Host Data vs. Network Data
With the rise of connected systems in industrial environments, securing both host data and network data is essential to safeguarding critical infrastructure and avoiding costly disruptions.
By analyzing traffic between devices, cybersecurity teams aim to uncover malicious activity, detect anomalies, and secure critical infrastructure. However, as cyber threats grow more sophisticated and targeted, it’s becoming increasingly clear that network data alone is insufficient. To build a robust defense, host data must also play a pivotal role.
What is Host Data and Why is it Important?
Host data refers to the information collected from individual devices or endpoints, such as servers, desktops, or industrial control systems (ICS) on your network. This data includes logs, configurations, and events specific to each device.
By analyzing host data, IT professionals can:
- Detect anomalies or unauthorized changes to devices.
- Uncover potential vulnerabilities before they are exploited.
- Enable rapid incident response and remediation.
Host Data Provides Enhanced Insights
Host data offers a deeper view into the actions and state of individual devices, complementing network data and addressing its limitations. Here’s how:
- Detailed Visibility into Device Activity Host data provides granular details about processes running on a device, user activity, file system changes, and more. This can reveal signs of compromise, such as unauthorized software execution or unusual system calls, that network data might miss.
- Enhanced Threat Detection By combining network and host data, security teams can correlate events for a more comprehensive view of an attack. For instance, a network anomaly paired with suspicious process execution on a host could confirm malicious activity.
- Root Cause Analysis Host data is essential for understanding how an attack originated. It allows teams to trace an attacker’s actions step-by-step, providing critical insights for both remediation and prevention of future incidents.
- Operational Insights Beyond cybersecurity, host data can aid in maintaining the health and efficiency of OT systems. Detecting failing hardware, misconfigurations, or unauthorized changes becomes easier with host-level monitoring.
The Limitations of Relying Solely on Network Data
Network data provides invaluable insights into the interactions between devices, but it comes with inherent limitations:
- Blind Spots in Encrypted Traffic As encryption becomes more pervasive in OT environments, network data loses its visibility into the contents of communication. While you can still see metadata like source, destination, and protocol, the payload—where critical threat indicators often reside—is obscured.
- Lateral Movement Detection Advanced threats often involve attackers gaining a foothold on one device and moving laterally within the network. Without host-level insights, it can be challenging to identify the initial compromise or trace the full extent of an attack.
- Insufficient Context Network data can tell you that communication occurred, but not always why. For example, a surge in traffic might indicate an attack—or it might just be normal behavior during a production cycle. Without host data, it’s harder to distinguish between the two.
Together, host and network data offer a comprehensive approach to OT cybersecurity. They allow IT teams to monitor both the internal and external activities of their systems, creating a stronger security posture.
Building a Unified Defense with Network and Host Data
To achieve comprehensive OT cybersecurity, organizations need to integrate both network and host data into their security strategies. Here’s how:
- Deploy Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) for OT While traditionally associated with IT environments, EDR solutions are now being adapted for OT. These tools can collect and analyze host data without disrupting operations.
- Leverage SIEM and SOAR Platforms Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) platforms can ingest and correlate data from both network and host sources, providing a unified view of the OT environment.
- Adopt Threat Hunting Practices With host data in hand, security teams can proactively hunt for signs of compromise rather than relying solely on automated alerts from network traffic.
- Ensure Minimal Impact on Operations OT environments are sensitive to downtime and disruptions. Any solution collecting host data must be designed to operate with minimal impact on system performance and reliability.
Bridging the Gap with the Right Tools
Integrating host data and network data is no small feat, especially in the complex, often siloed environments of OT systems. That’s where advanced cybersecurity platforms, like the Valkyrie Platform, come in. Valkyrie provides IT professionals with the tools needed to unify and analyze these data sources, delivering actionable intelligence to strengthen OT security.
Key Benefits of Using the Valkyrie Platform:
- Centralized Monitoring – Gain a single-pane-of-glass view of both host and network data.
- Automated Insights – Detect threats faster with machine learning algorithms tailored to OT environments.
- Scalable Solutions – Secure industrial systems of any size, from small facilities to global enterprises.
Secure your OT systems, maintain business continuity, and stay ahead of evolving cyber threats with the right data combined in one platform.
Stay Ahead of Threats in OT Cybersecurity
Don’t leave your operational environments vulnerable. Harness the combined power of host data and network data to protect your systems effectively. Want to see how the Valkyrie Platform can transform your OT cybersecurity strategy?
Schedule a Demo of Valkyrie Platform Today!
Conclusion
While network data remains a critical component of OT cybersecurity, it’s no longer enough to address today’s complex threat landscape. Host data fills the gaps left by network monitoring, providing the depth and context needed to detect, respond to, and prevent sophisticated attacks.
By leveraging both data sources, organizations can build a more resilient and secure OT environment—protecting not just their infrastructure but also the communities and industries that depend on it.
