Leading Vendors for Securing OT and Industrial Control Systems in 2026

According to the SANS 2025 State of ICS/OT Security Survey, 22% of organizations experienced a cybersecurity incident affecting their ICS or OT systems in the past year. Forty percent of those incidents caused operational disruption. Meanwhile, Dragos reports 708 ransomware incidents hitting industrial entities in Q1 2025 alone, with manufacturing absorbing 68% of them. Dragos estimate OT cyber incidents put $329.5 billion per year at risk globally, and $172.4 billion of that comes from business interruption.

If you're a CISO, security architect, or IT leader at a manufacturing, healthcare, or industrial organization, you can't treat OT security as a someday project. This guide profiles seven vendors producing documented outcomes at enterprises with thousands of connected devices, and shows how they fit together in a layered security architecture.

How We Evaluated These OT Security Vendors

Picking the right combination of OT security vendors means looking past marketing claims and testing capabilities against real-world industrial requirements. We focused on what matters most to CISOs, security architects, and network leaders protecting critical infrastructure at scale.

Asset Discovery and Visibility comes first. You can't protect what you can't see. We researched how each vendor discovers, classifies, and maintains visibility across managed and unmanaged IT, IoT, OT, and IoMT assets, including legacy devices running proprietary protocols that traditional IT security tools miss entirely.

Microsegmentation and Access Control addresses lateral movement, a tactic used in 70% of successful breaches. We evaluated whether vendors could enforce granular, identity-based policies without requiring new hardware, agents, or complex VLAN restructuring.

Threat Detection and Response covers each vendor's ability to spot anomalies, known threat patterns, and suspicious behaviors within OT networks, including integration with broader security operations workflows.

Compliance Alignment matters more than ever. Regulations including IEC 62443, NERC CIP, NIST SP 800-82, NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0, HIPAA, and CMMC all increasingly require or strongly recommend network segmentation as a foundational control. We researched how directly each vendor supports these standards.

IT/OT Convergence Support gauges how well vendors handle environments where traditional IT networks intersect with operational technology. Claroty research shows that 55% of OT environments now contain four or more remote access tools, significantly expanding the attack surface.

We also evaluated deployment model and speed (can you deploy without shutting down production?), integration ecosystem (does the solution work with your existing stack?), and analyst and peer recognition (what do Gartner, Forrester, and verified customer reviews say?).

Leading OT and ICS Security Vendors in 2026

Elisity: Identity-Based Microsegmentation and Non-Disruptive OT Segmentation

Overview

Elisity takes a different approach to OT security. Rather than layering additional hardware, agents, or complex firewall rules onto already fragile OT environments, Elisity delivers identity-based microsegmentation using your existing network switching infrastructure from Cisco, Juniper, Arista, and Hirschmann. Because it's software-only, organizations can achieve microsegmentation across all users, workloads, and devices in weeks, not the years that legacy segmentation projects typically require.

Elisity was designed around a problem industrial and healthcare teams know well: thousands of diverse, unmanaged, and ephemeral devices that can't accept agents, can't tolerate downtime, and can't be easily re-architected into new VLAN structures. Legacy segmentation has historically failed these environments because of complexity, cost, and operational disruption. Elisity has delivered proven results at organizations including GSK, Main Line Health, Shaw Industries, and Andelyn Biosciences.

Key Capabilities

Elisity's microsegmentation platform has four integrated components that work together to discover, control, and manage security policies across enterprise networks.

Elisity IdentityGraph™ creates a real-time, correlated view of every user, workload, and device on the network, along with their metadata and relationships. By ingesting data from your existing network infrastructure and integrating with 25+ platforms (Claroty, Armis, Nozomi Networks, CrowdStrike, ServiceNow, and others), Elisity IdentityGraph™ builds a continuously enriched identity for every asset. Unlike basic IP-based discovery, Elisity IdentityGraph™ correlates identity, configuration, risk scores, and behavioral data so security teams can create and enforce policies with confidence. Customers consistently report 99% discovery and visibility of all users, workloads, and devices, even unmanaged and ephemeral IoT, OT, and IoMT assets.

