In 2026, industrial cybersecurity has moved from a side project to a central concern.
Enter operational technology (OT). OT runs physical processes, such as production lines, pumps, robots, safety systems, and the control networks. Meanwhile, information technology (IT) handles data, apps, systems, and corporate networks. Both used to be separate domains; However, the distinction still matters.
But here’s the catch: A cyber incident in OT isn’t just about data loss. It can stop production, damage equipment, threaten safety, and impact overall business operations. The potential mix of physical consequences and digital risks presented by cyberattacks explains why OT security sits at the top of so many board agendas right now.
In this article, we’ll cover cybersecurity to protect your assets in 2026. Specifically, we’ll share some defence strategies for operational technology to protect your business or organisation. Here’s how:
1. Understand the Current Industrial Cybersecurity Landscape
To begin, it’s crucial to understand the current landscape of industrial cybersecurity in the breach.
Manufacturing and critical infrastructure are under sustained attack. In IBM’s 2025 X-Force report, manufacturing was the most attacked industry for the fourth year in a row. This reflects sustained pressure from ransomware groups and broader cybercrime ecosystems. Below are the top methods used by cyberattackers to access the victims’ environments:
Attackers have also pushed well beyond IT. High-profile cases over the last decade include Triton/Trisis targeting safety instrumented systems and Industroyer2 disrupting electric operations in Ukraine. These incidents proved that cyber attacks can alter physical processes:
- Triton/Trisis analysis from Mandiant shows how malware went after safety systems, the last line of defence in hazardous environments.
- ESET’s research on Industroyer2 breaks down how attackers tailored malware to grid control protocols.
Regulators and responders have adjusted. CISA publishes ongoing advisories for industrial products and environments. It documents how often new flaws emerge across PLCs, HMIs, gateways, and engineering tools. As ransomware keeps evolving, joint government guidance has become more frequent.
There are cybersecurity facts business leaders must know. But above all, understand this: Attackers know there’s real leverage in OT, and defenders are racing to close gaps while keeping plants running.
Tom Rockwell, CEO of Concrete Tools Direct, has overseen security transformations across multiple facilities. Having partnered with manufacturers to produce concrete tools, he warns that traditional IT security approaches fall short in operational environments. According to him, “Manufacturing floors operate on fundamentally different principles than corporate networks. When a production line goes down, you’re losing thousands per minute. OT security requires understanding both the cyber risks and the operational impacts. You need strategies that protect without disrupting critical processes”.
2. Identify Emerging Threats to Operational Technology
It’s no secret: Cyberattacks are on the rise, and they don’t show signs of stopping or even slowing down. Below are emerging threats to OT:
- Advanced persistent threats (APTs) and process manipulation: State-aligned and well-funded actors continue to blend IT compromise with targeted movement into OT. We’re seeing careful study of engineering workstations, protocols, such as Modbus, DNP3, IEC 104, and even safety systems.
- Ransomware tailored to disrupt production: Ransomware actors don’t need to brick a PLC to stop a line. Hitting scheduling or engineering servers can be enough to force a controlled shutdown. Safety-first shutdowns (see CISA StopRansomware) are the right call, but they come with steep costs and supply chain ripple effects.
- Supply chain and remote access abuse: OEM and integrator remote support is essential, but it’s also a trusted pathway for attackers. Compromised vendor credentials and unmanaged cloud connectors give adversaries exactly what they need. Expect more campaigns that target update servers and managed service providers.
- Exploiting legacy and “insecure-by-design” devices: Many industrial devices weren’t built with modern security in mind. Think plaintext protocols, default credentials, and unsigned firmware, still existing in the field. As vendors push toward secure-by-design practices, defenders need compensating controls now.
- OT/IoT convergence and edge risks: Sensors, cameras, and condition-monitoring devices can quietly expand the attack surface. Shadow devices show up on lines because they’re useful. That’s fine, as long as you can see, segment, monitor, and adjust them.
Andrew Bates, COO at Bates Electric, has witnessed the rise of cyberattacks targeting industrial systems. Having worked with manufacturing suppliers for electrical components, he’s seen the massive impact on industrial operations, such as the following:
- Production delays
- Quality issues from subtle tampering
- Equipment wear from malicious parameter changes
- Stressed safety margins
- Delayed deliveries that hit customers downstream.
Bates notes, “Attackers are moving beyond opportunistic ransomware to developing tools that manipulate industrial processes directly. We’re seeing threat actors study specific control system protocols and safety systems. These aren’t random attacks anymore. They’re precision strikes aimed at maximum operational disruption”.
3. Implement Strategies for Enhancing OT Security
When it comes to cybersecurity, you need to understand that: “Securing the industrial world is not the same as securing the corporate world.” Below are some strategies to implement:
Use proven frameworks as your playbook
Anchor your program to standards that speak OT:
- NIST’s updated guide to ICS security lays out practical protections for control environments (NIST SP 800-82 Rev. 3).
- The NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 gives you a governance and risk backbone across IT and OT (NIST CSF 2.0).
- ISA/IEC 62443 remains the industry’s reference for zones, conduits, and security requirements mapped to operational reality (ISA/IEC 62443).
Integrate IT and OT security without breaking operations
Shared identity, governance, access control, and incident response help you move faster. But don’t just copy-paste IT controls. Based on the CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model, adapt zero trust ideas to:
- OT with strict access boundaries
- One-way data flows where possible
- Role-based access for vendors and technicians
Use the Purdue model as a design guide and intentionally track exceptions.
