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Understanding DCIM and its Importance
Infrastructure Management
Reporting
Data Dissemination
API Risks from Enterprise Systems Interfacing
A poorly configured API could allow hackers to access data center infrastructure and falsify sensitive decision-control information. Or potentially more damaging, manipulate infrastructure devices to disrupt services and possibly damage systems themselves. In 2023, Akamai noted a 76% year on year increase in API attacks targeting operational technology (OT) infrastructure, where the outcomes are associated directly with production outages and the possibility of physical damage.
Managing API risks is difficult because of the constantly evolving threat environment and the range of vendor and open-source APIs in use. Like keeping up with anti-virus or intrusion detection signatures, effectively managing API security is a challenge and requires a combination of applied best-practice in API development and timely threat intelligence. A DCIM solution can effectively mitigate API security issues.
API Vulnerabilities
Potential Threats
Increasing Attacks
Challenging Management
Managing API risks requires constant vigilance due to the evolving threat landscape and diverse range of APIs in use.
Firmware Risks: A Vector for Compromise
Firmware, the software embedded in the “things” that control the infrastructure in a modern data center, is often overlooked in security assessments. However, it can be a significant vulnerability. Exploits targeting firmware vulnerabilities can grant attackers control of devices and opportunities to sabotage power management, cooling, physical access controls or any other connected infrastructure element in the data center. (Source: Binarly.io)
In the Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2023, 57% of devices on legacy firmware are exploitable to a high number of common vulnerabilities and exposures. In April 2024, Underwriters Laboratory, a leading tester of IoT devices and firmware, issued guidance related to firmware security: consider solutions that can generate reports about firmware inventories to guide mitigation or remediation efforts. The reasons for the difficult state of firmware are many and varied: fragmented and diverse supply-chains; weak coding and development practices; long patch cycles and, mostly tellingly in the context of DCIM – a lack of visibility.
Track Firmware Inventories
Implement Real-time and Time-series monitoring
Plan and Monitor Updates
Third-Party Supplier Risk
The operational technology (OT) infrastructure within a data center is often a complex ecosystem of power management, cooling, physical security and other building management vendors. These vendors and associated contractors play a crucial role in maintaining functionality, and require access to OT Ethernet within the data center: they also introduce security vulnerabilities.
Third-party vendors have previously become unwitting “trojan horse” attack vectors; physically carrying malware and compromised firmware over the logical security systems of the DC and directly onto the infrastructure management networks. Threat actors target these infrastructure contractors for their privileged access to valuable customers. They unknowingly facilitate the installation of counterfeit and compromised firmware and devices, which become platforms for attackers. The 2024 Verizon Data Breach Report cites a 68% YoY growth in these types of supply chain attacks, now representing 15% of all breaches overall – up from less than 4% just a couple years ago!
Addressing the risk of Third Parties is a matter of visibility: look for DCIM solutions that include monitoring and detection features that detect and alert if a compromised, counterfeit or defective device enters the data center infrastructure network.
Third-Party Vendor Risks
Vendors and contractors with access to OT Ethernet can inadvertently introduce security risks to data centers.
Attack Vectors
Third-party vendors can become “trojan horse” attack vectors, carrying malware and compromised firmware over security systems.
Mitigation Strategy
Implement DCIM solutions with monitoring and detection features to identify compromised, counterfeit, or defective devices entering the network.
Situational Awareness, Proactive Maintenance and Lagging Indicators
Lagging indicators deprive operators and managers the ability to be proactive, versus reactive.
This has been the case in the most serious OT failures in recent years such as the Deep Water Horizon disaster and the Texas Power Grid outages of 2021. (Source: FERC) The effect of lagging indicators is degraded resilience, poor operating efficiency, and downtime. A reactive approach to infrastructure threats based on old information can be costly, as it often allows security incidents and attackers to persist unreported and undetected for long periods. Additionally, when you integrate complex and different types of equipment as found in data center infrastructure, any failure or degradation of one component negatively affects other components in the system. Without an effective solution, lagging indicators can:
Compromise
resilience
Affect confidence in decision making
Impact service level commitments
Degrade organizational
reputation
Create legal
liability
Breach insurance
covenants
Mitigating Data Center Infrastructure Risks with Modius® OpenData®
If you are looking for a next-generation DCIM solution that can help you gain higher efficiencies and improved security, consider Modius OpenData. OpenData provides integrated tools including machine learning capability to manage the assets and performance of Data Centers, and critical infrastructure. OpenData is a ready-to-deploy DCIM featuring an enterprise-class architecture that scales incredibly well. In addition, OpenData gives you real-time, normalized, actionable data accessible through a single sign-on and a single pane of glass.
We are passionate about helping clients run more profitable, secure data centers while providing operators with the best possible view into a managed facility’s data. We have been delivering DCIM solutions since 2007. We are based in San Francisco and are proudly a Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB Certified).
