Nozomi Networks unveils free cybersecurity platform edition
The free edition is aimed at helping OT operators and IT security teams take the first step to finding the organization's assets that they need to secure within their OT and IoT networks.
Nozomi Networks Inc. on Wednesday introduced Guardian Community Edition, a free cybersecurity platform edition intended to help security teams discover what operational technology and internet of things devices or assets are running in their networks.
Operational technology (OT) networks are increasingly connected to the Internet, IT networks and internet of things (IoT) devices. Gartner predicts that by 2020, 50% of OT service providers will create key partnerships with IT-centric providers for IoT offerings.
"This evolution is creating new requirements for visibility and security that didn't exist in the past -- and that can't be solved with traditional IT solutions that were never designed to support the unique operational requirements of OT," said Andrea Carcano, co-founder and chief product officer of Nozomi.
The free cybersecurity product is aimed at enabling OT operators and IT security teams to discover which assets they need to secure within their OT and IoT networks.
With Guardian Community Edition (CE), IT professionals can also:
- Generate and print a map of the OT/IoT network;
- See which OT assets are connected to the Internet mistakenly; and
- Identify OT/IoT asset configuration issues.
Guardian CE does not offer the same set of functionalities available in Nozomi Networks' paid cybersecurity platform. The free edition provides a limited inventory of 1,000 assets, while the paid platform offers unlimited assets. Other features such as vulnerability assessment, threat detection, reporting and dashboards, phone and email support are not included in the free version.
Organizations can upgrade to Nozomi Networks' full suite of products and services from Guardian CE if they want extended functionalities.
Kris Smith, manager of system operations at Vermont Electric Cooperative, a customer of Nozomi Networks, said his company used to rely heavily on manual processes to administer its systems and mine data. "Collecting and analyzing large data sets in tabular format … was so resource intensive that it made applying a comprehensive, cybersecurity approach difficult," he said.
Smith said Nozomi Networks enables his team to see the company's network components and how they interact together to identify and address issues more quickly. "Previously, it took me two to three hours to go through dozens of pages of information from three systems. Today, some of the cybersecurity system reviews I do take me as little as 15 minutes," he said.