Elisity Cloud Control Center provides centralized visibility, policy configuration, simulation, and analytics. AI and machine learning adapt to network changes and deliver visualizations of networks, zones, and devices with their relationships across locations. For large enterprises managing tens of thousands of devices across multiple sites, Elisity Cloud Control Center lets teams manage policies globally while maintaining granularity down to individual devices.

Elisity Virtual Edge translates identity mappings and policies to your network infrastructure. Policies normalize across multiple network infrastructure vendors and multiple sites, which is essential for organizations running heterogeneous network environments. Elisity Virtual Edge Node deploys onto your existing switches, turning your network infrastructure into the enforcement point rather than requiring additional inline appliances or overlay networks.

Elisity Dynamic Policy Engine enables optional dynamic, context-aware policies based on the rich identity information from Elisity IdentityGraph™. Policies can optionally automatically adapt based on risk scores, identity changes, or threat intelligence from integrated security tools, maintaining granular control over network access for every device, wherever and whenever it appears on the network.

Deployment and Operational Impact

Where Elisity really stands apart in OT environments is deployment speed. A typical implementation follows a straightforward timeline: roughly two weeks for planning and training, two days to deploy and configure Elisity Virtual Edge and establish a first policy, and one week or more for policy strategy, simulation, and rollout of the first policies. Compare that to legacy segmentation projects that routinely span years and require dozens of specialized administrators.

As Michael Elmore, CISO, stated about Elisity's deployment at GSK: the deployment was "nothing short of revolutionary, making every other solution pale in comparison." GSK achieved a 75% reduction in total cost of ownership, accelerating deployment from one year per site down to three to four sites per week. Andelyn Biosciences implemented over 2,700 microsegmentation policies within weeks, and Main Line Health discovered 99% of medical devices within four hours and achieved a 76% total cost of ownership reduction, bringing planned implementation costs from $38 million down to $9 million.

Elisity deploys without network downtime and without requiring re-IP projects, new VLANs, additional ACLs, or NAC solutions. In OT environments where production uptime isn't negotiable, that matters.

Compliance Coverage

Elisity directly supports compliance with IEC 62443 by creating zones and conduits via identity-based microsegmentation, without production disruption. Elisity also accelerates compliance with HIPAA, NIST SP 800-82, NIST CSF 2.0, CMMC, and emerging standards like CISA's updated Cross-Sector Cybersecurity Performance Goals (CPGs 2.0), which emphasize network segmentation, zero-trust principles, and lateral movement mitigation. Push-button compliance reporting and audit logging make compliance audits faster and more confident.

Analyst and Peer Recognition

Elisity was named a Strong Performer in The Forrester Wave™: Microsegmentation Solutions, Q3 2024. On Gartner Peer Insights, Elisity Identity-Based Microsegmentation holds a 5.0 out of 5.0 rating.

Well-Suited For

Elisity is a strong fit for manufacturing, pharmaceutical, healthcare, and industrial organizations that need microsegmentation fast, without disrupting production or spending heavily on new network hardware. Organizations with 3,000+ connected devices that haven't been able to finish legacy segmentation or NAC projects, or those needing to accelerate IEC 62443, HIPAA, or CMMC compliance through network-level controls, will find Elisity's approach practical and proven. If you've been burned by a previous segmentation failure, or shelved segmentation because of its historical complexity, Elisity offers a realistic path forward.

Complementary Solutions

Elisity's core strength is microsegmentation and policy enforcement. Organizations that also need passive OT threat monitoring, deep protocol inspection, or vulnerability management can integrate Elisity directly with specialized OT platforms like Claroty, Nozomi Networks, Dragos, Armis, CrowdStrike, Tenable and others. Asset intelligence and threat context from those partner platforms enrich Elisity's identity-based policy engine, creating a discover-and-protect architecture. Many Elisity customers deploy the platform alongside one or two of these complementary solutions.

Dragos: OT Threat Intelligence and Industrial Incident Response

Overview

Dragos has built its reputation on deep OT threat intelligence and industrial incident response. Founded by former NSA and U.S. Cyber Command professionals, Dragos focuses exclusively on protecting industrial infrastructure, making it one of the most trusted names in OT-specific threat detection. Dragos Platform provides asset visibility, threat detection, and vulnerability management built specifically for ICS/SCADA environments.

