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With Tenable OT Security tuned and trained to prevent false positives we ’ ve reduced the number of reported events by 98 %. alerting system , and if we install a new device the asset list is updated in an automated way .”
“ The front office has the data they want , they understand where it came from , and more importantly , they know what it means ,” added Keyworth .
InfoSec team optimises OT Security , saves time and streamlines compliance
Most organisations view any opportunity to increase efficiency as a win , but for a small team spread thin , process and time-savings improvements mean even more . Today , West Burton actually spends more time on vulnerability management than ever before . And that ’ s a good thing .
Prior to implementing Tenable , the InfoSec team didn ’ t have a complete picture of what was vulnerable , often waiting months for an OEM to issue technical advice letters and alerts to make the team aware of CVEs that might be relevant to a specific asset . What ’ s more , it wasn ’ t unusual for the team to spend hours investigating an issue only to discover that they didn ’ t even have the equipment in question .
“ Using Tenable OT Security we can identify vulnerabilities early in the process , review the published CVE documentation and implement remediation and security restrictions without waiting for the OEMs ,” said Keyworth . “ Not only can we challenge the OEM guidance from an informed position , but we ’ ve taken the 200-plus hours per year saved by eliminating manual asset management and applied them to the time we spend on critical vulnerability management efforts .”
West Burton uses Tenable Nessus , built into Tenable OT Security , within one of its OT environments to scan Windows servers and network switches and other IT equipment . Simply initiating a scan across the entire Windows environment helps the team discover vulnerabilities , for example , from the impact of an OEM ’ s latest release or a version of software that is out of date .
“ From patch level through to programs and everything installed on a machine , Tenable Nessus highlights vulnerabilities that the OEM probably never thought to look for ,” said Keyworth . “ Tenable has earned our confidence to embed Tenable Nessus within our OT environment . From a vulnerability management perspective this puts us far above what we ’ d have been able to achieve without it .”
“ Tenable OT Security plus the Tenable Nessus scanner provides far richer data than we had before ,” added Cartwright . “ It allows us to use Active Query to communicate with and discover OT assets , and IT assets as well – all in one solution , which eliminates additional costs and saves time . It would ’ ve saved our team many hours of effort during Log4j .”
Fewer false positives also provides new freedom for the team . The passive tool that was in place prior to the corporate separation was alerting on more than 500 possible vulnerabilities per day – some 182,000 per year . Today that number clocks in at only 50 per day .
“ With Tenable OT Security tuned and trained to prevent false positives we ’ ve reduced the number of reported events by 98 %, resulting in tremendous time savings ,” said Keyworth . “ What used to take two days per week to manage now takes only a few hours , and we ’ ve improved efficiency by 87 %.”
“ Tenable OT Security does a lot , but it isn ’ t a ‘ fit-and-forget ’ solution – nor should it be ,” added Cartwright . “ You have to invest the time and effort to configure the product to understand what ‘ normal ’ looks like on your network , because that ’ s where you ’ ll derive true business value .”
Keyworth agrees : “ How do you see the woods for the trees if you don ’ t condition the solution to understand your OT environment ? I think many people buy these bits of kit , install them and it ticks loads of boxes from a compliance perspective , but the results that are returned aren ’ t worth the digital paper it ’ s written on .”
Speaking of compliance , West Burton and the auditors are confident in the results reported by Tenable OT Security versus manual processes . Keyworth explains that the accelerated pace of the OT and IT environment no longer allows for spreadsheets and handwritten records to be a viable source of truth .
“ It would be very difficult to demonstrate compliance without a tool like Tenable OT Security . The time savings is virtually immeasurable ,” said Keyworth . “ It gives auditors a level of assurance that you are doing the correct things . From the asset list to risk scoring , Tenable makes the whole compliance piece so much easier .”
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