Rockwell Automation unveils the SecureOT solution suite, combining tools and managed services for end-to-end protection.
Cybersecurity requires a holistic approach. Enter Rockwell Automation which announced a new program that addresses the lifecycle of a cyber threat — from risk mitigation to identification to remediation and more.
The SecureOT solution suite, announced this month, is a new spin on the age-old problem of compartmentalized cybersecurity.
“Any fool can buy a tool, but the reality is, how do we get value from it? It comes down to people, process and technology,” said Rick Kaun, Rockwell Automation’s global director of cybersecurity services, during a media briefing.
To that end, the new offering provides customers with a comprehensive and proactive security strategy that covers the entire risk landscape. And that landscape is getting bigger.
As manufacturers add more products and services onto a legacy infrastructure, there are more ways for bad actors to penetrate a network. On top of that, there is a shortage of OT-specific cybersecurity expertise. And, as the threats increase, so do insurance premiums.
“It’s almost a perfect storm of challenges in the space, and that’s why we wanted to address this head on,” Kaun said. “We want to [be] with our clients along their journey with more of a programmatic approach.”
To protect against that perfect storm, Rockwell Automation’s latest cybersecurity offering proactively manages operations by combining the SecureOT platform (formerly known as Verve Security Center) with the company’s professional and managed security services.
From frameworks to managed response
Aligning with globally recognized frameworks, including NIST CSF, NIS2 and IEC 62443, SecureOT takes a vendor-neutral approach to securing industrial control systems and technology stacks.
“We provide capabilities that meet you where you are for a comprehensive and programmatic approach to cybersecurity, starting with assessments, then into design, implementation, management and optimization,” said Divya Venkataraman, Rockwell’s director of contracts and capabilities.
The offering rolls up Rockwell Automation’s professional services — providing expert advisory, consulting and implementation services — with its managed security services, offering 24×7 continuous monitoring, protection of industrial network networks, data centers, hardware and software applications.
It all begins with an in-depth assessment across networks and compliance to help customers build a business case that quantifies their return on investment by demonstrating risk reduction and aligning with OT teams.
Once the strategic advisory is taken care of, the next step tackles the industrial network infrastructure which connects all OT assets and, when reliable, represents the backbone of resilient operations.
“SecureOT industrial networking and infrastructure services are designed to transform what we consider to be islands of automation that are fragmented, vulnerable systems…into something that is unified in a scalable network, leveraging solutions for network segmentation, virtualization, compute and secure remote access,” said Venkataraman.
Then inventory and lifecycle management are addressed so customers have visibility into assets, which is essential for understanding the overall risk and threat landscape within an OT environment. “Security teams need to know what to protect, and so you need to know what you have,” she said.
But the complexity of OT environments makes it very challenging, specifically heterogeneous environments and manufacturing floors that have various forms of vintage OT platforms. In a vendor-neutral approach, SecureOT identifies assets regardless of manufacturer, down to the device level, resulting in richer contextual data of all assets.
In addition, SecureOT prioritizes vulnerabilities by risk level and enables a risk remediation plan to secure assets and endpoints. From there, automated monitoring and actions such as configuration and patch management are integrated directly within the platform to allow users to rapidly respond and remediate vulnerabilities, quickly reducing risk resources and cost required to manage OT environments.
Then there’s managed detection and response (MDR). According to Venkataraman, the Rockwell Automation service takes a step beyond traditional threat detection services by integrating into existing architectures and compiling advanced analytics across multiple data sources, providing the customer with continuous monitoring from Rockwell’s security operations center (SOC).
“We can help customers identify and prioritize risks to reduce alert fatigue, remediating potential vulnerabilities and escalating concerns to stay ahead of threats before they impact production,” she said.
Lastly, if there is an incident, the top priority is to get production back up and running as quickly and as securely as possible. SecureOT incident response and recovery solutions include comprehensive data analysis, forensic investigation, containment, eradication and system restoration, as well as a detailed incident investigation to identify root causes and inform long term strategies to strengthen future resilience.
Real world results
Rockwell provided a few examples of how SecureOT is already helping industrial leaders transform their cybersecurity posture, including:
- A leading oil & gas producer achieved full OT asset visibility and remediated critical risks across remote operations in just six months.
- A large beverage manufacturer migrated their aging industrial network and compute installed base to a fully managed and supported infrastructure across more than 150 sites globally.
- An energy company doubled its NIST CSF maturity scores while delivering measurable ROI to executive leadership.
- A power utility gained secure, real-time visibility into remote substations – achieving NERC CIP compliance and reducing costs through agentless monitoring.
“Industrial organizations need cybersecurity strategies built for the realities of OT,” said Hollie Hennessy, OT/IoT cybersecurity lead analyst at advisory firm Omdia, in a statement. “Rockwell Automation’s SecureOT addresses that need with a layered approach that integrates asset visibility, vulnerability management and managed detection services in one framework. It’s a significant step forward for industrial cybersecurity maturity.”