Key Capabilities

Dragos Platform delivers OT asset identification, threat detection through behavioral analytics, and vulnerability management tailored to industrial protocols and environments. What truly distinguishes Dragos is its threat intelligence practice: the company tracks 119 ransomware groups targeting industrial organizations (up from 80 in 2024) and publishes the industry's most widely cited industrial ransomware analysis reports. Their Q1 2025 analysis documented 708 ransomware incidents impacting industrial entities globally, with manufacturing absorbing 68% of those attacks.

Dragos also maintains a dedicated incident response team that has handled some of the most significant OT security incidents worldwide. Their 2026 OT Cybersecurity Year in Review found that 30% of incident response cases began with operational staff reporting abnormal behavior before security teams detected the intrusion, underscoring why OT-specific detection capabilities matter.

Compliance Coverage

Dragos provides educational and technical resources for ISA/IEC 62443 implementation and supports NERC CIP compliance monitoring through its platform.

Analyst and Peer Recognition

Dragos was named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for CPS Protection Platforms. Dragos Platform holds a 4.5 out of 5.0 rating on Gartner Peer Insights based on 104 ratings.

Well-Suited For

Organizations that need deep OT threat intelligence, dedicated industrial incident response, and specialized visibility into ICS-specific threats. Dragos is particularly strong for critical infrastructure operators in energy, utilities, and manufacturing that require purpose-built OT detection capabilities.

Complementary Solutions

Dragos's primary strength is threat detection, intelligence, and incident response. Organizations wanting to add granular microsegmentation and access policy enforcement to their Dragos deployment can layer in a platform like Elisity, which enforces identity-based policies at the network level to contain the threats Dragos identifies.

Claroty: OT/CPS Platform Breadth and Asset Discovery

Overview

Claroty provides a cyber-physical systems (CPS) protection platform spanning OT, IoT, IoMT, and extended IoT (XIoT) environments. Claroty has built one of the largest footprints in the CPS security market, working with 20% of the Fortune 100 and surpassing $100 million in annual recurring revenue during 2023, with 300%+ customer growth since 2020.

Key Capabilities

Claroty's platform includes two primary deployment models: xDome (cloud-native SaaS) and CTD (Continuous Threat Detection, on-premises). Together, they provide deep asset discovery and profiling, network segmentation recommendations, threat detection, and vulnerability management. Claroty's research team, Team82, has discovered and disclosed 550+ CPS vulnerabilities, contributing significantly to the industry's understanding of OT threats.

Claroty's research has also produced impactful findings for the broader community, including the widely cited statistic that 55% of OT environments contain four or more remote access tools, greatly expanding the attack surface and operational complexity of securing those environments.

Claroty recently secured $150 million in Series F funding, a sign of strong market momentum.

Compliance Coverage

Claroty publishes dedicated compliance resources for ISA/IEC 62443 and NERC CIP, supporting both security posture improvement and regulatory requirements across multiple standards.

Analyst and Peer Recognition

Claroty was named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for CPS Protection Platforms, positioned highest for Ability to Execute and furthest for Completeness of Vision among 17 evaluated vendors. Claroty also received the highest scores in three of four use cases in the 2025 Gartner Critical Capabilities for CPS Protection Platforms report. Claroty Platform holds a 4.8 out of 5.0 rating on Gartner Peer Insights based on 302 ratings.

Well-Suited For

Large enterprises looking for a CPS protection platform with strong asset discovery, segmentation recommendations, and top analyst scores across multiple evaluation criteria. Claroty fits well in healthcare (IoMT), manufacturing, and critical infrastructure environments with complex, multi-site footprints.

Complementary Solutions

Claroty excels at visibility, asset profiling, and threat detection across the CPS landscape. For organizations that also want to enforce granular, identity-based microsegmentation policies at the network switch level, Claroty pairs naturally with Elisity. Both platforms integrate directly, so Claroty's rich asset intelligence feeds into Elisity's policy engine for a discover-and-protect workflow. This combination is common among organizations that want both deep OT asset visibility and active microsegmentation enforcement.

Nozomi Networks: Large-Scale OT/IoT Visibility and AI-Powered Threat Detection

Overview

Nozomi Networks is one of the most widely deployed OT/IoT security platforms in the world, protecting 115 million industrial and IoT assets across 12,000+ installations. Nozomi has built a strong reputation for scalability, AI-powered analytics, and exceptional customer satisfaction.

