4 Examples of Why Industrial Remote Access is Necessary
The Claroty Team
/July 16th, 2024/
7 min read
As organizations manage the growth of cyber-physical systems (CPS) in critical infrastructure, the need for productivity and cost-efficiency drives the adoption of remote access technologies. Remote access solutions are increasingly used by organizations to operate, maintain, and update CPS in production or mission-critical environments, influenced by safety, contractual obligations, and labor pressures.
However, this raises cyber risks, emphasizing the need for effective security measures and a Zero Trust architecture. A recent survey indicates that 25% of organizations consider remote access and asset management the biggest gap in their OT cybersecurity programs.
Although it’s apparent that critical infrastructure organizations require industrial remote access solutions for a myriad of important reasons — including allowing for third-party access, increasing productivity, collecting data, and reducing costs — traditional access solutions like VPNs and jump servers have proven increasingly ineffective for operational networks because they weren't designed for the unique constraints of CPS environments.
What is industrial remote access?
Industrial remote access refers to the ability to access, monitor, manage, and troubleshoot industrial equipment and operations remotely. Industrial remote access is essential for efficiency and productivity as it enables engineers to quickly respond to issues or perform routine checks without being physically present at the location.
Industrial remote access also allows for reduced downtime, continuous monitoring and data collection, and enables safety for industries with hazardous conditions.
OT remote access, which is needed in industrial environments, differs greatly from IT remote access. OT remote access typically manages systems including industrial control systems (ICS), supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), and other devices used to monitor and control industrial processes. IT remote access on the other hand refers to the connection to and management of systems such as servers, workstations, network devices, and databases.
The consequences of a cyber attack on OT systems are more severe than IT systems, with the potential to cause physical damage, environmental impacts, disruption of critical services, or compromised public safety.
Although industrial environments are extremely unique and vary greatly from IT environments, many organizations are still turning to traditional access solutions like VPNs and jump-servers to secure their critical environments. According to Gartner, these approaches have “proven increasingly unsecure and complex to manage. They also often lack the granularity to provide access to a single device, providing access to the entire network instead.” This is due to the fact that these solutions were not built for the unique operational constraints, security considerations, or personnel needs of CPS environments, facing shortcomings.
As such, organizations, like yours, require a purpose-built industrial remote access solution to meet the specific needs of the OT domain.
4 examples of why industrial remote access is necessary
1. Increases operational productivity
A purpose-built industrial remote access solution is designed specifically for the OT domain, and should provide seamless access for both first- and third-party users. By effectively reducing Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) by facilitating quick issue resolution – even in low bandwidth conditions – an industrial remote access solutions is essential in ensuring high system availability and resilience in critical sites.
2. Reduces CPS security risk
An industrial remote access solution is necessary as it provides the security controls to protect your organization’s OT systems against unauthorized access and identity risks. The right solution should incorporate a tailored Zero Trust framework, enhanced by Privileged Access Management (PAM) and Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) functionalities. This comprehensive approach manages the entire identity lifecycle with utmost precision, significantly reduces the risk landscape, and strengthens network defenses against both internal and external threats.
An industrial remote access solution with a scalable architecture is able to simplify administrative tasks by operating seamlessly across both on-premises and cloud environments. A centralized management system ensures uniform security policies for user identities which are crucial for maintaining security measures across all critical assets. By integrating with Identity and Access Management (IAM) tools, an industrial remote access solution can aid in centralized site management and policy creation. This type of integration allows administrators to efficiently set and manage access rights, increasing production resilience and minimizing downtime.
4. Ensure compliance and auditing integrity
Complying with organizational standards and ever-changing regulatory requirements is essential to effectively managing the identity lifecycle across the CPS landscape. An industrial remote access solution provides the necessary controls for real-time logging and auditing of user identities, which are crucial for maintaining comprehensive audit trails and meeting regulatory requirements. By adhering to key standards the right industrial remote access solution secures operations and ensures compliance with the latest mandates, protecting your organization against potential legal and financial penalties.
The security challenges of industrial remote access
1. IT centric solutions prevail
55% of organizations do not use a CPS-specific remote access solution when providing access to their operational environments. Traditional solutions like VPNs, commonly used in OT environments, pose considerable risks and introduce inefficiencies. These solutions introduce direct connectivity to lower levels of the OT environment, often breaking the Purdue Model of control hierarchy. Similarly, solutions like jump servers are extremely inefficient, costly to manage, and time-consuming — further amplifying the challenges of secure remote access.
2. Increased threat landscape
Over the past 3 years we have witnessed cyber attacks by nation-states and criminal organizations on manufacturing and critical infrastructure that have taken down electrical grids, stopped production in manufacturing, and impacted the safe transport of fuel to the eastern seaboard of the United States. IT and OT convergence, coupled with increased remote access have expanded the attack surface of these environments that underpin national security, economic security, and public safety.
According to Gartner, by 2028, the percentage of attacks on CPS using remote access vectors will grow from a negligible number today to over 15%. This is shown in recent breaches that were the cause of exploited vulnerabilities in remote access workflows — namely, the incidents that occurred at both Colonial Pipeline and United Healthcare.
Incidents like Colonial Pipeline and United Healthcare have led to broad regulatory movement on the part of national governments. Multiple regulatory frameworks have now evolved to include specific cybersecurity provisions for industries designated as critical infrastructure.
Some of the major cybersecurity regulations that have been enhanced include the TSA directives and the European Union’s NIS2 directive, in addition to known frameworks like IEC-62443 and NERC-CIP.
4. Lack of asset visibility
The challenges listed above have further fueled the lack of asset visibility industrial organizations commonly face. Not only do organizations lack the invaluable knowledge of what assets are located in their geographically dispersed environments, they also lack visibility into who is connecting to these unknown assets.
By 2029, there will be nearly 40 billion IoT connections around the globe, more than twice today’s number. This number emphasizes the immediate need for visibility into who is accessing the environment from where and to what asset.
Securing and optimizing your industrial remote access plan
Transitioning away from traditional IT solutions, critical infrastructure organizations require an industrial remote access solution that is purpose-built to meet the specific needs of the OT domain. This is where Claroty xDome Secure Access comes in. xDome Secure Access operationalizes the right balance between frictionless access and secure control over third-party interactions with CPS, thereby enhancing productivity, reducing complexities and risk, and ensuring compliance in complex and unique architectures across a variety of CPS environments.
By integrating foundational security principles such as Identity Governance and Administration (IGA), Privileged Access Management (PAM), and ZTNA, xDome Secure Access sets new standards for resilience and operational excellence in the CPS landscape.
To learn more about how Claroty xDome Secure Access can support your CPS security journey, simply request a demo.
