Manufacturing has changed dramatically over the past decade. Production lines that once ran in isolation are now connected to business systems, cloud platforms, suppliers and remote engineers. The gains in efficiency and insight are real. So is the new risk.
Operational technology (OT), the systems that monitor and control physical processes, was largely designed for reliability and safety, not cyber security. Connecting it to the wider world exposes it to threats it was never built to withstand.
Why OT is different
Securing OT isn’t the same as securing office IT.
- Uptime comes first. You can’t simply reboot a production controller to install a patch in the middle of a shift.
- Systems last for decades. Machinery and controllers often run for 15 to 20 years or more, long after vendor support has ended.
- Safety is at stake. A cyber incident in OT can affect physical processes, product quality and, in the worst cases, people’s safety.
- Specialist protocols. Industrial systems use their own protocols and devices that many standard security tools don’t understand.
The main risks
Ransomware spreading from IT to OT. Many manufacturing incidents start in office systems, then spread to production through poorly segmented networks. Even when OT isn’t directly hit, companies sometimes shut production down as a precaution.
Remote access. Vendors and engineers often need remote access to equipment. Weakly secured connections are a common way in.
Legacy systems. Unsupported operating systems and devices that can’t be patched are easy targets.
Intellectual property theft. Designs, formulations and processes are valuable to competitors and criminals.
Practical steps that don’t stop the line
Know what you have. Build an inventory of OT assets, what they connect to and how critical they are. You can’t protect what you can’t see.
Segment IT and OT. Separate production networks from business networks and control traffic between them tightly. If ransomware hits the office, segmentation can stop it reaching the factory floor.
Secure remote access. Route all remote connections through controlled, monitored access with multi-factor authentication, and disable them when they aren’t needed.
Compensate for what can’t be patched. Where legacy systems can’t be updated, protect them with network controls, monitoring and strict access.
Monitor for unusual activity. Visibility across IT and OT helps detect threats early, before they reach production.
Plan for recovery. Know how you would safely restart production after an incident, and test those plans with both IT and operations teams.
Bring IT and operations together
Some of the biggest gaps in manufacturing security are organisational rather than technical. IT teams may not understand production constraints, and operations teams may not see cyber risk as their concern. Joint planning, shared exercises and clear ownership make a significant difference.
Where to start if OT security is new to you
OT security can feel overwhelming, especially in plants with decades of equipment. A phased approach keeps it manageable.
Phase 1: Visibility. Build an inventory of OT assets and connections, and map how production networks link to office IT, the cloud and third parties. Most organisations find connections they didn’t know existed.
Phase 2: Quick wins. Remove unnecessary remote access, change default passwords, separate the most critical systems and make sure backups of controller configurations exist and work.
Phase 3: Segmentation. Introduce clear boundaries between IT and OT, and between zones within the plant, so an incident in one area can’t spread freely.
Phase 4: Monitoring. Add visibility of unusual activity on production networks and connect it to your wider security monitoring.
Phase 5: Resilience. Test how you would isolate, recover and safely restart production, with operations and IT working together.
Throughout, involve the people who run the plant. Engineers and operators know which systems are truly critical, when maintenance windows fall and what “normal” looks like. Security changes made without them are more likely to disrupt production, and far more likely to be quietly worked around.
Keep production moving
CyberQ helps manufacturers secure connected production environments with assessments, testing, monitoring and response planning designed around uptime. Explore our manufacturing cyber security services or talk to us about protecting your operations.