Key Capabilities

Nozomi Networks provides real-time OT and IoT asset inventory, network visualization, vulnerability assessment, and AI-powered anomaly detection. Vantage, the SaaS option, enables cloud-delivered OT security for organizations with distributed operational environments, while on-premises sensor deployments support air-gapped and high-security environments.

Nozomi's investment in AI and machine learning for threat detection makes it particularly strong at catching new attack patterns in industrial networks, an increasingly important capability as adversaries develop techniques specifically targeting OT protocols and systems.

Compliance Coverage

Nozomi Networks supports ISA/IEC 62443 and NERC CIP compliance through its monitoring, visibility, and reporting capabilities.

Analyst and Peer Recognition

Nozomi Networks was named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for CPS Protection Platforms and a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: IoT Security Solutions, Q3 2025, receiving the highest score in the "Current Offering" category. On Gartner Peer Insights, Nozomi Networks Platform holds a 4.9 out of 5.0 rating based on 247 ratings, with 98% of reviewers recommending the platform. Nozomi reports 96% customer retention and monthly NPS scores in the 90s.

Well-Suited For

Organizations with large-scale OT/IoT deployments that need asset visibility, AI-powered threat detection, and flexible deployment options (cloud or on-premises). Nozomi Networks is particularly strong for enterprises prioritizing detection and monitoring across expansive industrial environments.

Complementary Solutions

Nozomi Networks excels at OT visibility and threat detection. Organizations that want to pair Nozomi's visibility with active segmentation controls can integrate with Elisity to create a discover, detect, and segment architecture. Security teams get both Nozomi's monitoring depth and Elisity's identity-based microsegmentation enforcement.

Armis: Agentless Asset Intelligence Across IT, OT, and IoMT

Overview

Armis has built the largest asset intelligence knowledge base in the industry, covering over 6 billion assets across roughly 20% of devices connected to global networks, with insights from 25,000 locations across 17 industries. Armis Centrix delivers agentless asset visibility, security, and exposure management across IT, OT, IoT, and IoMT environments.

Key Capabilities

Armis Centrix for OT/IoT Security sees, protects, manages, and optimizes all OT, IoT, and ICS assets. Armis Asset Intelligence Engine identifies devices, assesses their risk posture, and detects behavioral anomalies without requiring agents, network changes, or additional hardware. Armis's strength lies in that massive device knowledge base, which enables exceptionally accurate device identification and classification across diverse industrial environments.

Armis also provides exposure management capabilities, helping organizations prioritize vulnerabilities based on risk context rather than raw severity scores. Security teams managing thousands of heterogeneous OT assets increasingly value this approach.

Analyst and Peer Recognition

Armis was named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for CPS Protection Platforms. Armis Centrix holds a 4.6 out of 5.0 rating on Gartner Peer Insights based on 262 ratings.

Well-Suited For

Organizations seeking agentless asset intelligence and exposure management across large, heterogeneous environments spanning IT, OT, and IoMT. Armis fits particularly well in healthcare organizations managing complex medical device environments and manufacturers with diverse connected device fleets.

Complementary Solutions

Armis provides powerful asset visibility and risk assessment. Organizations looking to combine Armis's asset intelligence with identity-based microsegmentation can integrate directly with Elisity, so that rich device context from Armis Asset Intelligence Engine informs granular segmentation policies enforced on your existing network infrastructure. Many organizations run both platforms together: Armis for asset awareness, Elisity for active policy enforcement.

Tenable: OT Vulnerability Management and Compliance-Driven Monitoring

Overview

Tenable, widely known for vulnerability management, extends those capabilities to OT environments through Tenable OT Security. Positioned as a unified solution for converged OT/IT environments, Tenable OT Security safeguards industrial control systems without disrupting operations. Tenable reported $999.4 million in revenue in FY2025, up 11% year-over-year, adding 502 new enterprise platform customers.

Key Capabilities

Tenable OT Security provides asset discovery across known and unknown devices, vulnerability assessment tailored to OT environments, threat detection and mitigation, and configuration control monitoring. Both passive monitoring and active querying architectures are available, letting organizations balance visibility with the sensitivity of industrial networks.

