EmberOT's Integration-First Approach to OT Visibility

In both the information technology (IT) and industrial control system / operational technology (ICS/OT) spaces, there is an eternal quest for ongoing visibility.

Currently, many industry visibility solutions and tools focus on visualizing and analyzing network data. While that makes sense, these tools are ultimately only as effective as the data they receive. That means less comprehensive or poor-quality data can create gaps. Visibility gaps also occur when remote portions of a system’s environment do not allow for the installation of large sensors.

There are two aspects of visibility when it comes to OT environments:

1. The way operational and security teams interact with and visualize data from the environment.
2. The quality, reliability, and integrity of the data these management platforms use.

Incomplete visibility – or complete invisibility – into remote sites makes it difficult for industrial operators and analysts to secure those sites and ensure smooth, continuous operation.

And that’s where EmberOT’s integration-first approach comes in handy.

The Art of Visibility in OT Environments

For many ICS and OT environments, the obligation to meet exacting and stringent regulatory and compliance requirements (think NERC CIP, NIST, etc.) is a relatively recent development. Historically, OT environments were built to prioritize maintaining continuous operations as opposed to security and the in-depth monitoring that compliance regulations demand. Since form often follows function, in many OT environments, the computing power on machines is minimal, and they typically don’t support external connections or communications outside their network.

While some industries are still working on solidifying compliance requirements, the end result for all OT/ICS organizations is the same: security and operations teams must now figure out how to monitor and validate multiple requirements.

Adding to the challenge is the physical layout of many OT environments. For remote OT sites, such as power or water stations spread out across hundreds of miles of pipelines, or other locations with minimal equipment and resources, deploying and integrating a large-footprint sensor and monitoring equipment may not be possible due to the equipment’s intense computing and energy demands.

The result, in many cases, is a network architecture that may show hundreds of remote sites but with few ways for operators and analysts to ensure that everything is running appropriately. These operators end up relying on the data that’s (hopefully) flowing up into other devices at the operations management layer.

Enter EmberOT’s software-based sensors (Embers). Our flexible, integration-first monitoring solution fills the gap between compliance, uptime, and security.

Enriching Existing Workflows & Bringing Technologies Together

Embers offer flexible deployment with a low footprint and low- to no-hardware solution. They can be used on remote sites or any other areas of an OT environment. Embers can be launched on industrial devices with minimal computing requirements, such as a small standalone piece of hardware, or in a virtualized machine. This maximizes visibility into the entire system while maintaining a minimal impact on network resources.

Embers can process network data directly at the edge of an OT environment, allowing teams to quickly access relevant information without adding latency to operations.

The sensors are also vendor-agnostic, meaning no matter what industrial devices exist in your environment, the data the Ember gathers can be sent anywhere in your existing workflows. Data can be gathered from everywhere and sent to anywhere, such as a SIEM, data lake, or existing security monitoring tool.

Using integration-focused sensors unites and enriches the technologies and processes your team already has in place, instead of adding yet another pane of glass to the network monitoring process. Flexible sensors provide a more complete look at an OT network’s architecture and environment, informing and empowering risk analysts, security analysts, and operational teams to continually assess and ensure that everything is operating and running as intended.

That said, there’s no single way to address the need for complete visibility in OT environments. Each environment is built to meet unique and specific needs, and so any cybersecurity and operational solutions will likely need to be bespoke as well. Gaining complete visibility will inevitably mean bringing together different vendors and technologies to address the nuances of each ICS environment.

Additional Tools and Resources

If you’re interested in learning more about EmberOT, reach out to schedule a demo or check out our free OT PCAP Analyzer tool to see how utilizing packet captures can improve your visibility journey.