Patch Management Planning And Procedures; Conclusion; Terms And Definitions - Eaton Network-M2 User Manual

• Physical security
• People and processes
• Network security
• Host security
• Applications security (both internally developed and commercially off-the-shelf (COTS))

Patch management planning and procedures

A patching and vulnerability management process should be established based on the timely awareness of
issues and appropriate action. This process should take all of the elements that make up the control system
environment into consideration.
Information resources should be identified for vulnerability and advisory information for the various
components in the environment. These should include vendor-specific sources as well as other public or
commercial services that provide vulnerability advisory information. For example, the National Vulnerability
Database (NVD) provides information related to vulnerabilities identified in general IT components, while the
Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) publishes advisories specific to
control systems.
A regular patch deployment schedule should be established for each component in the environment.
Depending on the component, this could range from a monthly schedule to an as-needed deployment,
depending on the historical frequency of patch or vulnerability related issues for the component or the
vendor. Additionally, out-of-band or emergency patch management needs to be
considered and qualifications need to be defined.
Vulnerability information and advisories should be reviewed regularly and assessments should be performed
to determine the relative severity and urgency of issues.
Elements of the process should also include the preparation, scheduling, and change controls; testing and
rollback procedures;
and pre-deployment notification to stakeholders that includes scope, expectations, and reporting. Testing is a
significant element, as
the effect of the patch application needs to be clearly understood; unintended or unexpected impacts to a
control system component influence the decision to deploy a patch. In the event that it is determined that a
patch cannot be safely deployed but the severity of the issue represents a significant concern, compensating
controls should be investigated.

4.1.8 Conclusion

To protect important assets, all organizations must take cybersecurity threats seriously and meet them
proactively with a system-wide defensive approach specific to organizational needs.
There is no protection method that is completely secure. A defense mechanism that is effective today may
not be effective tomorrow– the ways and means of cyber attacks constantly change. It is critical ICS
administrators remain aware of changes in cybersecurity and continue to work to prevent any potential
vulnerabilities in the systems they manage.

4.1.9 Terms and definitions

DMZ A demilitarized zone is a logical or physical sub network that interfaces an organization's
external services to a larger, untrusted network and providing an additional layer of security.
Encry The process of transforming plain or clear text using an algorithm to make it unreadable to
ption anyone except those possessing special knowledge.
ICS A device or set of device that manage, command, direct, or regulate the behavior of other
devices or systems.
Proto A set of standard rules for data representation, signaling, authentication, and error detection
col required to send information over a communications channel
Cybersecurity considerations for electrical distribution systems
Securing the Network Management Module – 77