Stop managing risk in silos. VM-Native OT Discovery, now available in Tenable Vulnerability Management and Tenable Security Center provides unified visibility across IT and OT domains. See every asset and manage your total cyber exposure in a unified view.

Key takeaways

1. The air gap is dead. IT security teams are inheriting responsibility for operational technology (OT), but often lack visibility into these systems.
    
2. Security teams face significant barriers with OT security. Fear of disrupting fragile devices and the high cost of specialized hardware have created a dangerous “black box” in the attack surface.
    
3. The perfect “on-ramp” to OT security. A new OT Discovery engine embedded in Tenable Vulnerability Management and Tenable Security Center allows security teams to safely profile OT, IoT, and shadow IT assets using the tools they already own.

For decades, the concept of the “air gap” — a physical isolation between IT networks and critical operational technology (OT) — provided security leaders with a sense of comfort. The assumption was simple. Digital threats stay on the corporate network, while physical operations run safely in isolation.

In today’s hyper-connected world, that assumption is often wrong and leaves your OT environment exposed to preventable cyber risk.

From modern data centers and smart hospitals to commercial real estate and universities, the line between the digital and the physical has blurred. IT security teams are increasingly inheriting responsibility for securing cyber-physical systems (CPS) — the HVAC controllers keeping servers cool, the badge readers securing facility entrances, and the power distribution units keeping the lights on.

Yet, for many organizations, these OT assets are a massive blind spot.

The “black box” problem

While vulnerability management programs have matured rapidly for IT assets, covering everything from cloud workloads to laptops, operational environments are often a “black box.”

This visibility gap usually stems from two distinct barriers:

• There is a pervasive (and historically valid) fear that scanning OT/IoT assets with traditional IT security tools could knock fragile devices offline, disrupting critical business operations.
   
• Traditional OT security tools often require a massive undertaking. The complexity and cost of deploying expensive specialized hardware, managing long-term evaluations, architecting complex mirror ports, and navigating the political minefield of installing new appliances in sensitive production environments make these projects difficult to justify.

The result is a dangerous paradox. Security teams are responsible for the risk of interconnected systems, but don’t have the tools to see or secure them. Attackers, however, face no such barriers, frequently pivoting from compromised IT networks to poorly defended OT assets to maximize impact.

Rethinking converged OT/IT security

To secure the modern attack surface, organizations must stop managing IT and OT risk in silos. Security leaders need a unified view that treats a vulnerability on a programmable logic controller (PLC) with the same rigor and context as a vulnerability on a Windows server.

Achieving this requires a fundamental shift in how we approach asset discovery. Security teams need streamlined methods that provide the necessary depth of OT visibility for compliance and risk reduction, without the friction of deploying hardware across physical sites. They need a way to safely seeshadow OT assets using the infrastructure already in place.
 

^{Image: A segment of Tenable’s research and testing lab for operational technology (OT).}

Introducing VM-Native OT Discovery

Our latest release fundamentally changes the economics and accessibility of OT security tools. We are excited to announce OT Discovery, a new capability embedded directly inside the Tenable One Exposure Management Platform that provides security teams with foundational visibility into OT and IoT environments. It’s the perfect on-ramp to OT security, so you can uncover hidden OT risks and deep asset-level details. 

Here is how it changes the game for your security program:

• Safe visibility for cyber-physical systems. OT Discovery uses the same Active Query engine found in our specialized Tenable OT Security solution—now natively integrated into Tenable Vulnerability Management and Tenable One. It performs “smart,” protocol-aware handshakes to verify assets before querying them so you can safely profile PLCs, human-machine interfaces (HMIs), IoT devices, and shadow IT assets across your environment.
   
• Unified OT/IT exposure management. By integrating OT asset data, including vendor, model, and firmware details, directly into your existing dashboards, you can break down silos and view your organization’s total risk exposure in a single pane of glass.
   
• Extend the value of your security investments. No need to rip and replace or install new hardware. This capability enables you to extend the value of your existing vulnerability management toolsets to uncover the OT risk hiding on your network.

Breaking down silos across IT and OT

Adopting a unified approach to OT/IT exposure management builds trust.

Historically, the relationship between IT security and facility operations teams has been strained. IT wants to scan and patch known vulnerabilities. Operations teams require uptime and stability. When IT security teams try to enter the OT space with aggressive scans or unfamiliar hardware, friction is inevitable.

VM-Native OT Discovery changes the conversation. Because Tenable relies on trusted, safe query methods through familiar infrastructure, the security team can approach the ops team with reliable data and real-time exposure intelligence.

Instead of asking, “Can we install a black box on your network?” you can say, “We noticed three unmanaged PLCs communicating on the subnet. Here is exactly what they are. Let’s work together to secure them now rather than waiting 6-12 months to patch during the next maintenance interval.”

Get started with OT security today

OT security is no longer just for industrial giants and organizations managing critical national infrastructure. Every manufacturer, warehouse operator, and organizations smart building management systems face operational risk.

Ready to get visibility into your OT blind spots? You don’t need a massive budget or a year-long deployment project to get started. Watch this quick demo to see how you can secure your most critical assets with the vulnerability management tools you already use.
 

Are you an existing Tenable customer? Explore the user guide documentation for Scan Templates and Discovery Settings to get started.

Learn more

• Dive deeper into the challenges and solutions for securing OT with our eBook, “Blackbox to blueprint: A security leader’s guide to managing OT and IT risk.”
• Explore our complete Tenable One exposure management platform, offering scalable security solutions for the entire attack surface.
• Request a demo to find out how Tenable exposure management solutions fit into your cybersecurity roadmap.