CISOs increasingly accountable for OT security
With the convergence of OT and IT environments, as well as IoT adoption accelerating, CISOs are increasingly tasked with securing these expanding attack surfaces. In 2024, 27% of organizations assigned OT security to CISOs, up from 10% in 2022. This shift aligns with the surge in attacks affecting both OT and IT, which jumped from 21% to 49% in the same period.
The challenge is growing as IoT and OT devices proliferate faster than IT assets, tripling the attack surface CISOs must secure in the coming years.
Limited visibility, minimal expertise and, siloed operations
CISOs face distinct challenges when integrating OT and IoT security into their existing security operations:
Limited Visibility – Security teams lack comprehensive OT/IoT asset inventories, making it difficult to assess their attack surface. Disparate security controls and the absence of integrated telemetry prevents unified threat correlation across OT and IT environments.
Expertise Gaps – OT teams excel in industrial processes but often lack security expertise, while IT security teams struggle to understand OT/IoT alerts, protocols, and the operational constraints inherent to OT environments. This disconnect slows security integration initiatives.
Siloed Operations – OT and IT security teams operate separately, leading to unclear roles, responsibilities, and escalation processes, even when threats are identified.
24/7 OT and IoT protection that’s part of a holistic security program
Ontinue ION for IoT Security is an add-on service to Ontinue ION MXDR that extends continuous protection to your OT and IoT environments. ION for IoT Security delivers 24x7 monitoring and investigation of OT/IoT incidents and tailored automatic escalation processes to bridge the gap between IT security and OT operations teams. The Ontinue Cyber Defense Center provides expert response recommendations while allowing your team to retain full control over response decisions and execution, minimizing the potential for business disruption. Built on Microsoft Defender for IoT, ION for IoT Security also helps maximize the value of your Microsoft security investments.
Key capabilities of Ontinue ION for IoT Security include:
Real-time asset discovery and management: ION for IoT Security enables you to maintain an up-to-date inventory of all network connected devices. By leveraging the passive network sensor of Defender for IoT, we enable you to discover unmanaged devices along with relevant details such as manufacturer, serial number, firmware, and more.
24/7 threat detection, investigation, and containment for IoT/OT environments: ION for IoT Security extends the 24/7, follow-the-sun protection of ION MXDR to your IoT/OT environments. Every incident is investigated holistically, analyzed within the broader context of your technology environment. ION for IoT Security extends the tailored incident escalation and handling processes of ION to IoT/OT incidents. With the Environment Mapping, Rules of Engagement, and Escalation Matrix, you define exactly who to involve, in which situations, and how to communicate.
Expert, real-time response recommendations: IoT/OT-enabled Cyber Defenders offer expert response recommendations, based on best-practices and practical experience. Using ION Engage, customers can get on a Microsoft Teams call with the Cyber Defense Center within minutes to get hands-on assistance when needed.
