North America Utility Improves Cybersecurity and Operational Resilience

For a large North American water and electricity distributor serving approximately 250,000 customers, reliable operations are essential to protecting public health, supporting the local economy and safeguarding the environment. But as aging infrastructure became more connected, the utility faced growing OT cybersecurity risk and greater pressure to protect the systems behind these critical services.

Protecting critical services in an increasingly connected OT environment

Gaps in network segmentation and remote access security increased the potential for unauthorized access, while limited visibility into OT assets and threats made emerging risks more difficult to identify and address. In addition, the utility lacked the specialized internal OT cybersecurity expertise needed to manage these risks effectively while achieving uninterrupted service and public safety.

Working with Rockwell Automation was the logical choice for the utility, building on a 20-year relationship and a strong track record of automation support and service. The utility was confident the Rockwell Automation team understood its business operations, infrastructure security and OT system.

The utility team also knew, from previous engagements, that Rockwell Automation backs their company's security and architecture expertise with comprehensive capabilities, setting the stage for another successful collaboration.

Rockwell Automation combined lifecycle management and modernization with cybersecurity built in from the start, aligning controls with the NIST Cybersecurity Framework to reduce risk, protect critical assets and strengthen OT resilience.

Creating a stronger, more reliable OT cybersecurity foundation

Step 1: Asset Inventory

Rockwell Automation initiated a comprehensive audit of the utility's digital assets to assess vulnerabilities and risks. This audit, critical for identifying potential cyber threats, illuminated previously unseen devices on the plant floor, enabling robust protection measures.

Step 2: Security by Network Segmentation

Recognizing the importance of network segmentation, the Rockwell Automation team executed this critical security technique, dividing the network into subnetworks to control traffic flow and access rights. This step fortified the network's security posture, minimizing the impact of potential cyberattacks.

Step 3: Virtualized Industrial Data Center

Upgrading the compute infrastructure was pivotal in enhancing the utility's cybersecurity. Dual IDCs with cross-backups and managed support services replaced the single-managed IDC. This upgrade delivered redundancy for process operations and a more dependable compute infrastructure, reducing the risk of downtime.

Step 4: Network Perimeter Security with an IDMZ

To strengthen network perimeter security and safeguard OT assets from unauthorized access, an IDMZ was deployed. This IDMZ architecture enabled secure remote operations, even during infrastructure disruptions.

“The dedicated OT virtualized compute infrastructure hosts a stretched IDMZ across two IDCs, to permit a site redundant IDMZ. The utility leaders were serious about maintaining the uptime of their critical and remote operations, even in the event of a plant disaster,” says Robert Matear, who led business development for connected services at Rockwell Automation.

Step 5: Extra Security Measures

Rockwell Automation also integrated a managed detection and response component to detect hacking attempts and suspicious network activities and to monitor OT traffic and pinpoint threats and anomalies across the enterprise.

Secure Remote Access (SRA) was deployed, facilitating role-based access control (RBAC) and privileged access management (PAM) to lock down accounts with elevated access rights.