Cisco introduced an IoT security architecture that provides enhanced visibility across both IT and IoT environments, and protects processes, the networking company said in a release.
Cisco said its new solutions enable the collection and extraction of data from the IoT edge, so organizations can increase efficiencies to make better business decisions and accelerate digitization projects.
The company noted that networks have become the foundational backbone for the operational technology (OT) that underpins critical infrastructure including energy, transportation, and manufacturing. Organizations increasingly require real-time access into the data these systems hold to improve production, manage costs, and enhance safety metrics, Cisco added.
Cisco also highlighted the volume of cyber security threats within critical infrastructure environments is rising and continues to pose significant human safety and financial risk.
“Organizations need complete visibility into the most disparate of network environments in order to secure their industrial edge, lower the risk of cyber threats, and optimize industrial processes” said Liz Centoni, SVP and GM for cloud, compute and IoT at Cisco.
Cisco’s new IoT security architecture innovations include:
-Securing the Industrial Network Environment: Cisco Cyber Vision claims to be the first software-based security solution for automated discovery of industrial assets delivered via Cisco’s Industrial IoT (IIoT) networking portfolio. Cisco Cyber Vision analyzes traffic from connected assets, creates segmentation policies in Cisco ISE and DNA Center to prevent lateral movement of threats across the operational environments, and is powered by Cisco Talos’ threat intelligence, providing real-time monitoring of cyber security threats to industrial assets and processes that affect uptime, productivity, and safety.
-Data Governance from Edge to Multi-Cloud: Integrated with Cisco’s industrial networking, Cisco Edge Intelligence simplifies the extraction of data at the network edge. It streamlines the data delivery to multi-cloud and on-premise destinations to improve the competitiveness of an organization and helping businesses better manage data throughout critical aspects of its life cycle from start to finish.
In related news, Cisco opened this week its first cybersecurity co-innovation center in Europe
The center is located at the Leonardo da Vinci Science and Technology Museum, in Milan, Italy.
The new center is dedicated to cybersecurity and privacy. It will focus on complex supply chains, IoT technologies, critical country infrastructures like utilities, smart grids and 5G – as well as public digital services with embedded security.
The new facility will also support threat intelligence research and security incident response capabilities. It will provide workshops for the development of innovative solutions focused on cybersecurity and privacy, as well as space for developers and researchers to use.
The Milan center is funded by investments through Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) Program – a global initiative designed to accelerate national digitization agendas in partnership and collaboration with national, state, and local governments. This co-innovation center comes as part of a broader series of strategic initiatives between Cisco and the Italian government since 2016.
