Discovery and Segmentation: Keys to IoT Strategy Success

Guest blog by Jason Malacko, Director Architecture – Security at Logicalis US

When you’re in the business of helping companies integrate and consume sophisticated technology, you learn that, behind all the questions related to how it works, there are two primary concerns: that it will be simple to use, and that it will deliver its promised value… fast.

At Logicalis we strive to make the complex simple. We recognize that our customers are too busy using technology and don’t want to worry about whether a service or application will be reliable or difficult. That’s why they hire us, after all. So, whether it’s a healthcare organization, manufacturer, state or local government agency, or whatever it is that your organization does, we approach every project as though we are architects of change for our customers, building a technology solution that doesn’t befuddle, but that inspires.

Internet of Things

Recently we’ve been using a lot of connected devices in the solutions we’re designing for our customers. The internet of things (IoT) includes a lot of wonderful tools that make operating a business more efficient and effective.

Think about a typical hospital, for example, and you get a sense of the ways IoT supports a mission of healing. Environmental controls keep temperatures where they need to be in every setting, and that air quality is always excellent. Building and security controls make sure people can get to where they need to go quickly, and that only authorized people are allowed in sensitive spaces; that video cameras keep a constant watch on the premises; and that lighting is on at the right level when it needs to be, and off when a space is vacant. There are devices that facilitate communications, IT operations, administrative duties. And, of course, there are a host of medical devices used to treat and monitor patients, provide therapy, and otherwise support medical staff as they care for the sick and injured.

All of these devices have important roles, but from a security and management perspective, they have to be treated very differently. Ordr has proven to be a valuable member of our partner network, supporting our top-down approach to IoT utilization in pursuit of this ideal.

When beginning a customer engagement, we’ve found that about ten percent of an organization’s devices are out of view of IT operations management. That means there are dozens or possibly hundreds of attack vectors somewhere in the network. It also helps to explain why only 26 percent of companies have launched an IoT initiative they consider to have been a success. That makes device discovery a critical first step in understanding, managing, and protecting the network, and to ensuring your IoT initiative does what you want it to do—with no unpleasant surprises.

Ordr Core

Ordr Core gives us the ability to open a customer’s eyes to the level of risk they didn’t realize they had, but it’s only the first step. Complete device discovery means we can begin the process of assessing risk, identifying device behavior, and categorizing each device’s purpose in the network. From there we can reconcile each device’s role, and implement policy automation to ensure proper device use as well as to implement a critical part of the IoT strategy: segmentation.

Device segmentation is an underappreciated aspect of IoT management and security. Done right, segmentation is about more than simply making sure certain categories of devices are on the right VLAN; it’s about aligning IoT use with security and business objectives. If all you’re doing to put segmentation into effect is grouping like assets—say, keeping medical devices, environmental controls, and facilities management equipment on their own VLANs—you may still be leaving your network vulnerable to attack and, once inside, allowing adversarial elements to quickly move laterally within the network.

Ordr Core excels as a tool that give our engineers the ability to work closely with our customers, show them their level of risk, and bring complex technical solutions with a reliance on IoT into alignment with their needs. When we’re able to do that, it gives our team and the customer confidence that our design will be simple to use, and that it will deliver its promised value… fast.

Want to experience Ordr in your network, request a free sensor here.