Fight Fire with Fire

12The Convergence of Cyber and Physical IoT and Edge Security

SONIA E. ARISTA

 

As a CISO, your challenge has been focused on protecting your enterprise network, devices on that network, the network perimeter, and the work environment—whether that environment is a factory or an office. But for many businesses, the work environment is now merging with the home and leisure space. In 2020, many more workers began working remotely, and some continue to work from home or exotic locations; more than half of all workers surveyed by PwC would now like to work from home at least three days a week.¹ As people continue to rely on edge computing devices in offices and in factories, increasingly work outside the office, use personal devices to perform business tasks, and use cloud-based business apps and software, the traditional network perimeter has been replaced by ubiquitous global edge points.

Strong edge security encompasses visibility, protection, and potentially remediation at the point where data processing is conducted. The same sophisticated operational technology (OT) risks found in environments like manufacturing plants, healthcare facilities, and government infrastructure also can put your enterprise at risk. Protecting data, processes, and people beyond that traditional perimeter—where the cyber and physical converge—is a growing challenge CISOs must address.

Expanding IoT Leads to Expanding Risks

In managing your security program, you may be accustomed to monitoring only ...