Key Takeaways
- Know how conventional endpoint security products do not work in an industrial and OT context.
- Learn the top 10 EDR capabilities that are needed for protecting critical infrastructure and operational systems.
- Discover the benefits of behavioral analytics and real-time monitoring in OT networks for threat detection.
- Learn how visibility, awareness of industrial protocol, and automation are essential to OT cybersecurity.
- Discover the capabilities of integrated security solutions such as Fidelis Security to enhance threat detection and response in OT environments.
Industries like energy, utilities, oil and gas, transportation, healthcare, and manufacturing rely on Operational Technology (OT) environments as a part of their critical infrastructure and industrial operations. These systems manage assets, production lines, machinery, and physical processes that are critical for business continuity and operational efficiency for organizations.
The ongoing process of digital transformation in industrial organizations is driving OT networks to become more connected than ever before, by adopting the cloud, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices, remote access technologies and IT-OT convergence. These changes help increase productivity and visibility but also increase attack surface for cybercriminals.
OT systems are different from traditional enterprise systems, where uptime, reliability, and safety are the names of the game. Legacy equipment, proprietary protocols, and non-cyber devices are still widely used in many industrial networks, which were not originally built with security in mind. Traditional endpoint security solutions may not perform well in such environments, as they can cause performance problems or lack the knowledge of industrial communications. That is where Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions uniquely tailored for OT environments take the stage. Not every EDR solution is built to the same standard, however, as a means of protecting the industrial infrastructure.
When companies are assessing EDR solutions, they need to be looking for features that are specific to their operational needs. Here are the top essential capabilities for EDR platform that is OT-ready.
1. Comprehensive Asset Discovery and Visibility
The most essential part of effective OT cybersecurity involves asset visibility. Most organizations have large facilities, sites, and industrial networks with minimal knowledge of all assets connected to a production facility. Unmanaged and unknown devices are blind spots, which can be exploited by attackers.
A good EDR should be continuously exploring, categorizing, and monitoring industrial assets in the environment. The visibility should span beyond workstations and servers to programmable logic controllers (PLCs), sensors, Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs), industrial controllers, engineering workstations, and other machines that are in use. Having accurate asset inventories helps security teams to know how communication flows, find any rogue devices, rank vulnerabilities, and create more robust policies. There is no effective visibility to effectively secure industrial ecosystems or effectively respond during incidents.
2. Support for Industrial Protocols and OT Systems
Industrial environments communicate differently from traditional enterprise networks. Many security solutions are not well-suited to handle the specialized industrial protocols used by OT devices, such as Modbus, DNP3, OPC UA, PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, BACnet, IEC 60870-5-104, IEC 61850. Industrial EDR software should be aware of these protocols and their typical communication behaviors.
This is particularly valuable for functionality as many cyber-attacks against industrial environments try to affect operational communications instead of just endpoints. The accuracy of threat detection and the reduction in false positives are increased by security tools that are aware of industrial traffic. For companies with a mixed IT and OT environment, the ability to overcome visibility gaps between enterprise systems and operational assets is a huge advantage.
3. Behavioral Threat Detection
Cyber-attacks against industrial systems have grown significantly from the traditional malware signature. The attackers are taking advantage of fileless attacks, credential theft, legitimate administrative tools, and stealthy persistence tactics to evade detection. Behavioral detection helps EDR platforms set up a baseline of normal behavior and detects abnormal behavior that can signal a compromise.
Behavioral analytics watch for processes, user actions, device interactions and user behavior, picking up on any suspicious activity, not just known signatures.
This will increase detection of advanced attack techniques like insider threats, privilege escalation, lateral movement, and living-off-the-land attacks. There is an added benefit of behavioral monitoring in OT environments, as many of the industrial systems may have a predictable pattern of operations which allows anomalies to be more easily detected.
- Detect and Correlate Weak Signals
- Active Threat Detection
- Evaluate Findings Against Known Attack Vectors
- Proactively Secure Systems
4. Low Impact Performance for Critical Systems
Operational safety is one of those things people tend to overlook when it comes to OT security solutions. Older systems, often with limited resources and strict uptime demands, are commonly used in industrial environments. The traditional security agents often take up too much CPU, add latency, or disrupt operations. Disruptions in a manufacturing plant or critical infrastructure could have operational implications.
