As Operational Technology (OT) becomes more connected and networked to IT environments, cyber criminals are increasingly gaining access to and control of industrial infrastructure. The risk of production shutdowns, safety incidents, process disturbance, and other service disruptions is growing.

An OT cyber security programme safeguards critical infrastructure, prevents downtime, ensures safety, protects intellectual property, ensures regulatory compliance, and defends against evolving cyber threats.

To support you in setting up a successful cyber security programme for your organization, we share our OT cyber security programme series, published by Applied Risk, a DNV company. In four publications, we walk you through the important stages to implement a sustainable OT security programme – from the first idea and planning phase, to design, implementation, and long-term maintenance.

1. Foundations for a sustainable OT security programme
The early phases of an OT security programme involve creating an aspirational plan, which provides a solid foundation for the organisation to understand its operational landscape, the risks it faces, and how it can best respond to and prevent significant damage or disruption from an attack. Read this paper to learn about fundamental goal setting for your OT security programme.

2. Designing a framework for a successful OT security programme
In the design phase of implementing a robust OT cyber security programme, there are multiple key tasks involved to set a framework. In this paper, we summarize these tasks step-by-step covering people, processes, and technologies.

3. Smart implementation of an OT security programme
The implementation phase of a new OT security programme should follow an execution strategy that ensures critical operations, systems, and processes are not delayed or disrupted. In this paper, we describe the important steps when shifting from OT programme planning and design to deployment.

4. Maximising the long-term impact of your OT security journey
Following the successful implementation of an OT security programme, organizations need to pivot from the initial implementation phase to a continuous improvement model during the run and maintain phase. Read this paper to learn how a successful programme embeds OT security practices and culture into daily practice, and how a continued improvement model enables organizations to respond to new threats or risks.