Cybersecurity is designed to protect modern networks and computers from cyberattacks, but much of the infrastructure for operational technology, or OT, is exposed to dangerous security gaps, often due to aging systems and equipment, deliberate focus on reliability, and lack of dedicated cybersecurity resources for OT. Ninety-six percent of business leaders have indicated the need to invest in OT cybersecurity, and 70% of those who have invested in it still face implementation challenges, according to a research report from McKinsey & Co.

Operational technology involves all the hardware and software systems that are used to monitor and control industrial equipment, assets, and processes which are capital-intensive assets. Much of that OT was built many years ago, if not decades ago, when security was not the same problem it is today. For example, communications protocols are highly encrypted and protected in IT systems, yet most OT systems lack those same safeguards.

Many legacy OT tools still rely on visible messages and communications because those transparent messaging systems were not vulnerable to cyber threats when they were adopted.