Cisco recently unveiled an open-source proof-of-concept tool aimed at enhancing visibility into backplane traffic within industrial organizations. In operational technology (OT) environments, backplanes serve as crucial hardware components that interconnect various modules, such as programmable logic controllers (PLCs), facilitating high-speed communication.

Despite the critical role of backplanes, OT security teams often face challenges in effectively monitoring the traffic traversing these components, leading to limited visibility into network activities. While projects like WeaselBoard by Sandia National Laboratory have addressed this issue in the past, there remains a need for further advancements in this area.

In response, Cisco has released an open-source implementation named Badgerboard, specifically tailored to Schneider Electric’s Modicon M580 PLCs and X80 backplane. While Badgerboard serves as a proof-of-concept rather than a fully engineered solution, its primary objective is to demonstrate the feasibility of expanding backplane traffic visibility for conventional network security tools like Snort.

Through this initiative, Cisco aims to encourage collaboration among industry stakeholders and customers to advocate for more comprehensive monitoring solutions from vendors. While Cisco possesses the technical capability to develop hardware for such monitoring, the company emphasizes the importance of customer demand in driving innovation and pushing vendors to prioritize enhanced visibility solutions.

Ultimately, Cisco believes that addressing the challenge of backplane traffic visibility requires collective action and advocacy from both security vendors and customers. By fostering a dialogue and encouraging consumer demand, the industry can drive the development of more advanced monitoring solutions, ultimately enhancing the cybersecurity posture of OT environments.