Operational Technology (OT) security has come a long way, but the challenges have only grown with time. Early on, OT systems were completely isolated from external networks, making them inherently secure.
However, the push for efficiency, automation and real-time monitoring has led to increased connectivity and exposed OT environments to the same cyber threats that have plagued IT for years.
I started my journey in OT security by supporting mobile backups in the oil and gas industry in Houston, TX. My role involved setting up mobile carrier wireless routers with low-bandwidth connections. These routers sent telemetry data to data centers for pipeline flow monitoring.
At the time, security was an afterthought – our primary focus was on ensuring stable and reliable connectivity. But as the industry evolved and these networks became more integrated with IT systems, the security risks skyrocketed.
The Big OT Security Challenges
Many OT environments still run on legacy systems that were never designed with cybersecurity in mind. Industrial control systems (ICS) and programmable logic controllers (PLCs), for example, were built for reliability and longevity, not security….
