In today’s interconnected world of the Internet of Things (IoT), our Critical National Infrastructure is increasingly exposed to cyber-attacks, meaning greater levels of detection are required to develop more effective protection and response capabilities. The difficulty for businesses and developing organisations is in understanding how and where this technology is bridged by cyber threats and how to mitigate them.
Leonardo’s recently announced partnership with Nozomi Networks is designed to enhance our ability to detect cyber threats through network visibility, non-intrusive monitoring and continuous threat detection capabilities.
With the combined capability offering of Leonardo and Nozomi, we’ve developed a list of six key questions to see if your organisation is ready to detect and respond to potential cyber-attacks:
- A control system can be critical; is yours now more exposed than ever?
- Has making your critical control system accessible made it more vulnerable?
- Do you think your organisation monitors or monitors and protects?
- Are your ICS operators cyber aware?
- Does your cyber security partner have an understanding of your legacy systems?
- Are you working with a partner that also implements cyber security within its own manufacturing environment?
This threat detection and monitoring capability requires investment in people and technology – something not core to most organisations. Consequently, for many, the answer of how best to protect their industrial Intellectual Property (IP) and the operational integrity of their systems may be to find a cyber security partner who can provide the relevant expertise.
Companies such as Leonardo have a long heritage dealing with cyber threats to wellbeing, security and public safety, servicing organisations across various sectors including energy, transport and manufacturing. We are already NATO’s ‘mission partner’ for cyber defence, with a team of our UK cyber experts working alongside NATO to defend the cyber security of information and ICT infrastructure across the organisation’s 75 sites in 28 different member countries.
In the interconnected world of the IoT, each organisation must assess the unique value of its IP or its ability to deliver continued operations in the face of evolving cyber threats.
Ultimately, the question for every leadership team is what will have greater impact on the bottom line – the cost of appropriate security or the cost of organisational damage?