Why OT Demands a New Approach to Asset Inventory

Traditional approaches to asset inventory are failing organizations as they expand beyond the familiar IT territory of Windows, Mac and Linux environments into operational technology domains. Grant Geyer, chief strategy officer at Claroty, outlined the challenges IT security teams face when managing OT systems that are run programmable logic controllers, HMIs and SCADA systems.

See Also: AI, Zero Trust and SASE: Modernizing Security

“Look in IT, we all know there’s a mountain of assets with a Mount Everest of vulnerabilities on top of it, within the manufacturing plants or hospitals,” Geyer said. “You need to understand which of those assets are tied to production or tied to patient safety” to protect human life and business continuity.

The disconnect between IT and OT teams further complicates security efforts. “It’s kind of like IT professionals are from Mars and OT professionals are from Venus,” he said. While IT professionals embrace rapid change, operational environments prioritize availability and safety, leading to different risk management approaches that security teams must bridge.

In this video interview with Information Security Media Group at Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit, Geyer also discussed:

• Challenges in centralizing remote access;
• How Russian attacks exploit gaps in IT-OT convergence;
• The security implications of remote access tools.

Geyer is responsible for leading Claroty’s strategy process and determining possible market opportunities, category adjacencies and investment opportunities for value creation. He has more than 20 years of experience at companies of different stages of growth. Prior to Claroty, he worked as an executive-in-residence at Scale Venture Partners, where he assisted the firm in analyzing cybersecurity markets and ventures.