Tenable's strength lies in connecting OT vulnerability data with its broader exposure management platform, giving security teams a unified view of risk across both IT and OT environments. That converged visibility becomes increasingly important as IT/OT boundaries dissolve in modern manufacturing and critical infrastructure.

Compliance Coverage

Tenable provides dedicated NERC CIP compliance support and references ISA/IEC 62443 among the standards its OT Security platform supports.

Analyst and Peer Recognition

Tenable OT Security holds a 4.9 out of 5.0 rating on Gartner Peer Insights based on 37 ratings in the CPS Protection Platforms category.

Well-Suited For

Organizations already using Tenable for IT vulnerability management that want to extend that expertise into OT environments. Tenable OT Security fits well for energy, utilities, and manufacturing organizations with strong compliance drivers around NERC CIP and IEC 62443.

Complementary Solutions

Tenable's core strength is vulnerability management and compliance monitoring. Organizations that want to add microsegmentation enforcement alongside Tenable's vulnerability insights can pair Tenable OT Security with Elisity. Both platforms integrate, so vulnerability context from Tenable enriches Elisity's microsegmentation policy decisions and segmentation policies can adapt based on the risk posture of individual assets.

Palo Alto Networks: Enterprise-Scale OT Security Within a Broader Security Platform

Overview

Palo Alto Networks brings its enterprise security platform capabilities to OT environments, leveraging its broad security portfolio for OT visibility, threat prevention, and network security. For large enterprises already standardized on Palo Alto Networks for IT security, extending those capabilities into OT environments can offer operational efficiencies and a unified security architecture.

Key Capabilities

Palo Alto Networks' approach to OT security uses its next-generation firewalls, Prisma Access, and Cortex platforms to extend protection into industrial environments. OT-specific threat signatures, application identification for industrial protocols, and integration with its broader zero-trust network architecture round out the offering. Industrial OT Security provides asset discovery, risk assessment, and threat prevention tailored to industrial environments.

Palo Alto's global threat intelligence network feeds OT-specific signatures into the platform, providing broad coverage of known threat actors and attack techniques targeting industrial systems.

Compliance Coverage

Palo Alto Networks supports compliance with major industrial standards including IEC 62443, NERC CIP, and NIST CSF through its network security and zero-trust capabilities. Firewall-based segmentation enforces zone-based access controls aligned with IEC 62443 zone and conduit models.

Well-Suited For

Large enterprises already invested in the Palo Alto Networks ecosystem that want to extend their existing security architecture into OT environments. Works well for organizations with dedicated network security teams experienced in managing Palo Alto infrastructure.

Complementary Solutions

Palo Alto Networks' approach relies on firewall-based enforcement, which can be complex to deploy in brownfield OT environments where adding inline hardware or modifying network architecture may impact production systems. Organizations looking for software-only, non-disruptive microsegmentation that complements Palo Alto's perimeter and zone-based controls can add Elisity to enforce identity-based policies on existing network switches, covering east-west traffic and unmanaged device segments that traditional firewall architectures may not reach.

What to Look for When Choosing an OT Security Vendor

A few factors consistently separate successful OT security deployments from stalled projects. Here's what CISOs and security architects tell us matters most.

OT-Specific Expertise vs. IT Bolt-Ons

Ask any vendor whether their solution was designed for OT environments or adapted from IT security tools. OT networks contain devices running legacy protocols like Modbus, DNP3, EtherNet/IP, and PROFINET that behave fundamentally differently from IT assets. Vendors that treat OT as just another endpoint category often fail to account for the sensitivity of industrial devices to active scanning, the criticality of uptime, and the unique communication patterns of SCADA and DCS systems. Look for vendors that understand the protocols, workflows, and risk tolerances specific to your industry.

Non-Disruptive Deployment

Any security solution that requires network downtime, re-IP projects, new VLAN structures, or agents installed on sensitive OT devices introduces risk to production operations. Successful OT security deployments use existing infrastructure and operate passively or through software-only approaches that can go live without change control delays or production interruptions. As the Elisity Microsegmentation Buyer's Guide emphasizes, your microsegmentation architecture must align with existing infrastructure and scale across hybrid environments without performance impacts on applications and network traffic.

