At Claroty, we believe the best cyber-defense strategy is a unified front against threats to information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) enabled by a converged security operations center (SOC) that protects these once separate technology environments in a holistic manner. Not only does such an approach have significant performance advantages, it also maximizes return on investment by allowing organizations to leverage their existing resources and personnel wherever applicable.
Despite the many advantages of a converged IT/OT SOC, the process of implementing this type of cybersecurity program within your organization can be complicated and potentially inefficient without guidance from experienced experts. Fortunately, here at Claroty, we've helped numerous customers across a range of industries establish an integrated IT/OT SOC, and through this experience, we've identified some best practices that enable improved performance, greater efficiency, and faster implementation times:
Appoint a designated IT/OT cybersecurity program manager: The IT/OT cybersecurity program manager will play a central role in implementing this program, so great care should be taken to select a strong, detail-oriented leader to oversee this undertaking.
Achieve optimal alignment with existing cybersecurity capabilities: Since maximizing ROI is one of the key advantages to a consolidated IT/OT SOC, it is important to leverage your existing cybersecurity infrastructure as much as possible. This necessitates a thorough assessment of current cybersecurity capabilities.
Gain visibility into IT and OT security alerts within the OT environment: To effectively monitor and defend against threats to their organization's OT environment, IT security teams need to be able to identify potential security concerns across OT assets, networks, and processes.
Designate a cybersecurity site leader (CSL) for each OT site: At each of your organization's industrial facilities, you will need to designate an individual to serve as a liaison between on-site OT personnel and the SOC, and when necessary, lead incident-response efforts.
Establish a PSIRT tasked with handling standard operating procedures (SOPs): By empowering your newly converged IT/OT SOC with purpose-built SOPs, the PSIRT will enable your organization to strengthen its holistic industrial cybersecurity across IT and OT over time.
Our latest white paper, Five Essential Steps for a Converged IT/OT SOC, serves as a guide to implementing these best practices. In addition, the white paper details the advantages of making an integrated IT/OT SOC core to your organization's cybersecurity program and other insights to help you attain the necessary stakeholder buy-in to implement such a program.
Click here to download Five Essential Steps for a Converged IT/OT SOC.
