Security Breach: Never Let a Good Hack Go to Waste

The best way to hammer home the need for funding and the risks of legacy assets, including software.

One of the most common topics we explore here on Security Breach is the ongoing challenge of asset visibility in the OT landscape. It's frustrating because it would seem that the solution starts with basic inventory management approaches, i.e. the first step in developing frameworks and plans for everything from tool selection to attack response.

Of course, this is never simple due to the increasing amount of IIoT technology and the connection demands they place on industrial systems. It’s a situation that promises to only get more complex, with Fortinet reporting that in 2023, only five percent of surveyed organizations have 100 percent visibility into their own OT activities – a number that is down from 13 percent in 2022. 

To provide some insight on managing this growing number of machines, connections, access points and other vulnerable areas of the ICS, we connected with Kevin Bocek, the Chief Innovation Officer at Venafi, a leading provider of asset identity management. Watch/listen as he discusses:

  • Why cyber incidents are a learning opportunity for everyone.
  • The benefits of showing the C-suite all those plant floor connections when working to get proper cybersecurity funding.
  • The rise in attacks that will be emanating from legacy software and coding.
  • Why software assets should be managed and secured in the same manner as machines or devices.
  • How manufacturing can bring Continuous Improvement strategies to OT security.
  • Stuxnet's long-term impact.
  • How quantum computing will dramatically alter authentication approaches and secure-by-design practices within the next five years.

To catch up on past episodes, you can go to Manufacturing.netIEN.com or MBTmag.com. You can also check Security Breach out wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple, Amazon and Overcast. And if you have a cybersecurity story or topic that you’d like to have us explore on Security Breach, you can reach me at [email protected]

To download our latest report on industrial cybersecurity,  The Industrial Sector’s New Battlefield, click here.

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