Microsegmentation as a Foundational Control

Network segmentation is increasingly recognized as one of the most effective controls for limiting breach blast radius in OT environments. CISA's updated Cross-Sector Cybersecurity Performance Goals (CPGs 2.0), released in December 2025, emphasize network segmentation, zero-trust principles, and lateral movement mitigation as core security objectives. IEC 62443 centers its security architecture on zones and conduits. HIPAA has elevated network segmentation to mandatory status in recent updates. Evaluate vendors on their ability to deliver meaningful microsegmentation: not just broad network zones, but granular, identity-based policies that follow devices wherever they appear on the network.

Compliance Alignment

With the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act (CIRCIA) taking full effect in May 2026 with 72-hour reporting windows, and IEC 62443 becoming the standard for manufacturing cybersecurity globally, compliance drives vendor selection. Your OT security vendor should directly accelerate compliance with the standards relevant to your industry. Push-button compliance reporting and automated audit logging can dramatically cut the time and cost of audits.

Integration Ecosystem

No single vendor covers every aspect of OT security. Strong platforms integrate with your existing technology stack: identity providers, CMDB and asset management tools, EDR platforms, SIEM/SOAR systems, and specialized OT security tools. Evaluate the breadth and depth of a vendor's integration ecosystem and make sure it covers the tools you already rely on. Elisity, for example, integrates with 50+ platforms across the security ecosystem, letting organizations build layered defenses without ripping and replacing existing investments.

How OT Security Differs from IT Security

For security leaders whose backgrounds are primarily in IT, a few fundamental differences drive every OT vendor decision.

Safety vs. Confidentiality Priorities

In IT security, the CIA triad typically prioritizes confidentiality. OT inverts that order. Availability and safety come first because disrupting an industrial control system can cause physical harm to workers, environmental damage, or loss of critical services like healthcare delivery, millions in lost profits or power generation. Any OT security solution must respect this priority: security controls can't introduce latency, downtime, or unpredictable behavior in production systems.

Legacy Systems and Extended Lifecycles

While IT assets are typically refreshed every three to five years, OT devices like PLCs, HMIs, RTUs, and SCADA servers may stay in production for 15 to 25 years or longer. Many run operating systems and firmware that no longer receive patches. They often lack the computational resources to run security agents and may communicate using proprietary protocols that standard IT security tools can't inspect. OT security solutions must protect these legacy assets without modifying them.

Proprietary Protocols and Communication Patterns

OT networks rely on industrial protocols like Modbus, DNP3, BACnet, EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, and OPC UA. These protocols were designed for reliability and real-time performance, not security. Many lack authentication, encryption, or integrity checks. OT security vendors need to understand these protocol behaviors to distinguish between legitimate operational traffic and potential threats.

Uptime Requirements

Manufacturing plants, hospitals, water treatment facilities, and energy infrastructure often operate 24/7/365 with extremely limited maintenance windows. Unlike IT environments where patching and rebooting can be scheduled during off-hours, OT environments may have planned downtime only once or twice per year. Non-disruptive deployment and operation isn't a nice-to-have; it's a requirement. Solutions that need inline hardware installation, network reconfiguration, or any form of traffic disruption during deployment are often impractical in these environments.

Key OT Security Threats in 2026

OT threats are getting worse, and they're getting more specific.

State-Sponsored Activity Targeting Industrial Systems

Nation-state actors continue targeting industrial infrastructure as a strategic objective. Dragos's 2026 OT Cybersecurity Year in Review reported that state-sponsored groups are increasingly developing capabilities designed to disrupt industrial processes, moving beyond reconnaissance and positioning into active operational preparation. Proactive segmentation and access control limit what adversaries can reach even after gaining initial access to an OT network.

Ransomware Continues to Devastate Manufacturing

Ransomware remains the most visible and disruptive threat to industrial organizations. Dragos tracked 119 ransomware groups targeting industrial organizations in 2025, up from 80 in 2024, with over 3,300 industrial organizations impacted. In Q1 2025 alone, 708 ransomware incidents struck industrial entities, with manufacturing absorbing 68% (480 incidents). Manufacturing breaches now average over $5 million per incident. Healthcare breaches average $7.42 million, the highest across all industries for the 14th consecutive year.

