An Under the Hood Look at Operational Technology (OT) Security Software

• Operational Technology focuses on production processes such as automation, programmable controllers, production sensors and other manufacturing data, but is not well understood particularly in smaller companies, particularly from an information security viewpoint. We thought the best way to understand this rapidly developing software is to examine a leading supplier’s instruction manufal, so we reviewed Tenable’s OT Security EM offering.
• The system integrates various security tools and provides a unified platform to manage IT/OT cyber risks, ensuring complete visibility into converged attack surfaces.
• Key features include 360-degree visibility, multi-detection threat engines, asset inventory with active detection, risk-based vulnerability management, and comprehensive configuration control.

Operational technology (OT) is the hardware and software that monitors and controls devices, processes, and infrastructure, and is used in industrial settings. It ties together internal and external data between administrative operations and automation, programmable controls, line sensors and other real time data sources and provides increased accuracy, efficiency and reduction of waste among other advantages. But the software is developing rapidly and many manufacturing companies are yet to fully utilize these services, especially the specific need for protecting the data from intrusion and misuse. We decided to help potential users understand the breadth and depth of this software category, we’d summarize the instruction manual from one of the leading suppliers of OT security software.

The “Tenable OT Security Enterprise Manager User Guide” provides comprehensive instructions for setting up and managing Tenable OT Security Enterprise Manager (OT Security EM) version 3.17. This guide aims to help users leverage the full functionality of Tenable OT Security, which is designed to protect industrial networks from cyber threats, malicious insiders, and human error by offering robust threat detection, asset management, vulnerability management, and configuration control.

Tenable OT Security EM enhances visibility and control across multiple sites, allowing centralized access to all OT Security instances. The system integrates various security tools and provides a unified platform to manage IT/OT cyber risks, ensuring complete visibility into converged attack surfaces. Key features include 360-degree visibility, multi-detection threat engines, asset inventory with active detection, risk-based vulnerability management, and comprehensive configuration control.

The guidelines outline the architecture and components of the Tenable OT Security solution, including the Industrial Core Platform (ICP), OT Security Sensors, and network components. It explains how to set up the OT Security EM using a setup wizard and pair it with ICP to manage sites effectively. The guide also covers user interface elements, offering detailed instructions for navigating site and enterprise modes, customizing tables, and exporting dashboards.

Additionally, the guidelines detail the policies and events system within OT Security EM, explaining how policy-based and anomaly detection work to identify and respond to security incidents. It emphasizes the importance of maintaining an accurate asset inventory and conducting risk assessments to generate risk scores for network assets. Deployment specifications for on-premises and cloud setups and management and integration options for seamless operation within existing IT and OT environments are provided.

Overall, the user guide is a crucial resource for IT security personnel and OT engineers to deploy, manage, and optimize Tenable OT Security EM, ensuring robust protection and management of industrial control systems.

Read the full user manual