Most cyber security advice was written for IT environments. If you work in operational technology, you’ve probably noticed.
The recommendations are familiar: patch regularly, segment your networks, deploy endpoint detection, enforce least-privilege access. Sound advice in an IT context. But try applying it to a manufacturing floor running 20-year-old PLCs, a continuous production line that can’t tolerate a maintenance window, or a SCADA system built on proprietary protocols that no modern security tool can parse, and the gap between theory and operational reality becomes immediately clear.
The problem isn’t a lack of effort. It’s that the standard cyber security playbook doesn’t fit OT environments, and applying it without understanding the operational context can create more risk than it removes.