IT & OT CONVERGENCE IN CANADIAN MANUFACTURING: BRIDGING THE SECURITY GAP WITHOUT DISRUPTING OPERATIONS

For decades, the corporate network (IT) and the plant floor network (OT) existed in separate worlds. IT prioritized confidentiality and data protection. OT prioritized uptime and physical safety. Today, that separation is gone.

The convergence of IT and OT is unlocking incredible efficiencies for Canadian manufacturers, from real-time production monitoring to predictive maintenance. But it has also erased the "air gap" that once protected our most critical industrial processes, creating a significant security challenge.

How can we secure this newly converged environment when the two sides have fundamentally different priorities?

Understanding the Core Conflict

IT Security: "Never trust, always verify." Patch systems immediately. Block suspicious traffic. An hour of downtime for a server patch is acceptable.

OT Security: "Never disrupt the process." A system reboot requires a planned shutdown. A blocked network packet could halt the production line. An hour of downtime can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

A security strategy that works for the IT world can be disastrous if applied directly to the OT environment. Blocking a port could stop a critical process; a vulnerability scan could crash a sensitive PLC.

Building the Bridge: A Unified Strategy

Successfully securing a converged environment requires a collaborative approach that respects the unique needs of both IT and OT.

Shared Governance: Create a cross-functional cybersecurity committee with representation from IT, engineering, and plant operations. This team is responsible for developing security policies that work for the entire organization, not just one department.

OT-Specific Technology: Use security tools that are designed for industrial environments. These tools use passive monitoring techniques to identify assets and detect threats without sending any active traffic that could disrupt sensitive OT devices.

Compensating Controls: You may not be able to patch a 20-year-old PLC, but you can protect it. By implementing network segmentation, you can place the PLC in a secure zone, isolating it from potential threats. This is a classic "compensating control" that reduces risk without touching the endpoint.

Unified Visibility: Deploy a single platform that provides visibility into both IT and OT assets and threats. This gives the security team the complete picture they need to understand how a threat might move from the corporate network to the plant floor.

The goal of IT/OT convergence is not for one side to impose its rules on the other. It's about building a shared security culture and implementing strategies that protect the entire business, from the email server to the assembly line.