OT/ICS Cybersecurity Newsletter

Hey there, welcome to this week's edition of the Cybersecurity Newsletter.

For the OT/ICS Cybersecurity professional that needs to know it all, but doesn't have the time - we've got your back.

PRESS RELEASE

SecurityGate.io and ilionx Partner to Strongly Secure Operational Technology

SecurityGate.io and IT service provider ilionx enter into a partnership to improve the security of operational technology (OT) in the Netherlands. With the partnership, ilionx supports organizations in the Netherlands with a full risk assessment and associated consultancy, regardless of the market segment.

Cyber Assessment Framework V3.1

This report provides information about the Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) V3.1, a tool for assessing cyber resilience. The Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) provides a systematic and comprehensive approach to assessing the extent to which cyber risks to essential functions are being managed by the organization responsible. It is intended to be used either by the responsible organization itself (self-assessment) or by an independent external entity, possibly a regulator or a suitably qualified organization acting on behalf of a regulator.

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Self-Evaluation Guide Companion Document to C2M2 Version 2.1

The purpose of this guide is to help organizations to conduct a Cybersecurity Capability Maturity Model (C2M2) self-evaluation. This organization of this guide follows the phases of a typical self-evaluation: 1) Preparation, 2) Performing the self-evaluation, 3) Follow up.

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NEWS

Now Open - AWS Region in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

"The AWS Region in the United Arab Emirates is now open. With this launch, AWS now spans 87 Availability Zones within 27 geographic Regions around the world." - AWS News Blog

“This is an inspiring step forward which will accelerate the adoption of the latest and greatest technology available to critical infrastructure organizations in the Middle East who have traditionally been relegated to consuming solutions on-prem only.” - Omar Sikander, Sales Director for Oil and Gas

NEWS

Ragnar Locker continues trend of ransomware targeting energy sector

"The recent attack on Greece’s largest natural gas transmission operator DESFA by ransomware gang Ragnar Locker is the latest on a growing list of incidents where ransomware groups attacked energy companies." - CSO

"Ransomware has a great propensity of disrupting industrial operations, even without directly infecting ICS networks and equipment - something companies like Dragos are forecasting to happen soon. Ragnar Locker ransomware has been designed to figure out where it has landed - and avoid going operational if it on a computer that says it is in one of the 10 Commonwealth of Independent States, the largest of which, Russia, turns a blind eye to such criminal activity - as long as it isn't impacted itself. Changing a computer location (maybe that backup server off to itself somewhere) can be a simple method to avoid this malware. Other strains check for the installation of Russian or Ukrainian keyboard layouts. Of course, don't rest on those methods." - Bill Lawrence, CISO

NEWS

10 steps to prevent cyberattacks on industrial control systems

"Industrial control system (ICS) security is certainly not a new concept, but over the past 18 months, its status has risen to the top of organizations’ priority lists. This is, in large part, due to the high-profile ICS attacks that have dominated news headlines of late." - SECURITY

"This is pretty solid advice. If you want to follow the "People, Process, and Technology" order, take the last bullet - training - and make that a very high priority. Picking an appropriate ICS security framework helps sharpen the training objectives and lays out many of the following listed points. Easy wins - like MFA wherever you can - might stem the tide while other, more technical defenses are put in place." - Bill Lawrence, CISO

SecurityGate

AWS Region in the UAE Now Open