Mind the gap: CIOs know what they need for cybersecure infrastructure but not how to do it

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The EcoStruxure IT team is leading the industry in cybersecurity standards as it continues to be ranked as a top business concern.

With the reported cost of one cyber incident coming in at more than $4 million, not to mention the damage it can do to a company’s value and reputation, it’s not surprising that this risk might be keeping executives up at night.

But it is surprising that while cybersecurity tops the list of business concerns, many CIOs and IT professionals don’t take the basic steps to help prevent potential cyberattacks. Our best information indicates that at least 60% of devices are running out-of-date firmware and 78% of devices have known vulnerabilities that hackers with malicious intent could exploit.

It appears we have a gap between executives knowing that they need to take steps to be cybersecure and knowing how to actually do it. And if you are minding the gap, you know it is a risky place to be.

But it doesn’t have to be.

New Secure NMC System Tool makes researching and installing firmware updates 90% faster

EcoStruxure^TM IT Network Management Card (NMC) is embedded in the majority of Schneider Electric’s products, providing a robust, remotely accessible management application over the network for critical power and cooling infrastructure.

We know companies are challenged to keep up with firmware updates – one of the basic ways to help avoid a cyberattack. Many enterprises manage their critical power and cooling infrastructure with their own in-house management tools, third-party network management tools, or building management systems. But these systems don’t know when the firmware at your connected endpoints – particularly in distributed and edge environments – requires an update.

To help solve this problem for our customers we recently unveiled a new dedicated tool as part of our Secure NMC (Network Management Card) System that simplifies firmware management; transforming the laborious process of researching and installing the latest firmware on all devices, making the process up to 90% faster.

For IT professionals who already use EcoStruxure IT Expert or Data Center Expert, they already benefit from simplified firmware management. However, for enterprises using third-party management systems, this breakthrough tool means they can stop searching for firmware and checking to see if that firmware is the latest version for their device before they download it and update their device. The Secure NMC System Tool notifies them when new firmware is available and directs them to install the new version.

An industry first with new and higher level of cybersecurity certification for NMC

We recently announced an industry first as our Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) NMC achieved the IEC 62443-4-2 Security Level 2 (SL2) designation from the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

With TÜV Rheinland independently certifying the EcoStruxure IT NMC platform, we are ensuring that our products designed for data center and distributed IT environments meet a set of well-defined security requirements and undergo thorough testing and assessment. SL2 certification provides more stringent requirements and increased security resiliency than SL1, which we obtained last year.

But we didn’t stop with the industry-first level of security for the NMC. TÜV Rheinland has also certified that our development processes meet both the IEC 62443-4-1 and ISASecure® Secure Development Lifecycle Assurance (SDLA) standard. This dual certification helps to further reduce risks to critical infrastructure.

Leading the way in cybersecure IT infrastructure

When it comes to cybersecure infrastructure, the EcoStruxure IT team is leading with the way. Our philosophy is that customers require their vendors to provide secure products, secure development processes, and an easy way to manage firmware updates. Our dual cybersecurity certifications combined with the new SNS Tool help our customers to achieve this philosophy.

With our comprehensive approach to cybersecurity, we are narrowing the gap for executives who know what they need to do but don’t know how to accomplish it. As our customers already know, the EcoStruxure IT team is here to partner with them and make their IT infrastructure a less risky, more secure place to be.