For decades, OT modernization was seen as an oxymoron—manufacturing environments ran on antiquated, expensive, and revenue-critical systems that followed a “don’t fix what isn’t broken” philosophy. As a result, these environments were left untouched for years.
Today, however, they’re prime targets for hackers and can no longer be ignored. The benefits of OT automation, modernization, and IT/OT convergence are undeniable: greater efficiency, agility, and connectivity. Yet, this very transformation has also widened the attack surface, with ransomware halting production, stolen credentials altering configurations, and breaches causing financial and reputational harm.
Geopolitical instability is further disrupting OT supply chains and driving organizations to accelerate AI adoption to strengthen resilience, optimize operations, and reduce costs. But while AI offers efficiency and agility, it also introduces new cyber risks, from data exposure to model manipulation and increased attack surfaces.
The reality is that to safeguard revenue, operations, and even lives, organizations must prioritize OT security with identity at its core. In OT, identity equals control, and protecting it is the key to both resilience and security in a rapidly evolving threat landscape.
To translate this into action, organizations need a structured path forward that goes beyond point solutions or reactive defenses. That path is the OT Security Blueprint: a phased, identity-centric framework that balances modernization with resilience. Instead of treating OT as a static environment or a siloed extension of IT, this blueprint acknowledges the dynamic mix of human operators, machines, non-human identities (NHIs), and AI-driven agents that keep production running.
The blueprint is designed to help enterprises continuously assess, adapt, and harden their OT environments without slowing down operations. By aligning security with how manufacturing actually functions, rather than how IT policies are traditionally written, organizations can safeguard productivity, revenue, and safety while laying the foundation for future innovation.
Phase 1: Listen & Learn
The goal: Partner with OT and engineering teams to understand real operational needs and ensure security enhances—not hinders—production.
Engage the OT or Manufacturing Engineering teams and start listening and learning how manufacturing really operates (so don’t rely on theoretical PowerPoint views!). Manufacturing is not like corporate; these environments contain home-grown glueware, specialty purpose-unique devices and processes optimized to ensure successful production. It sounds simple, but this phase is about building relationships, which is truly foundational to the success of the entire Blueprint. A smart security professional will engage, listen, internalize the information—and then begin discussing how security can improve manufacturing efficiencies and reduce security risks.
Phase 2: Identity & Identify
The goal: Establish visibility and governance over every connection, device, and identity — human, non-human, and AI — to create a foundation of trust.
- Start the OT security blueprint by continuously identifying and monitoring all network connectivity (in and out), devices, data, applications and identities.
- Establish manufacturing human and non-human identity (this includes AI) account policies that make sense for the environment.
- Adopt account lifecycle and attestation expectations for all accounts to ensure non-human and human accounts exist for legitimate purposes.
- Track the purpose and ownership for each identity: domain, local, application, human, non-human, and AI identities.
- Establish NHI practices that factor in growing AI demands; limit or eliminate NHI interactive logons, ring-fence these identities and ensure every NHI has an owner tied to an asset and purpose.
- Secure in-place all local accounts that cannot be moved to a central repository.
- Align privileged access practices with business requirements, striking a balance between efficiency and security; if it is too difficult, the policy will be circumvented.
- Use strong authentication methods (MFA, certificates, tokens) and Just-in-time strategies (JIT) for remote and privileged access.
Phase 3: Watch & Respond
The goal: Integrate OT into enterprise monitoring and response to detect anomalies quickly and contain threats before they disrupt operations.
- Simplify and standardize response plans by integrating OT into existing enterprise IT & Security monitoring and response programs.
- Baseline normal human, NHI and AI behavior and flag any anomalies (e.g., an AI maintenance agent accessing systems outside its role).
- Develop OT-specific response playbooks (e.g., ransomware and rogue AI agent containment) and coordinated IT/OT response actions.
- Centralize remote access solutions and practices BUT give designated local manufacturing personnel the ability to enable this access quickly while enforcing destination and time-bound access.
- Conduct lessons-learned tabletop exercises to refine defenses and improve resilience (human, NHIs, AI failure modes and threat misclassification).
Phase 4: Rinse & Repeat
The goal: Continuously refine identity and security practices to keep pace with evolving OT environments, pressures, and risks.
- Optimize the identity strategy and be responsive to the changing OT environments and pressures.
- Ensure OT teams are full partners in security decisions to limit “security surprises”.
Summary
The OT security blueprint offers a practical, phased approach that empowers security and engineering teams to work in partnership, rather than in silos. By embedding identity at the core, organizations can transform OT security from a patchwork of stopgaps into a living strategy that evolves with technology, threats, and business needs. The result is, naturally, better protection—but it’s also greater operational agility, sustained revenue, and a foundation strong enough to withstand the next wave of disruption.