With the coming of the COVID-19 pandemic, many manufacturers have been making greater use of remote access. This requires that personnel log in from outside the plant to maintain and optimize production. At the same time, there’s a need to protect operational technology environments. Yet many manufacturers have been pressed to cobble together non-secure solutions, even as the number of cyberattacks skyrockets.

In just the past year, cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure, including the manufacturing sector, have risen from 20% to 40% of all nation-state attacks, according to a Microsoft report. The need for remote connections to operational technology environments, at a time when supply chains are being stretched globally, is a major reason for the increase.

Remote-Access Security Issues 

The unpleasant truth is that most remote-access mechanisms are overly permissive, and not built for critical operations. Traditional remote-access tools, such as virtual private networks (VPNs) and Windows-based remote desktop protocol (RDP) sessions, are commonly the targets of malware, which can spread laterally across a weakly protected internal environment. Hacking groups such as Conti, Lockbit 3.0, Lapsus$, Clop and others have all taken advantage of remote-access vulnerabilities.

Too often, legacy remote-access systems lead to the use of shared credentials with excessive privileges, along with minimal ability to audit which user did what, and when. Frequently, such systems require an open path directly from the internet to sensitive, internal workstations, jump boxes, terminals and devices. Hackers know this, and know how to exploit it.

Manufacturers need to use this knowledge to inform remote-access strategies. Zero-trust principles, which emphasize granular, identity-based access management, are essential when it comes to selecting the right technology. This is especially true when implementing remote-access systems for critical manufacturing infrastructure, where any amount of downtime can leave populations without power, water, transportation, food or other essential products and services.

In-house and Partner Work

Critical operations with distributed assets across facilities, employees and outside experts need to be able to collaborate conveniently, safely and remotely. Whether for troubleshooting, installing new technologies, maintaining equipment, or managing performance optimization, remote access enables better and more efficient work.

Without it, operators are reliant solely on small on-site teams for system maintenance, updates and optimization. However, manufacturing companies today can employ vendors, partners and third-party contractors for the same kind of work, via a desktop, application or terminal screen. By reducing the limiting factor of physical location, manufacturers can significantly bolster the quality and volume of work.

These strategies, however, open up companies to new risks. Many of today’s widely used remote access systems aren’t secure enough for critical operations, or suited to the defense-in-depth architectures of operational technology environments. Some require software to be installed on any endpoint to be remotely accessed. That requires updates to remain secure, or the software might not even run on the specific types of hardware present in operational technology settings. Additionally, legacy remote access technology is often overly reliant on firewalls and VPNs, resulting in complex and unmanageable configurations. These solutions lack the ability to provide granular, limited access for specific users to specific devices. Rather, remote users are allowed into an implicit trust zone inside the company network, where they have broad access above and beyond what is required for their task.

Crisis Scenarios

Remote access is also key when it comes to crisis management, particularly for manufacturing infrastructure. For example, production disruptions at steel plants can result in the soft, heated steel running outside of molds and cools, hardening in the wrong places and shapes. Even if safety isn’t compromised by such hazards, teams are required to cut out all the cooled steel with torches, resulting in a major loss in productivity. The right technicians need to be on hand to maintain the software and configurations, and they must be provided with remote access in order to quickly resolve any issues. Remote access allows the operator to simply share the network screen with a contractor, ensuring a swift resolution. 

The risks that remote access brings are even more pertinent in crisis situations, where triage reconfigurations can expose vulnerabilities that would normally remain hidden. An operation that’s already vulnerable due to emergency work can quickly become a prime target for hackers. And if it’s using a patchwork of solutions designed without security in mind, it becomes even easier to break in and wreak havoc.

Disjointed remote-access solutions are clumsy and ineffective. They may provide connectivity, but they’re complex and difficult to manage, and end up introducing risks that threaten both operations and their bottom line. However, they’re often the only option available, so operations have been forced to make the difficult choice of prioritizing connectivity at the expense of security. 

It doesn’t have to be this way. To protect the critical assets, manufacturing companies can evolve beyond disjointed solutions and include remote access in long-term access management. Zero trust, the strategy heralded by organizations including CISA and the TSA, is the best approach to achieving safe and effective remote access. With a zero-trust architecture, remote collaborators are granted just-in-time, just-enough access, and must verify their identity and privileges to access any remote workstation, device or other asset. The trade-off between collaboration and security then becomes a thing of the past.

Duncan Greatwood is executive chair of Xage Security.