NIST – NCCoE Releases Technical Note Focusing on OT Remote Access in Water and Wastewater Sector Cybersecurity Architectures

Yesterday, NIST through its National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) released a draft Technical Note inviting public comments. The Note outlines universal remote access cybersecurity architectures and demonstrative solutions planned for the ‘Cybersecurity for the Water and Wastewater Sector: A Practical Reference Design for Mitigating Cyber Risk in Water and Wastewater Systems’ project. The public comment period is open through July 15, this year.

Developed in collaboration with technology vendors, water utilities, and various experts, these architectures aim to enhance cybersecurity architectures and appropriate measures in critical water management systems. The NCCoE is using commercial products provided by the collaborators to build secure remote access example solutions.

A remote access solution connects users or systems externally for accessing organization information and operations assets. While remote access technologies provide a critical link in supporting infrastructure and operational requirements, such as widely geographic distribution of components and high availability for ongoing operations, the use of remote access also introduces several potential security problems. These problems are being addressed by the NCCoE and various collaborators. For more information, visit NIST or Industrial Cyber.