IT-OT Cooperation In A Post-Air-Gap Era

Operational technology (OT) environments have historically been isolated from IT environments with limited interconnectivity, primarily to maintain safe operational performance for OT networks without exposing them to IT threats from the internet. Whether improving overall business performance and speed to market or adopting newer OT solutions that request connectivity to IT systems or the internet, like digital twins, the gap between these networks is closing. This will require IT and OT security operations teams to collaborate to guarantee data privacy and operational integrity. This report examines differences between these teams, identifies challenges in bringing them together, and provides guidance to security leaders on how to improve this collaboration to benefit the business.