EDITOR’ S QUESTION credentials and broad access privileges make it easier for attackers to exploit systems. At the same time, ransomware is becoming an increasingly dangerous threat, capable of halting production, disrupting supply chains and even putting employee safety at risk.

To address challenges of IT and OT integration, a cohesive security strategy is key. The board must take steps to look beyond stereotypes of IT teams being overly cautious and recognise the genuine threats posed by OT security risks.

To strengthen cybersecurity without slowing down operations, CISOs need to focus on achieving full visibility into every CPS in the OT environment. Without knowing exactly what’ s connected, it’ s impossible to secure it. They must also bridge the gap between IT and OT security. Traditional IT security measures often struggle to monitor OT-specific protocols so should be adapted to provide better protection without disrupting production. Secure network segmentation and an effective asset management policy, strengthened by risk-based security controls can help reduce exposure.

TREVOR DEARING, DIRECTOR OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AT ILLUMIO

With the manufacturing sector being heavily reliant on availability, it naturally becomes a target for cybercriminals. Thanks to the convergence of IT / OT systems and the rise of interconnected networks, organisations now face an increased attack surface, exposing gaps that cybercriminals can exploit.

Manufacturers are also vulnerable to supply chain risk. One compromised manufacturer can give cybercriminals access to a broad network of connected suppliers, partners and customers. This can damage business relationships and cause a loss of revenue.

With such large and interconnected networks, manufacturers can’ t prevent every attack. CISOs set themselves an unrealistic goal by trying to prevent all attacks. Instead, the key is to protect service availability by mitigating the impact of cyberattacks.

The best way for CISOs to minimise a cyberattack’ s impact is through a breach containment strategy. This stops threats before they hit critical systems without blocking authorised employees from doing their dayto-day job.

CISOs should identify the minimum viable level of operation needed to maintain production. By controlling how systems communicate, an attack can be contained and production secured. Once critical systems have been identified, the next key step is controlling which users have access to them.

A breach containment strategy aligns with the Zero Trust model, which operates on the principle of least-privilege access, making it easier to isolate and mitigate threats. This means technologies such as Zero Trust Segmentation( ZTS) are effective in breach containment.

ZTS divides the network into isolated segments, with tailored security controls applied to protect each individual segment. When segmenting networks,

CISOs should identify the minimum viable level of operation needed to maintain production.

manufacturers must identify the systems that pose the biggest risk or are too important to fail and apply extra controls. This ensures that when a breach does happen, critical assets are safe.

Unlike the static approach of traditional perimeterbased security tools like network firewalls, ZTS provides dynamic and scalable security, making it easier and quicker to deploy microsegmentation across the hybrid attack surface.

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