5. Network Segmentation Awareness and Lateral Movement Detection
Cyberattacks these days are seldom single-system attacks. After gaining initial access, attackers often spread laterally in networks to find critical assets and privileged accounts. Segmented networks are typically found in industrial environments to isolate operational systems from enterprise infrastructure. It’s important that these segmentation strategies be understood by effective EDR platforms and that communication paths between systems be monitored.
Lateral movement detection aids organizations in the detection of unexpected device interactions, unauthorized access attempts, and abnormal traffic patterns. This visibility can be leveraged by security teams to prevent attackers from gaining access to high-value industrial assets.
6. Automate Response and Incident Containment
Time is of the essence when it comes to cybersecurity incidents, particularly in the industrial sector where downtime can lead to interrupted operations and business continuity. Automated response is one aspect of OPS-based EDR solutions that cuts down on manual efforts and speeds up containment.
These actions can be automated, like isolating a compromised endpoint, blocking suspicious processes, initiating response workflows, or blocking network communications. As industrial environments become more complex, automation becomes even more valuable. Security teams are frequently resource constrained, and the need for automated workflows is essential to decreasing response times.
7. Security Integration with Existing Security Infrastructure
OT security is not in isolation of other cybersecurity efforts. Today’s organizations demand a unified security environment that offers a single view of the security situation in enterprise and industrial environments. EDRs should be able to be connected to SIEM systems, security orchestration tools, threat intelligence systems, and other types of detection systems. By integrating events between environments, organizations can close the visibility between IT and OT, enhance investigation of workflows, and more easily correlate events across environments.
8. Threat Intelligence and Contextual Analysis
Threat intelligence provides important context to the events that are detected. If there is no context, it is difficult for security teams to prioritize alerts and/or understand the severity of an attack. EDR tools for OT should provide intelligence feeds, attack indicators, adversary behaviors, and context. This extra information helps analysts to differentiate between normal operating processes and high-risk threats. Contextual analysis also enhances the prioritization process. Smart EDR solutions do not inundate teams with lots of alerts but focus on the most critical events impacting operational systems.
9. Compliance and Reporting Capabilities
Industrial organizations are increasingly under pressure to meet regulatory requirements such as IEC 62443, NERC CIP, NIS2, NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF), ISO/IEC 27001, and TSA Security Directives on cyber security and operational resilience. EDR solutions should ease compliance by providing comprehensive reporting, audit trails, incident files, and regulatory compliance. Security leaders require reports in plain sight which show their risk management activities and contribute to internal governance. Good reporting features also enable organizations to inform executives, auditors, and stakeholders of improvements in their security position.
10. Threat Hunting and Forensic Investigation
Detecting threats is only the first step. Security teams also need the ability to investigate incidents, understand attack timelines, and determine the scope of a compromise. OT-ready EDR solutions should provide detailed forensic data, including process execution history, user activity, system changes, and communication records. This visibility enables analysts to conduct proactive threat hunting, identify indicators of compromise, and uncover threats that may have bypassed preventive controls. In industrial environments, where operational disruptions can have significant consequences, strong investigation capabilities help organizations respond more effectively and reduce the risk of recurring attacks.
Why Organizations Should Consider Fidelis Security for OT Protection
Protecting OT environments requires more than traditional endpoint security. Organizations need comprehensive visibility across industrial assets, network communications, endpoints, and cloud environments to detect and respond to threats before they impact operations. Fidelis Security helps address these challenges through an integrated security platform that delivers deep visibility and threat detection across both IT and OT environments.
Fidelis combines endpoint detection and response (EDR), network detection and response (NDR), deception technology, and extended detection and response (XDR) capabilities to help organizations identify threats that may otherwise go unnoticed.
For OT environments, Fidelis enhances visibility into industrial networks and connected assets while helping security teams detect suspicious behavior, lateral movement, unauthorized access attempts, and other indicators of compromise. Advanced analytics and contextual threat intelligence enable analysts to investigate incidents more efficiently and prioritize the most critical risks.
- Identify and neutralize threats faster
- Gain full visibility across your attack surface
- Automate security operations for efficiency
Conclusion
OT environments have different cybersecurity requirements than endpoint security, which can be difficult to manage. The solutions must ensure continuity of operations for industrial systems while providing high visibility, detection, and response. With the ongoing evolution of industrial environments and the increasing sophistication of cyber threats, OT-centric EDR will continue to play a pivotal role in safeguarding critical infrastructure, reducing downtime, and ensuring operational resilience. Choosing the right capabilities right now can benefit an organization’s ability to fend off threats in the future.
