Group

Creating and customizing groups

Accessibility: Admin, Product and Operator users

You can organize devices and components into groups as you wish to add meaning to your network representation. For example, this can be done according to the devices' location, process, severity, type, etc. You can also create nested groups inside a parents group, that is, add a group into another group to create several layers and structure the data.

You can use this feature inside the map and the device list views.

To create a group:

Procedure

Step 1

Select one or more devices or components in the map or the device list view.

Tip: To select several components at once in the map, click the devices or components while pressing Shift, or draw a selection box while pressing Ctrl. In the device list view, use the check boxes.

A My Selection panel opens on the right.
Step 2

Click Manage selection.
Step 3

Click Create a new parent group.

A Create a new parent group window pops up:
Step 4

Customize the group by giving it a description, defining its industrial impact (e.g. as opposed to a print server, a PLC that controls a robotic arm is highly critical), changing its color and adding properties.

Step 5

In addition, you can add the group to a parent group if already created.

To create a parent group:

There are several ways to create a hierarchy among groups:

  • Select two groups and create a group as indicated before.

  • Select a device or a component and move it into a group clicking the Move selection to existing group button.

  • Select a group and move it to another group clicking the same button.

Add group properties:

Adding properties to a group can be useful to store specific information. The labels available fit the 62443 standard which specifies policies and requirements for system security. You can also add custom properties.

To add properties to a group, select a group in the map and click Edit or Add properties. Then, choose/define a label and add a value.

Aggregated activities or conduits:

When devices and components are placed inside groups, activities are by default aggregated to enhance visibility. Aggregated activities are called conduits.

Use the Show network activities button at the lower left side of the map to turn on/off the simplified view of the activities between groups. This feature is turned on by default.

Lock/unlock a group:

Locking a group:

  • prevents components from being added to or removed from the group.

  • prevents a group to be deleted.

To switch on/off the Lock toggle button,

Step 6

Click a group.
Step 7

Click the Lock button on the group's icon.

or

Click the Edit button on the group's right side panel and toggle on/off the Lock button.
Step 8

Groups used as criteria to filter data in Cisco Cyber Vision:

Any groups created will be added into the filters to help you refine the dataset and compose presets.