Free Diagram Tool Aids Management of Complex ICS/OT Cybersecurity Decisions

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Admeritia has announced the availability of a new tool designed to help organizations manage complex cybersecurity decisions related to industrial control systems (ICS) and other operational technology (OT).

The newly launched tool, named Cyber Decision Diagrams (CDD), is available for free as a web-based application. The tool allows users to create simple diagrams that can enable them to more easily communicate cybersecurity thoughts and decisions. 

Admeritia, a Germany-based ICS/OT cybersecurity company, says it does not track or save any data provided by the user to create the diagrams. Diagrams can be downloaded in PDF format.

The tool walks the user through five steps. In the first step, the user is asked to define a high-consequence event (HCE), which represents the worst case scenario that a cyberattack can cause to the organization, such as a reactor exploding, a power blackout, a customer data leak, loss of production, or inadequate product quality. 

The user is then instructed to set a real-world anchor, which represents the cyber system that is closest to the HCE. This can be a device such as an IT client, a field device, a SCADA system, or a controller. 

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Next, the user is asked to make function adjustments — add other relevant elements, including other systems, as well as roles such as service provider, operator, user, supplier and engineer. 

At the fourth step, the user defines the attack path, which is the most effective way to abuse the previously added elements in order to trigger the HCE. 

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Finally, the user is asked to select security requirements, the top five elements that can prevent or mitigate the HCE.

Sarah Fluchs, CTO of Admeritia and developer of Cyber Decision Diagrams, says the tool can be used to create an “engineering diagram for cybersecurity decisions”, helping security teams see important decisions more clearly, and ground them in the real world.

“The Cyber Decision Diagrams tool took just a few months to build. But the idea behind it took eight years, countless cybersecurity engineering projects across industries, a three-year research project and a PhD,” Fluchs explained.

Cyber Decision Diagrams is free, but Admeritia is also offering a commercial version of the tool, named Security Engineering Tool (SET). 

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