Operational Technology (OT) is now a prime target for cyberattacks with more than 80% of events starting with an IT system compromise, according to 2023 research by Rockwell Automation. This creates a problem for OT-dependent businesses, whether it’s manufacturing, utilities or food production, because IT and OT teams have historically existed in different worlds, culturally as well as technically, creating an uneasy divide that now needs to be bridged.

With digital transformation the best route to optimisation, it’s imperative that industrial organisations build in security to protect OT in an integrated world.

Most organisations have years of experience in securing their IT systems, but OT is new territory for them. Industry standards and frameworks can help to guide this necessary work, win support from the business, and target investment to where it’s needed most.

How organisations can deliver a fast and effective rollout to a cloud-based voice service.

As any good doctor will tell you, first you need to diagnose the patient before deciding on the cure. The same is true in cybersecurity: discovering your organisation’s most important assets is the first step towards understanding the risks and protecting them. But when it comes to operational technology (OT), this is easier said than done.

Organisations committed to science-based net zero targets need to minimise the impact of their digital network infrastructure as demands for data and AI grow.

For a long time, the phrase “security through obscurity” has been a kind of comfort blanket, intended to reassure anyone whose job involves protecting critical systems from risk. But that mindset needs to change that much is clear from the presentations at the recent Secure-OT23 conference, hosted by BT,.

For cloud-centric organisations, optimising the costs of compute, storage and traffic across the network and cloud platforms is becoming increasingly important.

BT continues to enhance its Contact Centre-as-a-Service (CCaaS) portfolio as we see growing demand for the best possible experience at the most important customer touchpoint for enterprises. It’s a market sector that’s expected to more than treble in value by 2030, and it’s easy to see why.

Delivering the operational flexibility that traditional networks can’t

Tighter integration between network and security is critical and needs careful planning to meeting the extra challenges that come from operating in a multi-cloud environment.

Ask most people about cybersecurity, and they might be able to tell you about email phishing scams or ransomware attacks. However, operational technology cybersecurity is less well understood because these systems have mostly been hidden from public view, often deployed in factories, manufacturing facilities or embedded into the built environment around us. In many cases, they’re custom built for a single purpose in a specific setting.