Only 14% of organizations feel fully prepared for emerging operational technology (OT) cybersecurity threats, highlighting a persistent divide between IT and OT teams. With manufacturing downtime costing $88,000 per hour on average, this gap has serious financial implications.
Industry experts say the biggest barrier is cultural, not technical. Cybersecurity teams speak risk and data language, while OT operators focus on safety, reliability, and uptime. Building trust requires cybersecurity professionals to understand operational priorities and demonstrate how security supports business goals rather than hindering them.
Geopolitical tensions are reshaping OT security as nation-state actors increasingly target critical infrastructure. Organizations are moving beyond basic compliance toward resilience-focused strategies that integrate cybersecurity into operational excellence rather than treating it as a separate function.
Source: Industrial Cyber