IT/OT Convergence Enables Lateral Movement

As IT and OT networks become increasingly interconnected, attackers exploit IT-side compromises to move laterally into OT environments. SANS's 2025 survey found that among organizations reporting OT incidents, 50% were attributed to unauthorized external access and 38% to ransomware. Microsegmentation between IT and OT zones is one of the most critical controls an organization can implement. Solutions like Elisity that enforce identity-based policies across both IT and OT assets on the same network infrastructure address this convergence challenge directly.

Supply Chain and Third-Party Access Risks

Industrial organizations increasingly depend on third-party vendors, integrators, and OEMs who require remote access to OT systems for maintenance and support. With 55% of OT environments containing four or more remote access tools according to Claroty research, the attack surface from uncontrolled third-party access is significant. Microsegmentation and least-privilege access enforcement mean that even if a third-party credential gets compromised, the attacker's ability to move laterally is severely constrained.

Regulatory Compliance Requirements for OT Security

Regulators aren't slowing down. Here's how microsegmentation and other security controls map to the standards that matter.

IEC 62443: Industrial Cybersecurity Standard

IEC 62443 has become the global standard for industrial cybersecurity, with adoption accelerating across manufacturing, energy, and critical infrastructure. Its security architecture centers on zones (groups of assets with common security requirements) and conduits (controlled communication paths between zones). Network segmentation is foundational to IEC 62443 compliance, and the standard defines security levels (SL1 through SL4) that require progressively more granular access controls.

Identity-based microsegmentation directly supports IEC 62443 by creating logical zones and conduits through policy rather than physical network reconfiguration. Organizations can implement and demonstrate compliance with IEC 62443-3-2 (security risk assessment) and IEC 62443-3-3 (system security requirements) without multi-year timelines typically tied to physical network redesigns. Elisity positions its platform specifically around achieving IEC 62443 compliance without production disruption.

NERC CIP

For energy and utility organizations, NERC Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) standards require network segmentation, access controls, and continuous monitoring of critical cyber assets. Platforms like Tenable OT Security, Claroty, and Nozomi Networks directly support NERC CIP compliance through their monitoring and reporting capabilities.

NIST SP 800-82 and NIST CSF 2.0

NIST Special Publication 800-82 provides the definitive guide to ICS security and strongly recommends network segmentation as a core control. NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0, along with CISA's Cross-Sector Cybersecurity Performance Goals (CPGs 2.0) released in December 2025, emphasizes network segmentation, zero-trust principles, and lateral movement mitigation as essential cybersecurity objectives. Microsegmentation maps directly to the "Protect" function of the CSF and is increasingly called out in the "Detect" and "Respond" functions as a critical enabler of containment.

CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification)

For organizations in the defense industrial base, CMMC compliance requires demonstrable network segmentation and access controls to protect Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). Identity-based microsegmentation provides the granularity needed to isolate CUI-handling systems and demonstrate compliance during third-party assessments.

HIPAA and HHS 405(d)

Healthcare organizations face specific requirements under HIPAA for protecting electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI). Recent HIPAA updates have elevated network segmentation to mandatory status, and the HHS 405(d) program specifically recommends microsegmentation for protecting clinical environments with connected medical devices. Elisity's deployment at healthcare organizations like Main Line Health, demonstrates how identity-based microsegmentation applies to healthcare compliance.

CIRCIA (Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act)

Taking full effect in May 2026, CIRCIA requires critical infrastructure organizations to report significant cyber incidents within 72 hours. Organizations that have implemented microsegmentation benefit from enhanced logging, faster incident containment, and clearer forensic data, all of which support timely and accurate incident reporting.

Frequently Asked Questions About OT and ICS Security

Which OT security vendors should manufacturing organizations consider?

Start with your primary security objective. If your top priority is microsegmentation to prevent lateral movement and ransomware spread without disrupting production, Elisity provides identity-based microsegmentation that deploys in weeks using your existing network switching infrastructure. For OT-specific threat intelligence and incident response, Dragos provides deep industrial threat detection. Claroty and Nozomi Networks are both widely deployed in manufacturing for asset visibility and monitoring. Many manufacturing organizations run complementary solutions together: Elisity's microsegmentation paired with Claroty or Nozomi Networks' asset visibility and threat detection, for example.

