In Operational Technology (OT) environments, the most significant risks aren’t always the most obvious or apparent. It’s often the less visible, overlooked issues—like forgotten devices or small misconfigurations—that pose the greatest danger because they go unnoticed. That is until they cause significant disruptions.
This is why comprehensive asset management is so important for OT security. It’s more than just inventorying your assets; it’s about really knowing your OT environment and making sure that you have visibility into every device, every connection, and every possible risk. With this kind of insight, you stay ahead of critical vulnerabilities before they have a chance to impact your operations.
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay in the loop with the latest OT cyber security best practices.
Verve's Biweekly Newsletter
Subscribe to stay in the loop with the latest OT cyber security best practices.
Fill out form below
In the following sections, we’ll discuss what comprehensive asset management is and explore seven ways it helps reduce risk. We’ll also explain how this approach safeguards your operations but also bolsters your entire security posture, shifting you from a reactive to a proactive and resilient defense.
What Is Comprehensive OT Asset Management?
A comprehensive OT asset inventory is a dynamic, multi-layered map of your entire industrial setup that includes:
- Hardware: Every piece of equipment you’ve got, from PLCs and HMIs to sensors and industrial PCs.
- Software: Operating systems, firmware, and apps, along with their specific versions.
- Network Data: A detailed map of your network, showing IP/MAC addresses, protocols, and how your network is segmented.
- Operational Context: What each asset does and just how crucial it is to your processes.
- Configuration: Settings, services, and open ports are currently in place on each device.
- Security Status: Patch levels, known vulnerabilities, and the security controls you’ve got in place.
- Connectivity: Understanding how everything talks to each other and the dependencies between assets.
- Access Management: Who manages and maintains each asset.
When you get down to this level of detail, your asset inventory turns into a powerful tool for managing your OT environment. You’re not just ticking boxes—you see how everything connects, where the risks are, and which assets need the most attention or protection.
With this kind of intel, you’re able to make strategic remediation decisions that strengthen your security and keep your operations running smoothly—moving from always putting out fires to preventing them in the first place.
Watch on Demand:
Building an OT Security Foundation with Asset Inventory and Assessment
With OT cyber threats on the rise, industrial organizations need comprehensive data for real-time asset visibility and true OT systems management. This webinar addresses challenges in achieving asset visibility, maintaining OT inventory, and creating an effective OT security roadmap.
7 Ways Comprehensive Asset Management Reduces OT Risk
1. Spotting Overlooked Vulnerabilities
Imagine this scenario: An engineer connects an old laptop to fix a PLC problem. The issue gets resolved, but in the rush to move on to the next task, the laptop stays connected far longer than expected—maybe even weeks. That quick fix has now become a potential security risk.
This kind of situation happens more often than you’d think, especially when asset management isn’t thorough. Unnoticed devices like these create vulnerabilities that expose your entire operation to potential attacks.
Comprehensive asset management is your best defense against these types of risks. By keeping an accurate, up-to-date inventory, you ensure that every device—especially those you might not realize are still connected—is accounted for. This proactive approach helps you spot and address vulnerabilities before they become bigger problems, significantly reducing the overall risk to your OT environment.
2. Seeing Your Entire Attack Surface
In OT, what you can’t see can hurt you. Unmanaged devices, shadow IT, and outdated records create gaps that attackers can slip through. Comprehensive asset management eliminates these blind spots by:
- Spotting Hidden Risks: Find devices and connections you didn’t even know existed.
- Mapping Out Interactions: Understand how assets are connected to identify critical areas of your network that require additional protection.
- Basing Decisions on Facts: Develop your security plan using hard data, not guesses.
This level of visibility allows you to manage your attack surface and take proactive steps to secure it.
3. Moving from Reactive to Proactive
Knowing your assets is just the start. Effective asset management shifts vulnerability management from a reactive scramble to a proactive strategy. A detailed inventory helps you:
- Target the Right Assets: Identify which assets are vulnerable and focus on them first.
- Prioritize Wisely: Patch the most critical assets first, protecting your key resources.
- Keep an Eye on Everything: Track patch levels across your OT environment and spot gaps.
- Plan for the Unpatchable: For legacy systems, put in compensating controls to reduce risk.
This method makes your vulnerability management more efficient and aligned with what really matters.
Learn How to Proactively Secure Industrial Systems
Watch this on-demand webinar from Verve Industrial experts and discover key strategies for OT risk assessment, vulnerability management, and incident response.
4. Setting a Baseline for Risk Management
Asset management is also about knowing how the devices in your environment normally behave. Once you know what’s typical, spotting something wrong is easier.
- Set a Baseline: Determine each device’s normal communication, data flow, and configurations.
