When IT meets OT, consequences become physical.
Utilities, pipelines, generators and transport networks run safety-critical systems built decades apart. We secure the convergence without putting operations at risk.
What is at stake.
- 01
Safety & availability
In OT, testing must never disturb physical processes.
- 02
Regulatory enforcement
Electricity, pipeline and transport regulators impose mandatory standards.
- 03
Distributed assets
Grid-edge and renewable sites add thousands of remote endpoints.
Where the exposure actually sits.
- R1
IT-to-OT pivoting
Movement into control environments through shared identity or historians.
- R2
Remote access
Vendor and engineer paths that bypass segmentation.
- R3
Operational ransomware
Shutdowns triggered by loss of visibility or billing, even with OT untouched.
- R4
Supply chain
Firmware, engineering workstations and integrator tooling.
The rules that shape the work.
The instruments that set the bar in this sector, and what each one demands.
NERC CIP standards
North America (bulk electric system)Mandatory reliability standards for BES Cyber Systems, enforced through regional entities.
TSA Security Directives
United States (pipelines, rail)Approved cybersecurity plans, segmentation and annual assessments for covered operators.
NIS2 and the CER Directive
EUEnergy, transport and water are sectors of high criticality, with accountability placed on management.
CIRCIA
United States72-hour incident and 24-hour ransom-payment reporting once the final rule takes effect. The final rule is pending.
How we respond.
Each engagement is scoped to your regulator, your deadline and the evidence your assessor will ask for.
A renewable operator connecting new sites to a central control room.
Each site added vendor remote-access paths, and corporate IT shared identity with the control room. We mapped zones and conduits in IEC 62443 terms, brokered vendor access, separated identity domains and tested the boundary with low-impact techniques.
Questions clients ask us.
Is it safe to penetration test OT environments?
With careful planning, yes: passive discovery first, replicas or maintenance windows, operations engineers involved and clear stop conditions.
Do NIS2 obligations fall on management personally?
NIS2 requires management bodies to approve and oversee risk-management measures and allows member states to hold them accountable. National transposition sets the detail.
Can one program cover NERC CIP and IEC 62443?
They serve different purposes but share zoning, access and change concepts. We map them so that engineering work also produces compliance evidence.
Talk to a practitioner who knows your sector.
Tell us what you are preparing for. A senior practitioner who has done this work will reply within one business day.