OT Cyber Security

As the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and operational technology (OT) continue to evolve and grow, so too, do the responsibilities of the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). The CISO now needs to mitigate risks from cloud-connected machinery, warehouse systems, and smart devices scattered among hundreds of workstations. Managing those security risks includes the need to ensure safety in manufacturing, oil and gas facilities, public utilities, transportation, civic infrastructure, and more.

Analysts predict that we’ll have roughly 21.5 billion IoT devices connected worldwide in 2025, drastically increasing the surface area for attacks. Because embedded devices often go unpatched, CISO’s need new strategies to mitigate IIoT/OT risks that differ in crucial ways from those found in information technology (IT). The difference needs to be understood by your Board of Directors (BoD) and leadership team. Costly production outages, safety failures with injuries or loss of life, environmental damage leading to liability—all are potentially disastrous scenarios that have moved IIoT and OT to the center of cyber threat management.