OT / ICS · 138 days ago
OT zero trust is no longer a theory exercise. The new guidance treats visibility, identity, segmentation, and supply-chain control as the minimum for environments that cannot absorb downtime or unsafe change. The standard IT response — bolt on a perimeter tool and call it done — misses that OT security has to preserve physical process stability first.
CISA led the 28-page guide with the FBI, Defense, Energy, and State departments. It maps zero-trust practices to OT constraints and centers governance, asset inventory, change tracking, secure remote access, vulnerability management, encryption, and supply-chain risk management tools such as software bills of materials. The document is aimed at critical infrastructure operators facing legacy systems, limited visibility, and expanding attack surfaces from IT/OT convergence.
The practical effect is a higher bar for operators and vendors. Federal expectations are shifting toward provable oversight of assets, access, and suppliers, and that pressure will show up in procurement, audits, and architecture reviews.
4 sources covering this story
CISA and Partners Publish Zero Trust Guidance For OT Security
A new CISA‑led guide explains how zero‑trust security can be applied to operational technology, balancing cyber defence with safety and system availability
New CISA guidance outlines zero trust roadmap for OT environments facing legacy constraints and growing attack surfaces
US agencies promote zero-trust practices for operational technology networks
Many zero-trust defenses work differently in industrial environments than in traditional business networks, five federal agencies said in newly published guidance.
Adapting Zero Trust Principles to Operational Technology | CISA
This guidance provides a roadmap for organizations to reference as they transition toward a zero trust architecture.
Part of the PlainSec briefing for 2026-05-01