How to Secure Your Industrial Network

Read full article here: https://corsha.com/blog/how-to-secure-every-connection-in-your-industrial-network/?source=nhimg

In today’s connected industrial control systems (ICS) and operational technology (OT) environments, the biggest threats often come from inside the perimeter — through unmanaged, invisible, or unauthorized connections. Engineering laptops, vendor machines, and diagnostic tools, when left unverified, can open the door to downtime, data theft, supply chain compromise, and ransomware.

With most industrial networks still running flat architectures, a single compromised connection can cascade across SCADA, DCS, and PLC systems, threatening safety and production. Securing every connection — from initial access to the last packet sent — is now essential to protect uptime and operational resilience.

The Connection Blind Spot

Modern OT environments face rising exposure from:

• Unmonitored engineering workstations and vendor laptops.

• Rogue devices blending in with trusted assets.

• Connections not tied to role, location, or operational purpose.

• Persistent remote access left open for third parties.

These gaps create operational risks such as equipment misconfigurations and production halts — and cybersecurity risks like lateral movement, attacker persistence, and ransomware deployment.

5 Steps to Secure Every Industrial Connection

1. Gain Real-Time Visibility Across All Connections - Identify every device, user, and session — including unmanaged and shadow assets — to form the foundation for policy enforcement.

2. Tie Access to Verified Identity and Session Context - Move beyond IP and MAC addresses; link every connection to cryptographically verified identity and purpose to enable Zero Trust OT security.

3. Use Microsegmentation to Isolate and Control Access - Apply ISA/IEC 62443-based zoning to enforce least privilege and prevent lateral movement within industrial networks.

4. Continuously Monitor for Anomalies - Detect in-session deviations such as unauthorized tools or out-of-scope activity to catch misconfigurations and early-stage attacks.

5. Secure and Scope All Remote & Third-Party Access - Replace persistent VPNs with identity-bound, time-boxed, and role-specific access for vendors and contractors.

The Corsha Advantage

Corsha’s Identity Platform for Machines automates identity enforcement, microsegmentation, and session-level access control across ICS and OT networks — without rearchitecting existing infrastructure.

With Corsha, industrial teams can:

• Authenticate every connection dynamically.

• Tie access to identity, purpose, and live context.

• Enforce session-based least privilege.

• Generate full audit trails.

• Control vendor access with expiration policies.

The result: secure, visible, and policy-aligned connections that protect both operational continuity and cybersecurity posture.