Secure Industrial LAN: new managed service boosts multi-site security posture and performance

As industries transform and digitize, they rely more and more on IT technologies, which expand the threat vector. Many attacks on industries are down to gaping holes in industrial networks from poorly planned OT/IT integrations. Ransomware attacks have surged in recent years, and the theft of intellectual property and proprietary data is still high on the agenda for cybercriminals. Over the past twelve months, for example, manufacturing recorded 200 plus more ransomware victims. This equates to a staggering year-on-year increase of 42% compared to the year before.

At the same time, governments are mandating that industries strengthen their cybersecurity practices in line with the increased risk with edicts, such as the NS2 Directive, which comes into force in October of this year. This directive is designed to provide legal measures to boost the overall level of cybersecurity in the European Union.

The issue is that most industrial sites do not have the resources to achieve this. They need help deploying, managing, and securing their industrial networks worldwide. Secure Industrial LAN service is designed to address this through a single service that enhances security posture while providing dependable connectivity in harsh environments.

The robust, secure industrial LAN offering from Orange Business and Orange Cyberdefense is based on Cisco industrial networking and security technologies to help overcome these challenges by providing an end-to-end service centrally managed by Orange Business and Orange Cyberdefense. The joint solution addresses the customer journey from assessment, advisory, and integration to a managed service.

“As industries are accelerating the digitization of their operations, they need help to manage and secure industrial networks anywhere they are on the globe,” explains Emmanuel Routier, VP Smart Industries, Orange Business. “By combining Cisco’s leading industrial networking and OT security portfolio with Orange Business’ and Orange Cyberdefense’s IT and OT expertise with human resources worldwide, our Secure Industrial LAN offer is the ideal solution for industrial organizations to scale their operations, improve resilience, and meet ever-growing cybersecurity regulations.”

“Cisco is honored to have been selected by Orange Business and Orange Cyberdefense as their technology partner for the Secure Industrial LAN offer,” says Samuel Pasquier, VP, Industrial IoT, Cisco. “Cisco has been helping industries to digitize for more than 20 years. By unifying industrial networking and cybersecurity, Cisco is making it simple for industries to automate and secure operations at scale. Orange Business’ and Orange Cyberdefense's broad expertise in IT and OT requirements and skilled technicians all around the globe will help organizations capture the benefits of digitization.”

Industrial networking transformed through innovation

Historically, industrial networks were isolated from the rest of the enterprise, and cybersecurity was not a priority. However, with 3rd parties accessing physically or remotely, operational sites for maintenance being more and more exposed to cyberattacks and with the increasing use of IT technologies in industrial systems, cybercriminals have found easy ways through assets that are not secured and are more connected with the outside world. It is no longer a case of ‘if’ but ‘when’ an attack will happen. Industrial organizations must build networks with security top of mind.

With a secure industrial network in place, industrial organizations can significantly reduce risk, enhance their competitive edge, and benefit from the efficiencies that come with interconnecting environments. However, creating a secure industrial network requires organizations to understand IT networking, the constraints and specifics of industrial networks, how they should link into the infrastructure, and the security hygiene required to make them secure. Many organizations find they do not have the knowledge, tools, or skilled technicians in each site to achieve this. At the same time, they have invested in fragmented networks with multiple vendors that have been difficult to manage and control. Multiple vendors alongside interoperability issues have increased the risk vista.

You can’t secure what you can’t see

Secure Industrial LAN combines the Cisco Industrial IoT portfolio with Cisco Cyber Vision for OT security and skilled resources from Orange Cyberdefense and Orange Business worldwide. Cisco Cyber Vision provides visibility into industrial IoT and industrial control systems (ICSs) so that IT and OT teams understand their OT security posture and can work together to implement best cybersecurity practices to maintain uptime and operational efficiency.

Orange Business provides the connectivity layer, and Orange Cyberdefense provides the security layer expertise, including detecting and identifying threat capabilities. This is all wrapped in bespoke strategy, design, and integration consultancy. Orange Cyberdefense’s research capabilities and proprietary database are the key reasons that its intelligence services are so sought after by multinationals around the world. For example, it is also one of the very few MSPs with an inland presence in China.

Each industrial site is unique, and there is no cookie-cutter approach to building a secure industrial network. Thus, a team of experts starts with a security assessment to understand the health of the network and any vulnerability gaps before mapping a secure industrial LAN that matches business requirements.

Choosing this one-stop-shop, single-vendor approach to secure industrial LAN enhances overall security and significantly reduces the total cost of ownership. This is a paramount consideration for many manufacturers working on extremely tight margins. In addition, security is built into the network, so there is no additional spending on hardware.

Secure Industrial LAN in action

Secure Industrial LAN is already being delivered to customers who are reaping the benefits. A European leader in aircraft construction was looking to ensure effective control and supervision of its industrial network against the challenge of increasing complexity.

The enterprise needed to upgrade its security and integrate security supervision of the OT world into the IT SOC. Following a comprehensive security assessment using Cisco Cyber Vision, which provides an in-depth view of OT technology, it was deployed to monitor network traffic, build an asset inventory, generate a network map, and extract security data.

As well as strengthening overall security for the enterprise, the solution provides real-time information on vulnerabilities, configuration errors, and security risks.

Building an industrial LAN that is secure by design

Manufacturers can solve a big part of their risk by getting the industrial network and security sides right. Without it, they are easy targets.

Orange Business and Orange Cyberdefense, together with Cisco, have developed this robust managed or co-managed solution delivered worldwide on a central management platform that improves network performance and security. Apart from supporting the industrial operations with the business and security outcomes sought by manufacturers, it also simplifies many of the complex challenges facing modern manufacturing.

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