The advent of easily deployable control and sensor technology has created a world where network-connected devices are prevalent in industry. This includes everything from facilities management systems (such as HVAC, lighting, and access control) to industrial process control systems on the factory or production floor, and from life-safety assurance to customer and inventory tracking.
These operational technology (OT) platforms bring opportunities for smart analytics and machine learning, predictive maintenance, remote monitoring, and increased quality management. But with those same technologies come risks of malicious outsiders, hacktivism and terrorism, employee sabotage, and malware/virus threats that have traditionally been a concern for the enterprise IT environment. The stakes are much higher in the OT environment, where a breach could impact life safety, manufacturing continuity, revenue, or facility usability.
