All over the world, I’m meeting operators of industrial and OT/IoT systems whose senior executives increasingly demand a high quality and insightful view of all cyber risks. Typically, they feel reasonably on top of their IT and related business system and process risks. What keeps these execs up at night are doubts about their current capabilities to adequately monitor the automation and cyber-physical systems used to run their industrial facilities.
In particular, execs fear that safety and uptime operational risks may simply go undetected. And, they’re uncertain about which solutions for visibility, detection and response/mitigation of industrial OT and IoT cyber-physical risks will improve their management insights and stewardship.
These very real challenges are why I’m excited to share our latest developments at Nozomi Networks – including our collaboration and solutions with IBM. Our companies have worked together for several years, and based on customer feedback and some innovative problem-solving, we continue to expand the capabilities and solutions we offer together.
Our joint offerings directly address integrated IT and OT cyber security and operational risks, tackling digital security challenges head-on.
A One Stop Solution for IT and OT Cyber Security
You’re undoubtedly aware of the global shortage of cyber security skills, particularly when it comes to ensuring resiliency for industrial/OT automation and control systems. This shortage compounds other challenges, including accelerated IT/OT convergence and proliferating IoT integration to enhance uptime, throughput and functionality. For these reasons, organizations are always looking for outside help and best practices.
For strategic cyber security advice, implementation and ongoing managed services, leading organizations turn to IBM Security, a group that is highly respected for both its service and product offerings. We’re proud that IBM Security provides its customers with Nozomi Networks solutions as part of its IT/OT risk management portfolio. Through our collaboration, security executives can gain centralized visibility into their IT and OT networks, improving risk management with faster incident response.
Today:
- More than a dozen customers spanning energy, oil and gas, manufacturing and transportation are using Nozomi Networks solutions made available through IBM
- More than 50 customers are currently engaged in PoC (Proof of Concept) trials
- More than 20 IBM Security services engineers have been trained and certified on Nozomi Networks solutions
For enterprises looking to fully outsourced solutions, IBM offers Managed Security Services (MSS). These services are supported through IBM’s Global Security Operations Centers (SOCs). These SOCs use Nozomi Networks Guardian for the
best possible OT and IoT network visibility and monitoring.
For those of you who would like to gain hands-on experience with Nozomi Networks and IBM solutions, you need to check out the global use cases demonstrated at one these facilities:
- IBM’s advanced CyberRange in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
- IBM’s Industries Demonstration Center in Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Unifying Visibility and Threat Detection for OT, IoT, IT and Cyber-Physical Systems
An important foundation for the enterprise-wide services provided by IBM is the availability of technology that delivers a unified view of all assets and monitoring of all networks. The Nozomi Networks contribution to this capability is two-fold.
First, our Guardian product provides visibility and cyber security for OT and IoT environments. The Nozomi Networks QRadar app establishes a direct link between Guardian and QRadar. Guardian is among an elite lineup of advanced partner offerings validated by IBM, and the app is available via the IBM Security X-Force / App Exchange.
Second, the information from Guardian is delivered to IBM’s QRadar SIEM application, where it is brought together with IT information to provide an integrated, enterprise-wide view of cyber assets and cyber risks. The Nozomi Networks / QRadar integration is IBM-validated and seamlessly delivers OT and IoT data to QRadar, where it is instantly incorporated and actionable.
“Awareness of escalating threats and cyber risks to critical infrastructure and industrial operations remains top of mind for our clients. Teaming with Nozomi Networks, our customers immediately gain market-leading OT network monitoring and threat detection technology that is fully integrated with key IBM Security services and platforms such as QRadar. This provides access to simple and fast tools for our customers to improve the visibility and cybersecurity of industrial networks through Nozomi Networks’ deep OT networking expertise.”
Chris McCurdy, Vice President Worldwide IBM Security
Nozomi Networks’ Deep IBM Collaboration Delivers Unified IT / IoT / OT Cyber Security
It’s really been exciting to see enterprise-level IoT / OT cyber security “go mainstream” these past couple of years, enabled with services and products like those offered by IBM and ourselves.
For example, we’ve seen our joint solutions, either through managed security services or product engagements, implemented by major corporations around the world. These include a large North American manufacturer, a large Middle East power and water utility authority, and a top 5 global energy conglomerate.
If your operation is looking for proven partners and technology to deliver integrated IT, OT, IoT and cyber-physical risk monitoring, please contact us.
