IIoT endpoint security best practices white paper published
Endpoints, as defined in the paper, can include edge devices such as sensors, actuators, pumps, flow meters, controllers, and drives in industrial systems, embedded medical devices, and electronic control units vehicle controls systems, as well as communications infrastructure and gateways. The IIC’s white paper is offered as a concise document that equipment manufacturers, critical infrastructure operators, integrators and others can reference to implement the countermeasures and controls they need to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of such IoT endpoint devices.
“The number of attacks on industrial endpoints has grown rapidly in the last few years and has severe effects,” says Steve Hanna, IIC white paper co-author, and Senior Principal, Infineon Technologies. “Unreliable equipment can cause safety problems, customer dissatisfaction, liability, and reduced profits.”
“The Endpoint Security Best Practices white paper moves beyond general guidelines, providing specific recommendations by security level,” says Hanna. “Thus, equipment manufacturers, owners, operators, and integrators are educated on how to apply existing best practices to achieve the needed security levels for their endpoints.”
The 13-page paper explores one of the six functional building blocks from the IIC Industrial Internet Security Framework: Endpoint Protection. It distills key information about endpoint device security from industrial guidance and compliance frameworks such as IEC 62443, NIST SP 800-53, the IIC, and IISF.
The document can be used to understand how countermeasures or controls can be applied to achieve a particular security level – basic, enhanced, or critical – when building or upgrading industrial IoT endpoint systems, which can be determined through risk modeling and threat analysis.
“By describing best practices for implementing industrial security that are appropriate for agreed-upon security levels, we’re empowering industrial ecosystem participants to define and request the security they need,” says Dean Weber, IIC white paper co-author, and CTO, Mocana. “Integrators can build systems that meet customer security needs and equipment manufacturers can build products that provide necessary security features efficiently.”
While aimed primarily at improving the security of new endpoints, says the IIC, the paper’s concepts can be used with legacy endpoints by employing gateways, network security, and security monitoring. For more, see “IIC Endpoint Security Best Practices” (PDF).
Industrial Internet Consortium
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