ICS@EIF 2021: ICS Cybersecurity and Safety

The ARC Industry Forum Europe 2021 “Accelerating Digital Transformation in a Post-COVID World” was held as a virtual event again, due to the ongoing epidemic. The digital event attracted participants from all sectors of industrial production. In this series of blogs, we are presenting you with the highlights from our Forum.

Would you like to watch a session again or missed one? The presentation and panel discussion videos are now available on the ARC hosting platform (vfairs) until August 19 by clicking on “Presentations”. Furthermore, you can still visit sponsor booths by clicking on “Exhibit Hall”. ARC and Sponsors have also uploaded valuable videos and reports on this platform for you to add to your “vfairs briefcase”. If you did not attended the ARC Industry Forum in May, you can still register on the platform.   

ICS Cybersecurity and Safety

Industrial plants and infrastructure systems need secure control systems to ensure safe, reliable operation. Yet, many organizations lack the internal resources and expertise to sustain defenses, and safe, secure methods for external support. The growing number of cyber incidents in ICS requires security teams, CISOs, and operators to regularly monitor their OT systems for risks to mitigate potential threats. To achieve this, they need an integrated strategies that combine IT, OT and IoT security. 

A major challenge for all, is to keep the ICS topology up to date. This is a prerequisite for deciding where the potential vulnerabilities are located. The following data should be available for risk monitoring: Detailed descriptions of each asset on the network, an overview of the patch status from ICS devices and a complete review of network traffic (sources, destinations, and protocol distribution). The security session in EIF 2021, moderated by ARC’s Thomas Menze, discussed different processes to efficiently perform risk monitoring. It will also present proven in use processes that support regular risk monitoring and generate reports for operators.

Jens Wiesner of the BSI gave an account of the current ICS cybersecurity threat situation during the pandemic. Furthermore, technical trends and standards around the topic of security are presented. At the end, an outlook was given on how the digital transformation of the industry should take place with regard to security.

Peter Sieber of HIMA presented the considerations needed when using functional safety systems. A special focus was on the digital transformation of the industry and what this requires for the reliable operation of safety controls.

Kaspersky’s Anton Shipulin, Dmitry Lukiyan and Maxim Yudin highlighted the points that need to be considered when using IIoT components from the security point of view. Real-world threats were discussed and concepts for hardening an ICS/IIoT application were proposed. At the end, there was an outlook on how cyber immune technology can ensure the secure operation of IIoT components.

Filip de Keyser, Recticel Insulation, and Ewout Noordermeer, Ultimo, reported on their cooperation. In the future, Recticel is planning a cloud-based multi-site enterprise asset management (EAM) system. Points presented included Recticel's project objectives, how the system was engineered to ensure data integrity, as well as the way the system supports compliance with safety guidelines and requirements over the lifecycle of the assets.

We would like to thank all experts, panelists, and presenters of the "ICS Cybersecurity and Safety" session at ARC Advisory Group’s European Industry Forum 2021. And a special thanks to all our sponsors: Global sponsor: Siemens, Gold sponsors: ANDRITZ, and OPC Foundation; and Silver sponsors: Capgemini, CC-Link, Optimistik, Orange Cyberdefense, PHOENIX CONTACT, and RapidMiner.

Presentations and panel discussion videos are available until August 19 for you watch at your convenience. We encourage you and your colleagues to login or register and watch the recordings on our platform: ARC Industry Forum Europe 2021 (vfairs.com).