I had my retired DHS CISA buddy send me the below link and asked me for my input.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/evanlee96_watersecurity-otsecurity-criticalinfrastructure-share-7511440831229300737-uttD/?utm_source=social_share_send&utm_medium=android_app&rcm=ACoAAADKlkMBIJDRB85YTPe2sxgnIyulzkyQYo8

After reading it a few times and reading the comments that were added by the industry “experts”  I came to the same conclusion…..we’re screwed.

I think this is a great concept in theory, much like communism. The concept sounds fantastic on paper; the problem starts when you introduce people into the equation.

My concern with physically disconnecting an OT environment and reconnecting it only when access is required is that we are still relying on the single most historically unreliable component in cybersecurity: the human being.

Someone has to remember to disconnect it. Someone has to reconnect it correctly. Someone has to determine when access is actually necessary. Someone eventually decides, “I’m going to need this again in an hour, so I’ll just leave it connected.” Over time, convenience tends to win.

We see the same problem throughout cybersecurity. Companies and people gravitate toward the easy-button approach. If a security control creates too much operational friction, eventually someone finds a way around it, and the more frequently the process has to be performed, the greater that risk becomes.

I absolutely agree with the premise that we need to reduce exposure and eliminate unnecessary pathways into critical OT environments. Where I think we need to start thinking outside the box is how we accomplish that without making security dependent on someone physically plugging and unplugging a connection.

Why can’t we create technology that provides the same “wall” dynamically? Something that understands when communication should occur, what device should be communicating, where that communication originated, whether the command itself is legitimate, and then automatically removes the pathway when it isn’t required. (I might be a little sarcastic here, we have done this)

I think that’s where the conversation gets really interesting. Instead of asking people to continually create and remove the wall, let’s build technology that does it for them.