Modernizing OT Security for Automotive Operations

Key Automotive Cybersecurity Challenges

The automotive industry is considered highly susceptible to targeted vulnerabilities across installed network assets, including machines and devices on plant floors. We understand your unique business needs. With a proactive, comprehensive risk management strategy, we can help you mitigate these top challenges:

1. Complex OT environments and automated production lines

• Highly heterogeneous assets across vendors and generations
• Aging infrastructure with limited patching or compatibility (equipment lifecycles of 15-30 years)
• Mix of technology in plants, including legacy hardware and OS platforms that cannot easily be upgraded
• Difficulty enforcing consistent segmentation across environments, increasing the need for an Industrial DMZ (IDMZ) to securely separate IT and OT networks

2. Organizational silos & cybersecurity professional skill gaps

• Shortage of IT security teams with OT context or expertise
• Lack of alignment between IT and OT teams and standardized policies across facilities
• Decentralized ownership (plant-by-plant inconsistencies/plant engineers prioritize uptime over security)
• Limited bandwidth, knowledge or plans for Incident Response (IR) in place

3. Digital transformation leads to expanding threat surface

• Accelerated IT/OT convergence and AI adoption introduce new vulnerabilities
• Direct and indirect attack paths from IT to plant floor systems
• Increased entry points for attackers and pathways from vehicle ecosystems into enterprise or cloud environments
• Greater risk of ransomware-induced plant shutdowns
• Increased reliance on secure architectures such as IDMZ to prevent direct connectivity and control access between IT, cloud and OT environments

4. Insufficient asset visibility due to scale and fragmentation

• Incomplete asset inventories across global plants
• Unknown firmware/software versions on controllers and robots
• Tier 1–Tier 3 suppliers with varying security maturity
• Limited monitoring of industrial protocols

5. Increased pressure and scrutiny from regulators and stakeholders

• Regulatory pressure:  NIS2 (EU), TISAX, SEC disclosure rules (US), other regional mandates
• OEMs demanding stricter cybersecurity from suppliers
• Customers expecting secure connected vehicles
• Investors focusing on cyber risk as part of ESG
• Insurance providers tightening requirements 

Scalable OT Cybersecurity for Automotive Manufacturers

Effective OT cybersecurity requires more than point solutions or isolated security projects. Automotive manufacturers need a repeatable framework that helps teams understand risk, protect production environments and maintain operational resilience across every plant.

SecureOT™ solution suite combines OT-specific software, cybersecurity services and industry expertise to help manufacturers take a structured approach to reducing risk throughout the cybersecurity journey.

Whether you are beginning your cybersecurity journey or expanding an existing program, SecureOT helps automotive organizations take a practical path toward more secure digital operations.

Not Sure Where to Start Your Path to Cybersecurity?

Start with visibility and build toward resilience. For many automotive manufacturers, the first challenge is understanding what assets exist across plants, how they are connected and where risk is concentrated.

Using SecureOT™ Platform, a cyber risk assessment provides a practical starting point by helping organizations identify critical assets, evaluate network architecture, uncover cybersecurity and compliance gaps and prioritize actions based on operational impact, in order to:

• Gain visibility into OT assets and exposures
• Identify cybersecurity and compliance gaps
• Evaluate network and segmentation strategies
• Establish a prioritized roadmap for risk reduction