The Industrial Control System (ICS) security team at Talos frequently see requests from peers and from students on how to build an ICS test lab. After all, the best way to learn is to get some equipment and learn with good old-fashioned hands-on tinkering. Unfortunately, many frame their test lab inquiries based on more traditional IT standards and network topologies. This is an easy error to make. After all, we can all generally name the components of a modern IT network - workstations, servers,switches, routers and firewalls for example. It's easy to fall back on things for which we are most familiar. It's only natural. It would be easy to assume building an ICS network is just assembling the usual suspects of ICS equipment, and soon you will have an ICS test lab.
The truth is, nothing is atypical with industrial control system networks. Understanding industrial control systems and how they work together to deliver a process is not an easy thing. An electrical utility and an oil refinery may make use of the exact same ICS equipment in completely different environments and configurations, which effectively makes understanding implementation difficult. With such a diversity of industries and verticals, it can be difficult to even find a starting point much less procure (often expensive) equipment to start a proper ICS test lab.
Members of the ICS team (Joe Marshal, Patrick DeSantis II & Carlos Pacho) were challenged with this problem by Talos senior leadership, and were told to find a way to build a ICS test lab. No easy task! As it turns out, the answer was easy, but the road to get there would not be.
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Cisco Systems Inc. published this content on 26 September 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 26 September 2016 16:35:08 UTC.
Original documenthttp://blogs.cisco.com/security/talos/apt-kegerator
Public permalinkhttp://www.publicnow.com/view/C852B832132FEDBDC785C707B8CCE5AED62F5250
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