How to Prioritize Vulnerabilities in Your OT Environment with Risk-Based Vulnerability Management  

Operational technology (OT) systems in electric utilities, manufacturing organizations, and oil and gas companies face unique cybersecurity challenges. Traditional IT-focused vulnerability management frameworks fall short when applied to OT environments, where continuous uptime and safety are paramount. Dragos leverages a risk-based approach to managing vulnerabilities in OT systems. 

The OT Vulnerability Landscape

OT environments are complex, often combining legacy systems with modern IoT devices. This creates a unique set of challenges: 

• Legacy Systems: Many OT systems were built before cybersecurity was a priority, lacking basic protections like encryption and authentication. 
• Continuous Operations: 24/7 uptime requirements make traditional active scanning methods impractical. 
• Mixed Environments: The interconnection of OT, IT, and IoT systems expands the attack surface. 

Why Traditional Vulnerability Management Falls Short 

Traditional vulnerability management approaches, which rely heavily on CVSS scores and frequent patching, don’t translate well to OT environments. Here’s why: 

• Uptime is Critical: In OT, system availability often trumps immediate security patching. 
• Operational Impact: Vulnerabilities must be assessed based on their potential impact on physical processes and safety, not just technical severity. 
• Extended Lifecycles: OT systems often have lifecycles spanning decades, far longer than typical IT equipment. 

A Risk-Based Approach for OT 

To effectively manage vulnerabilities in OT environments, industrial organizations need a risk-based approach that considers: 

• Asset Criticality: Identifying and prioritizing “crown jewel” assets essential to operations. 
• Network Topology: Understanding communication paths to identify potential attack vectors. 
• Operational Impact: Assessing how vulnerability exploitation could affect physical processes or safety. 
• Threat Intelligence: Incorporating OT-specific threat data to prioritize vulnerabilities actively targeted by adversaries. 

Six Steps to Risk-Based Vulnerability Management in OT 

1. Comprehensive Asset Inventory: Maintain an up-to-date inventory of all OT assets, including make, model, and firmware versions. 
2. Network Mapping: Visualize communication flows to understand potential attack paths. 
3. Vulnerability Correlation: Link asset profiles to known CVEs for precise risk assessment. 
4. Prioritization: Focus on vulnerabilities that could lead to loss of view, control, or safety in critical systems. 
5. Alternative Mitigations: Implement compensating controls like network segmentation when patching isn’t immediately possible. 
6. Continuous Monitoring: Use passive monitoring techniques to detect threats without disrupting operations. 

Strategically Manage Cyber Risk to Your Industrial Facilities 

Dragos vulnerability researchers have built three industry-focused infographics with real-world examples of common vulnerabilities impacting each environment. While all three might seem critical at first glance, a risk-based approach helps prioritize effectively. Can you guess which vulnerability should be prioritized in your industry? 

Which vulnerability needs immediate action in the electric sector? 

• CVE-2024-2051 (Schneider Electric Easergy T200) 
• CVE-2024-1531 (Hitachi Energy RTU500) 
• CVE-2023-20198 (Rockwell Automation Stratix 5800/5200) 

Download the infographic to check your answer: How to Manage Vulnerabilities in Electric 

Which vulnerability needs immediate action in manufacturing environments? 

• CVE-2023-21554 (Mitsubishi Electric’s Electrical Discharge Machines) 
• CVE-2024-7567 (Rockwell Automation Micro850/870 Vulnerabilities) 
• CVE-2024-40619 (Rockwell Automation GuardLogix and ControlLogix Vulnerabilities)  

Download the infographic to check your answer: How to Manage Vulnerabilities in Manufacturing

Which vulnerability needs immediate action in oil and gas facilities? 

• CVE-2023-2685 (ABB AO-OPC Server) 
• CVE-2016-2148 (Hitachi Energy’s Tropos Mesh Routers) 
• CVE-2023-36639 (GE Vernova’s NetworkST4 and Remote Operations) 

Download the infographic to check your answer: How to Manage Vulnerabilities in Oil and Gas 

The Path Forward 

Adopting a risk-based approach to managing OT vulnerabilities enables industrial security teams to: 

• Focus resources on the most critical risks 
• Maintain operational continuity while improving security 
• Adapt to the unique challenges of OT environments 

By moving beyond traditional IT-centric methods, organizations can better protect their critical infrastructure against evolving cyber threats.