Skip to content

OT Security & Architecture

OT network security & IT-OT integration

Protect critical operations. Secure your automation infrastructure with expert architecture, isolation strategy, cybersecurity hardening and compliance alignment.

01

IT-OT architecture & integration

Design secure IT-OT networks

Plan and build isolated, segmented OT networks that communicate safely with IT systems — without the flat network that lets one compromised laptop reach a controller.

Services included

  • Network topology assessment and redesign
  • DMZ and air-gap implementation strategies
  • Secure gateway deployment
  • Protocol bridging: Modbus, PROFIBUS, Ethernet
  • Redundancy and failover design
  • Data flow mapping and validation

Use cases

Legacy modernisation
Moving from air-gap to controlled connectivity without losing the isolation that was protecting you.
Greenfield smart factory
Industry 4.0 architecture designed from the ground up, with segmentation built in rather than retrofitted.
Multi-site consolidation
Centralised monitoring with local control authority retained at each plant.
IIoT integration
Edge devices and cloud backend connected on an outbound-only, read-only path.
02

OT cybersecurity consulting

Harden your OT environment against real threats

Security assessment, architecture hardening, compliance alignment and ongoing monitoring — scoped for a plant that has to keep running while you improve it.

Services included

  • OT security posture assessment
  • Threat modelling and risk analysis
  • Security hardening: device, network, access control
  • ICS and SCADA security best practice implementation
  • Compliance guidance: NIST CSF, IEC 62443, NERC CIP
  • Incident response planning
  • Security training for operations teams

Key topics covered

Access control
Least privilege and multi-factor authentication applied to OT, where a shared operator login is still the norm on most plants.
Network segmentation
Industrial firewalls and DMZ design that contains an intrusion to one cell instead of the whole site.
Device hardening
Firmware currency and secure configuration baselines for controllers, HMIs and network gear.
Anomaly detection
Behavioural monitoring tuned to process traffic, so alerts mean something and operators keep trusting them.
Patch management
A strategy that fits a plant with a four-hour maintenance window a quarter, not a monthly reboot cycle.
Secure remote access
Vendor and maintenance access that is brokered, time-limited, audited and revocable.
03

VAPT assessment for OT

Identify OT security weaknesses before an attacker does

Comprehensive OT-specific vulnerability assessment and penetration testing across network, devices, protocols and access control — run on a live plant without taking it down.

Assessment scope

Fully customisable. Most engagements cover all four areas; a targeted assessment can cover one.

Network-level testing

  • Network discovery and mapping
  • Unpatched system identification
  • Weak firewall rule detection
  • Rogue device detection
  • Protocol analysis: Modbus, PROFIBUS, EtherCAT anomalies
  • Man-in-the-middle vulnerability checks
  • Wireless security assessment where present

Device-level testing

  • PLC and controller firmware audit
  • Default credential checks
  • Hardening gap assessment
  • Protocol implementation flaw analysis
  • Unauthorised logic and code detection

Access control testing

  • Authentication mechanisms and default passwords
  • Authorisation bypass attempts
  • Privilege escalation path mapping
  • VPN and remote access vulnerabilities

Operational impact assessment

  • Testing performed without disrupting production
  • Non-invasive techniques prioritised throughout
  • Real-time monitoring of operational continuity
  • Emergency rollback procedures agreed in advance

Testing that respects a running process

OT testing is not IT testing. A scan that is routine on a corporate network can fault a controller that has been running since 2011. Every engagement is scoped against your process criticality, uses passive and non-invasive techniques first, monitors operational continuity throughout, and carries agreed rollback procedures before a single packet is sent. Where a test cannot be run safely on the live system, we say so and test it on the spare or during a planned outage instead.

What you receive

A report that works for three different audiences, because a finding nobody acts on is not a finding — it is paperwork.

  1. 1

    Executive summary

    C-level overview with key risks ranked by business impact, not by CVSS score alone.

  2. 2

    Detailed findings report

    Each vulnerability with severity, evidence and a proof-of-concept where it can be demonstrated safely.

  3. 3

    Remediation roadmap

    Prioritised and phased, sequenced so the highest-risk items that can be fixed without downtime come first.

  4. 4

    Technical deep-dives

    Written for your engineering team, with enough detail to reproduce and verify each fix.

  5. 5

    Compliance mapping

    Which standards each finding touches: IEC 62443 security levels, NIST CSF functions, NERC CIP requirements.

  6. 6

    Post-assessment consulting

    Implementation support, because handing over a report and leaving is how findings go stale.

Frameworks & compliance

Standards we work to

We align to the framework your regulator, insurer or customer already expects, rather than inventing a scoring system of our own.

NIST Cybersecurity Framework

Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover — used as the reporting spine so findings map to something your board already understands.

IEC 62443

The reference standard for industrial automation and control system security. Zones, conduits and security levels structure every architecture we design.

ISA 99

SCADA and instrumentation practice underpinning IEC 62443, applied at the device and loop level.

NERC CIP

Critical infrastructure protection requirements where the site falls under bulk electric system obligations.

ISO 27001 / 27002

General information security management, used to align OT controls with an existing corporate ISMS rather than duplicating it.

Supporting products

Hardware that makes the architecture enforceable

A segmentation design only holds if the equipment can enforce it. These are the products that most often carry the load.

Nozomi Networks
$$$

Passive OT asset discovery, network visualisation and threat detection appliance.

Method
Passive, SPAN/TAP, zero process impact
Output
Live asset inventory and network map
Detection
Signature and behavioural anomaly
4-6 weeksIEC-62443
View details
Claroty

OT threat detection with deep protocol inspection, asset inventory and secure remote access.

Inspection
Deep packet inspection of ICS protocols
Coverage
Asset inventory, vulnerabilities, detection
Access
Integrated secure remote access
4-6 weeksIEC-62443
View details
Kyland

Layer 3 managed industrial switch with sub-20 ms ring recovery and VLAN segmentation.

Ports
24 x GE + 4 x 10GE uplink
Ring recovery
Under 20 ms
Security
VLAN, 802.1X, ACL, RADIUS
2-3 weeksCEULIEC-62443
View details
Ewon

Modular industrial gateway for secure remote maintenance and data collection.

Access model
Outbound VPN, no inbound rules
Expansion
2 modular extension slots
Data
Onboard tag logging and reporting
Ex-stockCEULIEC-62443
View details

Start with visibility

Most plants do not know what is on their OT network

That is not a criticism, it is the normal starting position. A passive assessment answers it in days, without touching the process, and every later decision gets easier once it is answered.