Needs Security measures for industrial and production systems

OT equipment visualization and managed services

As the factory DX of recent years continues to advance through the use of clouds and IoT,
the OT environment has begun to communicate with external sources
like the Internet, bringing with it the need for security on par with an IT environment.

How does DX occur in the manufacturing industry?

As production efficiency has improved through conversion of factories through DX (utilization of clouds/IoT), the OT environment, which was previously closed, is increasingly being linked with the outside world.

By introducing systems such as smart factories that link IT and OT, it is possible to automate and streamline operations and improve productivity.

In addition, by visualizing information such as production rate and operating rate, it becomes easier to investigate causes when problems occur.

Do you have security measures in place for your industrial and production systems?

As with the IT environment, increased communication with the outside world presents numerous security risks to the OT environment.

In recent years, there have been many cases of attacks such as intrusions into production site systems, freezing of production systems and forcing of factories to stop.

A survey of the 10 major security threats to industrial control systems (*1) shows an increasing trend in malware infections via the Internet and intranets, and attacks on external networks and cloud components.

The introduction of OT security to protect against such threats is a challenge organizations now face. How exactly, though, should we implement OT security measures in the industrial and manufacturing industries?

Do you have security measures in place for your industrial and production systems?

*1	[Germany BSI] Industrial Control System (ICS) Security -10 Major Threats and Countermeasures 2019- https://www.ipa.go.jp/archive/security/10threats/bsi2019.html

4 OT security measure issues to be addressed

Issue1

On-site asset management, understanding of network configuration and vulnerabilities

Our recommended solutions

Issue2

Absence of incident handling and security personnel

Our recommended solutions

Issue3

Detecting external threats such as cyberattacks

Our recommended solutions

Issue4

Asset management of production bases located overseas

Our recommended solutions

Issue1

Understanding of asset management network configuration at production sites

In many Japanese companies, IT and OT are clearly separated, so it is difficult to understand the overall network configuration. Additionally, system management is difficult in an OT environment with many legacy systems.

Issue2

Absence of incident handling and security personnel

Because the OT environment is designed differently from the IT environment, there are many cases where there are no security experts at the production site, making it difficult to promote security measures.

For example…
Responsibility for IT security and OT security is divided, with the IT staff perceiving security at the production site as outside of their duties, resulting in OT security measures lagging behind. In some cases, there is simply a shortage of personnel.

Our recommended solutions

Achieve appropriate security measures in the OT environment using solutions for visualization, countermeasures, and monitoring. Our solutions enable safe and secure infrastructure operation.

KDDI's OT Vulnerability
Visualization Service

Provides visualization of OT assets and vulnerabilities in each system.

Visualize the vulnerabilities of an in-operation system, bringing your security risks to light without interfering with equipment operation.

KDDI's OT Managed
Visualization Service

Provides security risk visualization and reporting of analysis results, OT network communication status, information assets/vulnerabilities, and threat visualization.

We can also propose necessary measures after analyzing and evaluating the visualized data.

Issue3

Detection of external threats such as cyberattacks

Inability to detect changes or abnormalities in the system when it is hit by an external attack, such as a ransomware infection, can not only bring business operations to a halt, it can impact society itself.。

For example…
A ransomware infection at one business shut down a control system and stopped an oil supply. (May 2021, supply of gasoline from U.S. Colonial Pipeline stopped, causing gas stations to stop operating and oil prices to rise)

Our recommended solutions

Install security products at production sites and strengthen IT/OT security boundaries, making detection and response to cyber-attacks and operational anomalies possible.

KDDI's OT Managed Countermeasure solution service
Monitoring service

24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year monitoring of OT and IT environments, as well as notification for and analysis of incidents.

Security product installation, OT and IT security perimeter strengthening, 24x7x365 monitoring, and instant notification and analysis when incidents occur.

Issue4

Asset management of overseas production bases

It is not easy for companies with overseas production bases to implement asset management and vulnerability countermeasures at multiple factories. There are few companies that implement OT security for all their factories and have an operation management system in place.

For example…
In companies with multiple locations, management can be difficult and complicated due to a lack of understanding of the network environments of all their locations, due to varying network structure per location and a lack of OT personnel.

Our recommended solutions

We provide support for activities and organization at your overseas production bases, as well as operational and management organization for systems and networks.

KDDI OT Managed
Organizational support service
Operation management service

Centrally-manage all networks from the cloud. Combine multiple sites into one virtual factory.

We create security regulations, policies, and guidelines for multiple sites, and provide organizational support.

Introducing KDDI's OT Managed Services

Through the provision of visualization, countermeasures, and monitoring for OT environments, we provide security measures and support you in making your infrastructure safe and secure, all with a minimum of impact on your business activities.