Industrial Systems
PLCs, HMIs, SCADA networks, robotics and CNC machines identified and assessed.
What leaving OT security alone costs you
Without it, a buyer assumes production downtime risk, unsafe machinery, uncontrolled engineering changes, exposure to ransomware, compromised PLC logic and unsafe remote vendor access.
On some OEM frameworks, this is not a scoring question at all. It is a pass-or-fail gate.
The OT security point most manufacturers miss
Most manufacturers assume cyber-attacks target the office. Increasingly, they target the plant, and for good reason. PLCs rarely get patched, HMIs run operating systems that went out of support years ago, and almost nobody is monitoring OT traffic.
OT cyber is not IT cyber, and treating it as though it is causes real damage. Your IT team can patch a laptop on a Tuesday afternoon. Patch a PLC mid-run and you have scrapped a batch.
What OT security support covers
Network Segmentation
Production networks genuinely isolated from office IT.
Vendor & Access Control
Secure, logged, time-limited remote access for equipment vendors.
Incident Readiness
OT-specific incident response, offline backups and change control on the plant floor.
What OT security looks like inside a manufacturer
- Production networks genuinely isolated from office networks.
- PLC programs backed up and version-controlled.
- Engineering laptops locked down and not doubling as someone's email machine.
- HMIs hardened, with passwords that are not on a sticky note.
- Industrial firewalls between zones.
- Vendor remote access controlled, time-limited and logged.
- OT patches applied only in a planned window when it is safe.
- Offline backups held for ransomware recovery.
- Change management enforced on the plant floor.
How OT security affects your tender score
| Tender criterion | What this service contributes | Score effect |
|---|---|---|
| Cyber | IT and OT working to one security posture | Major |
| Risk | OT maturity means low supply-chain risk | Major |
| Operational Resilience | Backups, segmentation and monitoring | Major |
| Safety | Protected control systems | Major |
| Compliance | Cyber Essentials Plus, ISO and safety evidence | Moderate |
| Delivery | Reduced downtime | Moderate |