Timely monitoring and investing in reliable technology solutions is a first step towards avoiding intrusions

Kap Prabhakaran, VP - Engineering, Honeywell Connected Enterprise

Impact of cyber-attacks on the critical infrastructure of companies
 

The rapid digital adoption driven by the pandemic has seemed to have led to a significant increase in cyber threats. Enterprises in India are adopting zero-trust architecture as critical security frameworks. With the evolution of external threats, in addition to simplified security mechanisms, businesses need agile and robust security postures. Indian businesses seem to be investing heavily in cybersecurity. According to the Data Security Council of India, this has led to the growth of the Indian cybersecurity services market from USD 4.3 Bn in 2019 to USD 8.46 Bn in 2021.

To ensure protection
 

With the majority of the workforce returning to the workplace, it is important for businesses to rethink their cybersecurity strategy. The hybrid work environment demands cloud based secure access. A secure cloud setup can enable businesses to become more agile. As enterprises focus on assessing their security posture for identifying potential threats, the critical infrastructure of organizations can be made more secure through continuous asset monitoring and alerting.

Managing critical events and emergency incidents 
 

Companies seem to be now more focused on creating controlled measurable environments and adopting technologies designed to help in understanding Operational Technology (OT) assets at play. Timely monitoring and investing in reliable technology solutions is a good first step towards avoiding intrusions that could lead to critical incidents. A second step is then assessing damage and making a plan of action. It is equally important to keep employees informed about challenges through transparent communication.

The solutions to protect the infrastructure
 

Aimed to strengthen cybersecurity across industrial environments, Honeywell offers a robust portfolio of services under the Honeywell Forge enterprise performance management solution. Honeywell Forge Cybersecurity Suite is designed to help organizations to simplify, scale and strengthen OT cybersecurity at a single site or across an enterprise. The offering features asset discovery, continuous risk monitoring and scoring of cybersecurity risks to help facilitate faster response times to cyber threats and operational issues in the OT environment.

On the Increase of cyberattacks
 

Finance was the top industry facing challenges related to cybersecurity last year. Given the complex nature of modern enterprises, it becomes very difficult for companies to keep track of data without a proper tool to identify potential threats. To enhance business resilience, organizations worldwide are increasing the adoption of technology which makes the process of monitoring and mitigating threats seamless. Increasingly, malware is entering into production facilities in an OT environment through the network and through removable media and devices. The “2021 Honeywell Industrial Cybersecurity USB Threat Report” stated that 79% of threats detected from USB devices had the potential to cause disruptions in OT, including loss of view and loss of control. It’s important for organizations to evaluate these risks to their OT operations and fortify their layers of security that protect against possible intrusions into their network and from USB devices and ports.