This article is the first of a multi-part series on SCADA, Telecoms and IT Integration.
How does your business securely get the benefits of SCADA, Telecoms and IT integration that is essential to remain competitive?
This article outlines how focusing on business IT practices and technology solutions has failed to achieve SCADA, Telecoms and IT integration, and consequently Cyber Security. This is the broken link which can only be fixed by addressing organisational and human factors.
Do you believe your encrypted connections are secure? Is your remote access secure? How do you know?
Why are you still failing cyber security audits? Your firewall rules look like Swiss cheese? If you had accurate documentation then maybe you could fix the problem … for now.
Here’s a scenario:
Your company has been re-organised and who is accountable for security? There is a new IT Manager and all your agreements are being reviewed…
Can everyone agree to just do it my way…please?
Coal prices have hit rock bottom. “Nice to have” items like your Cyber Security program and most of the IT department are being thrown overboard to keep the ship afloat.
Sound familiar?
How do you implement a Cyber Security program with cost cutting, restructures, staff changes and human errors?
Good Governance, Reviewing Security Logs, InfoSec and Cyber Security Training are ok when the seas are calm, but how do you plan for the inevitable storms?
SCADA, Telecoms and IT integration is the broken link.
New and perilous Cyber Security vulnerabilities are constantly being uncovered. The latest is Heart bleed! This is a coding error in encryption commonly used on the internet. The recommendation is that you and everyone change their passwords!
How do you securely get the benefits of SCADA, Telecoms and IT integration that your business needs to stay competitive?
You need to plan for human errors, cost cutting and politics in your solution. Technologies such as Data Diodes, Spanning Tree and Whitelisting do this. Think how you can make your environment self-documenting? Less is more, keep it simple and focus on the human/organisational elements.
Your business needs to have an end-to-end business view where discipline specialists work together collaboratively. This requires a focus on relationships and requires “seeing it through the other person’s eyes”. In the words of Nelson Mandela: “I believe that in the end that it is kindness and accommodation that are all the catalysts for real change.”
Ideally you would have one device that you connect to anything. That’s Utopia. Now let’s look at the real world. The old ways of network segregation are needed even more today than in the past. Complex solutions are just not secure. Some duplication will be necessary.
Your staff will need to see the necessity of collaboration to the success of the business. To this end you will need to foster relationships and cooperation that will survive business upheavals.
By addressing the Human factors you can have a secure and well maintained environment. All your stakeholders can work in harmony with you. You can deliver the best outcomes for your business and the community.
This will translate into increased operational efficiency, faster project delivery, decreased risk and increased production for your business.
Titan ICT consults to many industry sectors and all have the same Telecoms, SCADA and ICT Integration opportunity.
If you were able to securely integrate SCADA, Telecoms and IT together, what would be the benefits to your business?
This article is the first of a multi-part series on SCADA, Telecoms & IT Integration. Check out the next edition for ‘Scada Governance Risk & Assurance – Relationships Are King!’