How should I evaluate OT security vendors for IEC 62443 compliance?

Focus on the standard's core concept of zones and conduits. Can the vendor create logical security zones without requiring physical network redesign? Can it enforce controlled communication paths between zones through granular policies? Does it support the security level (SL) appropriate to your environment? Can it provide the audit logging and reporting needed to demonstrate compliance? Elisity supports IEC 62443 compliance through identity-based microsegmentation that creates zones and conduits via policy, without production disruption.

What is microsegmentation and why does it matter for OT security?

Microsegmentation divides a network into isolated segments at a granular level, controlling communication between individual devices, workloads, and users based on identity and policy rather than network location alone. In OT environments, microsegmentation is critical because it prevents lateral movement (used in 70% of successful breaches), where an attacker moves from a compromised device to reach more valuable targets. By containing threats to the smallest possible blast radius, microsegmentation protects production systems even when a breach occurs elsewhere on the network. Modern approaches like identity-based microsegmentation can protect unmanaged OT devices without requiring agents, new hardware, or network downtime.

Can OT security solutions be deployed without causing production downtime?

Yes, but it depends entirely on the vendor and architecture. Solutions that require inline hardware installation, new VLANs, re-IP projects, or agents on OT devices will likely require planned downtime and change control coordination. Software-only approaches, like Elisity's identity-based microsegmentation that uses existing network switching infrastructure, can deploy without production downtime or network disruption. Passive monitoring platforms from vendors like Nozomi Networks and Dragos can also deploy with minimal operational impact, as they typically connect through SPAN ports or network taps rather than being inserted inline.

How does OT security differ from IT security?

OT security protects physical processes, industrial equipment, and operational infrastructure, while IT security protects data, applications, and computing resources. Key differences include priorities (safety and availability vs. confidentiality), asset lifecycles (OT devices may operate for 15 to 25+ years vs. three to five years for IT), protocols (industrial protocols like Modbus and DNP3 vs. IP/TCP-based protocols), and risk tolerance for downtime (OT can't tolerate unplanned disruption). OT security solutions must respect these differences by operating non-disruptively, supporting legacy devices, and understanding industrial communication patterns.

How much do OT security platforms typically cost?

Costs vary significantly based on scope, deployment model, and organizational size. Enterprise OT visibility and threat detection platforms typically range from six figures to mid-seven figures annually for large deployments. Microsegmentation solutions vary based on device and site count. One of the most important cost considerations is total cost of ownership, including deployment labor, ongoing management, and the opportunity cost of lengthy implementation timelines. Elisity customers have reported 76% reductions in total cost of ownership compared to legacy segmentation approaches, with one organization bringing planned implementation costs from $38 million down to $9 million. Traditional IEC 62443 compliance implementation can cost $3 million to $8 million over 18 to 36 months, making efficient microsegmentation platforms an increasingly attractive alternative.

What Comes Next

Effective OT security in 2026 requires layers: asset visibility, threat detection, and proactive access controls through microsegmentation. No single vendor covers everything, and the most effective programs run two or three complementary solutions working together.

For organizations ready to implement microsegmentation across OT environments without the risk, cost, and multi-year timelines of legacy approaches, Elisity's identity-based microsegmentation delivers proven results in weeks using your existing network infrastructure. Pair it with specialized OT monitoring and threat intelligence from Dragos, Claroty, Nozomi Networks, Armis, or Tenable, and you've got a layered architecture that protects critical infrastructure while keeping operations running.

Organizations that start with visibility and microsegmentation tend to build momentum faster than those waiting for a perfect plan. Start there.

Ready to see how Elisity can protect your OT environment? Book a demo to learn how identity-based microsegmentation can deploy across your manufacturing, healthcare, or industrial facilities in weeks, without downtime and without new hardware.

Related Resources from Elisity

• Elisity IEC 62443 Segmentation Solution Brief
• How Andelyn Biosciences Accelerated Zero Trust in Weeks, Not Years
• Elisity Industrial Security Solutions
• Elisity Network Visibility and Microsegmentation
• Microsegmentation Buyer's Guide and Checklist