Policy & Audit
OT cybersecurity usually breaks down for one of the two reasons: Either the rules are unclear, or the rules exist but no one can prove they are being followed. Policy and audit solve those two problems together. Effective cybersecurity in OT environments starts with enforceable policies. Policies set expectations and ownership. Audits confirm that controls exist, work in practice, and are being applied consistently across the plant.
Arista Cyber delivers Policy & Audit as a combined and tailored service for organisations that want structure, accountability, and audit readiness in OT environments. The work is aligned to recognised frameworks such as IEC 62443, NIST SP 800-82, and ISO/IEC 27001, while still being grounded in the way industrial sites actually operate.
This is not a paperwork exercise. A good policy suite should be usable by operations and engineering. A good audit should surface what is real, what is assumed, and what needs attention next.
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Policy Development & Governance
Effective OT security starts with enforceable policies that people can follow without guessing. In many environments, the biggest risks come from informal habits that grew over time: shared accounts, emergency changes without documentation, vendor access that stays open, and inconsistent practices between sites.
Policies bring order to that. They clarify who owns what, who approves what, and what evidence needs to exist when decisions are made under pressure. They also remove the "it depends" factor by standardising how security is handled across systems and teams.
Arista Cyber develops OT cybersecurity policies that are standards-aligned and written for operational practicality. The emphasis is on policies that can survive real constraints like maintenance windows, vendor dependencies, legacy platforms, and uptime requirements.
What Policy and Governance Typically Covers
A policy suite can include topics like:
- ✔ Access control and privileged access rules
- ✔ Remote access governance and vendor access expectations
- ✔ Change management and configuration control
- ✔ Logging and monitoring expectations for OT zones
- ✔ Incident response roles and escalation pathways
- ✔ Backup and recovery governance and evidence requirements
- ✔ Asset management expectations for OT systems and networks
The exact scope is shaped around your environment, not copied from a template.
Our Approach for Policy & Governance
1) Discovery focused on how work really happens
We start with a structured discovery phase: governance structure, operational workflows, and the regulatory landscape you operate in. This includes reviewing existing documents, but also understanding the unwritten processes teams rely on day to day.
This stage is where gaps usually show up, for example, change approvals that exist "on paper" but are bypassed during shutdowns, or vendor access that is treated as routine rather than controlled.
2) Draft policies that match OT constraints
Using ICS best practices and the relevant standards, we develop a suite of policy documents customised to your environment. The language is kept direct. Responsibilities are assigned clearly. Exceptions are handled explicitly rather than being left to informal workarounds.
3) Stakeholder review and adoption support
Policies fail when they are written in isolation. We validate the Policy set with OT, IT, and operational stakeholders. The goal is agreement on what is enforceable and what needs a phased rollout. We also support deployment planning, so adoption is realistic and does not stall after approval.
4) Training and handover
We provide training material and practical guidance so teams know what changes, what stays the same, and how the governance model should be applied going forward.
Benefits of Policy & Governance
- ✔ Formalised roles and accountability so decisions do not depend on individual memory
- ✔ Standardised security practices across teams, sites, and shifts
- ✔ Clear escalation and incident pathways that are understood before something happens
- ✔ Foundation for compliance with IEC, NIST, ISO, and local requirements
- ✔ Stronger alignment between IT, OT, and leadership on ownership and risk decisions
Deliverables for Policy & Governance
- ✔ Full OT cybersecurity policy suite (access control, change management, incident response, and more)
- ✔ Role-based governance and escalation matrix tailored to your organisational structure
- ✔ Mapping of policies to applicable standards and regulations (IEC 62443, NIST, ISO, and local requirements)
- ✔ Policy deployment roadmap with hands-on implementation support
- ✔ Training material for awareness and internal rollout
OT Audit & Compliance Review
OT environments must prove not only that controls exist, but that they work. A network segmentation diagram is not proof of segmentation. A policy is not proof of consistent practice. An audit ties the two together by validating technical controls and procedural controls side by side.
Arista Cyber's OT audit and compliance services examine your environment using a standards-aligned methodology, including NIST CSF, ISO 27001, and IEC 62443. We review documentation, validate controls, and assess whether practices match what the organisation claims to be doing.
This is especially valuable when preparing for regulatory scrutiny, internal governance reviews, certification efforts, or vendor assurance programs.
Our Approach for OT Audit & Compliance Review
1) Define scope and audit intent
We clarify what the audit needs to accomplish—whether compliance readiness or operational risk reduction—and set the scope so teams know exactly what will be reviewed and why.
2) Documentation review with OT context
We review the policy set, procedures, and evidence records with a focus on completeness and consistency. Documentation that exists but is not applied in practice results in a finding, not a pass.
3) Technical validation of controls
We validate key controls in your OT environment—such as segmentation, access practices, patch governance, and monitoring coverage—to confirm what is working and where gaps exist.
4) Findings with prioritisation tailored to OT
Findings are documented with severity, prioritisation, and operational implications. Critical gaps that impact safety or availability are clearly distinguished from minor issues in already isolated systems.
5) Remediation roadmap and executive-level summary
The output covers a practical remediation roadmap and an executive summary, so leadership can act on it without needing a technical deep dive.
Benefits of OT Audit & Compliance Review
- ✔ Independent validation of OT cybersecurity posture
- ✔ Audit-ready reporting for regulators and internal stakeholders
- ✔ Visibility into procedural breakdowns and technical misconfigurations
- ✔ Gap analysis against required standards and frameworks
- ✔ Support for certification and assurance efforts, including vendor programs
Deliverables for OT Audit & Compliance Review
- ✔ Audit report including scope, methodology, findings, and risk levels
- ✔ Compliance gap analysis against internal policy and external standards
- ✔ Technical control effectiveness validation—for example, segmentation, access controls, patch governance
- ✔ Operational review of procedures and staff alignment
- ✔ Executive summary with leadership-facing risk positioning
- ✔ Remediation roadmap with prioritised actions
Why Policy and Audit Belong Together
Policies set the rules and define ownership. Audits verify that the rules are being followed and that controls work in practice. When combined, you have a governance program that can be maintained, measured, and improved—rather than a one-off effort that fades after documentation is produced.
Ready to Improve OT Governance and Audit Readiness?
If you want OT security that is clear, enforceable, and defensible, Policy & Audit is the right starting point. Arista Cyber can help you establish governance that fits your operational reality and validate controls in a way that provides both engineering teams and leadership with confidence—knowing what is working and what needs attention next.
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