Cyber attacks on critical infrastructure facilities, security gaps in government IT systems, data breaches of all kinds - headlines like these adorn the pages of press services at home and abroad on an almost daily basis. The economic consequences for the companies affected are sometimes serious.

In its annual report on the state of IT security in Germany, the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) provides a comprehensive overview of the threats in cyberspace. For the year 2023, the federal cyber security authority concludes that the threat level is higher than ever before. Ransomware remains the biggest threat. It often leads to business disruptions and outages. Access points for attacks are usually devices in IT networks.

At the same time, there is an increasing need for IT and OT networks to grow together in systems with a high degree of automation. In this context, OT network security is playing an increasingly important role in the industrial environment.

Careful design and planning of the physical network and the security mechanisms are crucial for the subsequent network security and availability of the plant infrastructure.
This white paper is a practical guide to network security in an industrial environment. We present selected mechanisms that have been tried and tested in the OT environment.