ForeScout and Belden form alliance to secure industrial environments

The strategic alliance between ForeScout and Belden companies, Tripwire – a provider of industrial control system (ICS) security-focused technologies featuring the Tripwire Industrial Suite, and Hirschmann, was created to offer a best-of-breed solution for operational technology (OT) security. Research indicates that cybersecurity incidents in industrial control environments originate from multiple vectors such as system vulnerabilities, network architecture loopholes, lack of network segmentation and unsecured hardware and software configuration.

“The convergence of IT and OT is shepherding unforeseen levels of interconnectivity among business networks and industrial automation environments,” said Pedro Abreu, chief strategy officer at ForeScout. “Because OT networks may no longer be air-gapped, threats such as WannaCry and NotPetya that target traditional IT devices have caused collateral damage to OT and industrial environments. Through our strategic alliance and integrations we are helping organisations elevate their security posture in critical infrastructure networks.”

Given the criticality of uptime and safety for industrial devices, they can be taken down for maintenance or patching only during finite maintenance windows, and it is not always possible to install security software or agents which can impact real-time performance. Belden customers can now utilise ForeScout’s active and passive discovery and profiling techniques in industrial environments to gain device insight without needing to take devices offline. They can also build and maintain an asset inventory of devices across ICS layers, ensure compliance with industry regulations and security standards, and make dynamic, policy-based decisions for network access control within industrial control networks.