I’ve sat through a lot of OT security presentations. They all follow the same script: scary stats about industrial attacks, architectural diagrams with boxes and arrows, maybe a polished demo video if we’re lucky. Then someone asks “But how does this actually work in our factory?” The whole thing falls apart.
The problem isn’t the technology. We’re trying to explain physical, industrial systems with PowerPoint.
OT environments are fundamentally different from IT. When a PLC loses connectivity, motors stop. When an HMI gets compromised, production lines shut down. When emergency stops activate, everything better respond in milliseconds, not minutes. These aren’t abstract network concepts you can wave away with diagrams.