- Catch Deviations: Spot any activity that doesn’t fit the usual patterns.
- Act Fast: Assess potential threats and act quickly to fix them.
With this understanding, you can detect even the most subtle attacks before they become serious issues.
5. Strategic Segmentation
Network segmentation is challenging without a clear inventory of your assets, leaving your OT network vulnerable to attacks that spread quickly. By thoroughly understanding your assets and strategically segmenting your network, you create barriers that slow down and contain threats:
- Informed Segmentation: Group assets logically based on accurate data, not guesswork.
- Reduce Risk: Limit unnecessary connections, reducing the chances of lateral movement.
- Stay Vigilant: Detect and respond to policy violations early.
- Adapt as You Go: Keep your segmentation effective as your environment changes.
A strong asset inventory paired with strategic segmentation helps you stay ahead of attackers and effectively contain threats.
Strengthen Your Industrial Defenses: Get the Full Network Segmentation Playbook
Learn proven techniques to protect your critical assets and optimize operations in today’s interconnected industrial landscape.
6. Prioritizing Remediation Efforts
In the event of a cyberattack, having a clear remediation plan is critical. Comprehensive asset management equips your team to:
- Prioritize Critical Assets: Quickly identify which assets are most at risk and focus remediation efforts where they matter most.
- Make Informed Decisions: Understand the potential impact of the threat, enabling you to prioritize actions effectively.
- Coordinate Efficiently: Share essential information about assets and vulnerabilities, ensuring your team works in sync.
- Strengthen Over Time: Use insights from past incidents to close security gaps and improve your remediation strategy.
This proactive approach ensures that your team can address vulnerabilities swiftly and efficiently, minimizing the impact on operations and preventing future attacks.
7. Strengthening Compliance
Meeting cybersecurity standards starts with having a detailed asset inventory. Most regulations require you to know exactly what assets you have, where they are, and how they’re managed. With good asset management, you can:
- Meet Regulatory Requirements: Ensure your asset inventory is in line with compliance standards.
- Prove Security Measures: Show that your key assets are tracked and protected.
- Support Audits: Make the audit process smoother with clear and accurate asset data.
- Report Compliance: Quickly and confidently report to your board, insurers, and regulators that you are meeting all regulatory and compliance requirements.
Therefore, a strong asset inventory is the foundation for a secure OT environment and compliance.
The Challenge of OT Asset Management
OT environments are always changing. New devices get added, old ones get retired, and configurations keep evolving. Keeping track of every asset in this ever-changing landscape isn’t something you do once and forget about—it’s an ongoing task. Traditional methods, like manual updates or just analyzing network traffic, often miss things, leaving your operations exposed to risks.
How Verve Solves this Challenge
Verve has a unique way of handling asset management that addresses these challenges head-on. By using a mix of agent-based and agentless discovery, we provide a clear and detailed view of your OT environment, across all device types.
- Find What’s Hidden: Go beyond the surface to uncover devices that aren’t actively communicating but are still part of your network.
- Get Detailed Data: Collect tons of information—over 1,000 data points per asset, covering everything from software and firmware to vulnerabilities.
- Stay Updated: Automatically detect and catalog new assets as they come online, so your inventory is always current.
- Measure Security Improvement: Track and measure the progress of your OT security over time, gaining insights into how your security posture strengthens with each action taken.
With Verve, you don’t just see a list of assets; you get a complete, real-time picture of your OT environment.
Why Asset Management is Key to OT Cybersecurity
In OT cybersecurity, knowing your assets inside and out is crucial. Asset management gives you a clear view of your industrial environment, revealing hidden risks and providing the context needed for smart security decisions.
When you have a full, up-to-date picture of your OT landscape, you can:
- Close the Gaps: Protect every asset, not just the ones you think of first.
- Reduce Attack Risks: Understand where your vulnerabilities are and take steps to reduce them.
- Manage Weak Spots: Spot vulnerabilities and fix them before they’re exploited.
- Catch Issues Early: Detect unusual activity that might indicate a breach.
- Strengthen Network Security: Segment your network to protect critical assets and limit the impact of any attack.
- Respond Fast and Effectively: Minimize downtime and keep operations running smoothly during an incident.
- Stay Compliant: Easily demonstrate that you’re meeting industry standards and regulations.
In today’s world, where cyber threats to critical infrastructure are increasing, strong OT asset management isn’t just a good idea—it’s essential. It’s the solid foundation you need to build a secure, resilient operational environment. Knowing your assets inside and out gives you the power to defend against hidden threats lurking in your OT network.
Strengthen Your Industrial Security with Verve
Learn how Verve's OT security solutions can be tailored to protect any industrial environment.
