about Dragos OT-CERT or to apply to become a member of Dragos OT-CERT at https://www.dragos.com/ot-cert/
Read the OT-CERT blog post at https://www.dragos.com/blog/industry-news/dragos-ot-cert-providing-industrial-cybersecurity-resources-for-the-ot-community/

Author: Srinivasa Reddy N
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