Belden Forescout partnership to advance cyber security

The companies will introduce enhanced joint offerings to address industry needs for network segmentation and threat detection to maintain visibility to and protection from cyber events that threaten safety, productivity, and quality.

“Over the next decade, industrial networks will evolve to supply additional bandwidth to the machine level, allowing for applications to share the same network,” said Ashish Chand, Executive VP, Industrial Automation at Belden. “Network segmentation will be imperative to meet availability requirements for these real-time, next generation industrial automation networks.

“Belden and Forescout allow operators to begin segmenting their networks today with existing infrastructure, while also providing a trajectory for additional controls as next generation networks are deployed over time. We are excited to provide for the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s networks by expanding our partnership with Forescout and combining our complementary industrial cyber security capabilities.”

Industrial network segmentation made easy

Enhanced integration between the Forescout platform and Hirschmann network infrastructure makes segmentation an immediate, viable defence against cyber incidents. Whereas other solutions require time-consuming, complex deployments, this integration allows for rapid implementation over heterogeneous automation networks, minimising disruption and downtime.

The addition of Forescout eyeSegment simplifies the initial creation and ongoing lifecycle management of segmentation policies at scale, while also providing simulation of enforcement before implementation to avoid any disruption to mission-critical operations.

Hirschmann’s switches are able to feed eyeSegment network flows to provide North/South and East/West traffic visibility. This innovation allows industrial networks to achieve micro segmentation – protecting critical assets from malware, ransomware and other incidents that comprise reliability.

The secure factory solution for threat detection and response

The integration of Forescout, Tripwire and Hirschmann capabilities provide a holistic, synergistic industrial cyber security platform for threat detection and response, enabling both safety and uptime. The integrated platform delivers comprehensive cyber security and operational visibility with industrial context that allows operators to proactively identify and respond to threats in a way that does not affect availability nor require an enormous budget.

The joint solution, through the recent addition of Forescout SilentDefense to the Tripwire cyber security portfolio and Hirschmann Industrial HiVision for network management, has asset inventory and advanced network troubleshooting capabilities that provide both IT and OT perspective for maximum uptime. 

Innovation through partnership

Forescout and Tripwire are also co-innovating to drive cyber security and operational improvements by incorporating efficient and accurate configuration management against cyber security frameworks as criteria for network access in industrial environments. Additional enhancements will drive proactive, automated response workflows, minimising the time a controls engineer would need to analyse and take action against critical findings from log, vulnerability, and change management foundational cyber security controls.

“The accelerated digitalisation of OT environments is creating unique cyber security challenges for industrial networks across the globe. Cyber security needs must co-exist with operational safety and uptime goals,” said Pedro Abreu, Chief Product and Strategy Officer, Forescout. “The combination of Belden’s deep expertise and portfolio in OT with Forescout’s leadership in network visibility and control offers organisations a comprehensive platform that provides both cyber security and operational benefits.”