Make detection and response an everyday muscle
Passive monitoring that understands industrial protocols is your early warning system. Here’s how:
- Feed detections into an incident response plan that includes engineering steps, not just IT containment.
- Build playbooks that map to MITRE ATT&CK for ICS, so you know how to spot and disrupt real adversary behaviours.
- Test those plans through joint drills involving operators and maintenance teams.
Secure remote access and vendor pathways
Here are a few key steps to take:
- Use managed gateways with MFA, just-in-time access, session recording, and strict allowlists.
- Retire shared accounts.
- Put vendor connections in their own segments and monitor them closely. W
- Where possible, prefer brokered remote support over flat VPN tunnels.
Get the basics right: inventory, segmentation, hardening
You can’t protect what you don’t know:
- Maintain a live asset inventory and label critical functions. Also, segment by risk.
- Enforce allow-listing on HMIs and engineering workstations, lock down USB pathways, and sign and verify firmware where supported.
- Use CISA SBOM to track component exposure and speed up response to new vulnerabilities.
Plan for recovery like it’s part of production
Take the key steps below:
- Keep offline backups of logic, configurations, and gold images.
- Practice bare-metal restores on spare hardware.
- For patching, test in a lab first, then schedule changes with operators at the table.
- When a fix can’t be applied, use compensating controls such as network isolation, strict allow-lists, and enhanced monitoring.
4. Leverage the Role of Technology and Innovation
It’s inevitable: There are cyberthreats in industries. That begs the question: How can you secure your company or organisation? Technology is key! Below are tools and innovations to leverage for cybersecurity measures:
AI and machine learning tuned to physical processes
Done right, AI doesn’t just watch network packets. It learns the rhythm of your process. That’s where it shines. If you adopt AI, train models on your process, with a clear route for engineers to validate and act. For governance, align with the NIST AI Risk Management Framework so safety and reliability aren’t afterthoughts.
Better crypto and authentication for the edge
Strong device identity, signed firmware, secure boot, and TLS for industrial protocols are moving from “nice-to-have” to table stakes. OPC UA’s security model and IEC 62443-aligned requirements help raise the floor for IIoT and gateway devices.
Secure-by-design products
The push for CISA Secure by Design is gathering speed across vendors. This design approach calls for reducing exploitable features and enabling secure defaults. Favour devices that support modern auth, robust logging, and patchability, as well as pressure suppliers to meet those baselines.
Blockchain, carefully applied
It won’t fix every problem, but distributed ledgers can help verify firmware provenance and track parts through complex supply chains. Pilot where proof-of-origin really matters and integrate with existing QA and MOC processes rather than bolting it on.
It’s apparent that AI impacts cybersecurity. Learn from Adrian Iorga, Founder and President of Stairhopper Movers, who has his fair share of experience using AI-powered tools or platforms. However, he shares how this could impact the industrial operations: “AI transforms how we detect threats in OT environments by learning what normal operations look like for each specific process. Systems can identify subtle deviations that human operators might miss, like unusual command sequences or timing anomalies that could indicate compromise. The key is training these models on actual operational data, not just network traffic”.
5. Pursue Collaboration and Industry Initiatives
In today’s business landscape, partnering with industry leaders and key stakeholders is imperative for promoting cybersecurity. When it comes to OT, here’s what you can do for your industrial operations:
- Share intelligence like your uptime depends on it. In this space, it often does. Join your sector’s ISAC/ISAO and plug into CISA’s Joint Cyber Defence Collaborative (JCDC) to get ahead of fast-moving campaigns.
- Align with evolving regulations. Expect more scrutiny on risk management, reporting, and supply chain transparency. In the EU, the EU NIS2 Directive expands requirements for essential and important entities, including manufacturing segments and critical suppliers. Use these rules to drive budget and clarity, not just compliance checklists.
- Lean on communities and standards groups. The ISA Global Cybersecurity Alliance and MITRE ATT&CK for ICS community help teams practice, learn, and improve together. Even sector-specific exercises, such as NERC GridEx in the power industry, can offer guidance and assistance.
Take it from Samuel Charmetant, Founder at ArtMajeur, who promotes industrial cybersecurity. Sharing artwork through digital platforms with target clientele, he coordinates cross-industry efforts to strengthen collective defences. For him, “No single organisation can defend against the full spectrum of OT threats alone. When one company detects a new attack technique, that intelligence needs to reach peers immediately. We’re building trusted channels where competitors become collaborators on security, sharing indicators and defensive strategies while protecting proprietary information”.
Final Thoughts
The next two years will reward teams that blend: Engineering know-how, pragmatic controls, fast feedback loops. But take note:
- Budgets will tilt toward continuous monitoring and secure remote maintenance.
- AI will move from pilot to practice, especially when paired with process historians and clear playbooks.
- Regulations will mature and force closer evaluation of supplier risk.
And yes, attackers will keep looking for the soft spots where digital meets physical.
How do you get ready? Treat OT security like a living program, not a project:
- Build routines (like weekly reviews of alarms with engineers, quarterly tabletop exercises, and annual architecture refreshes that track new lines, devices, and partners).
- Train technicians on secure procedures (the same way you’d train for lockout/tagout).
Heed our final advice: Protect without disrupting. Ultimately, you keep the lines running safely and reliably…ready for whatever comes next!
Source: Direct Industry Emag
Image Credit: Stock Image