Adapting Zero Trust Principles to Operational Technology


Zero trust (ZT) offers a modern, adaptive approach to cybersecurity by eliminating implicit trust and continuously validating access based on identity, context, and risk. ZT principles assume a breach has already occurred and are designed to limit threat actor movement and potential damage.

For operational technology (OT), applying ZT requires careful consideration because OT systems interact with the physical environment and are constrained by availability and safety requirements, as well as legacy technology with long lifespans. The blanket application of traditional information technology (IT)-focused ZT capabilities to OT is neither reasonable nor feasible and requires continuous collaboration between OT engineers, IT architects, and cybersecurity professionals. This collaboration should include clear communication channels, joint development of policies and controls, and a shared understanding of both mission objectives and technical limitations.

Read more…
Source: U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation Cyber Division


Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • The Next Evolution of MDR: Preemptive Defense and Agentic Investigation

    July 28, 2026

    For years, security operations followed a familiar sequence: detect suspicious activity, investigate what happened, and respond before it caused significant harm. That model developed in a threat landscape where defenders had considerably more time to establish the facts and decide what to do next. In 2019, the average data breach took 206 days to identify ...

  • Three Steps to the Terminal: A Siemens ROX II Zero-Day Trilogy

    July 17, 2026

    Palo Alto Unit 42 conducted this research in close partnership with Siemens, reflecting their shared commitment to advancing the security and resilience of critical infrastructure. This report details a critical, chained exploit comprising three zero-day vulnerabilities (CVE-2025-40948, CVE-2025-40947, and CVE-2025-40949) discovered in Siemens ROX II operational technology (OT) switches. Successful exploitation of this chain would allow ...

  • Microsoft tops last month’s record with 622 Patch Tuesday CVEs

    July 14, 2026

    Remember last month when we were awed by Microsoft’s record-setting Patch Tuesday that addressed 206 CVEs? That was a quaint era compared to this month: Redmond just rolled out patches for 622 CVEs specific to its products, slightly more than tripling last month’s all-time high. Redmond’s Patch Tuesday release is once again one for the record books, with everything under ...

  • Two Chrome updates in two days fix critical vulnerabilities

    July 10, 2026

    Updating Chrome is becoming an almost daily task lately. But it’s too important to ignore. On Wednesday, July 8, Google released another Chrome update, just one day later after the previous one. Between them, the two updates fixed 27 security vulnerabilities, including two critical flaws that could be exploited to compromise Chrome. Google says both are “use-after-free” memory vulnerabilities, which ...

  • Microsoft has fixed the “RoguePlanet” zero-day in Microsoft Defender

    July 9, 2026

    Microsoft has quietly fixed the “RoguePlanet” zero-day in Microsoft Defender, closing the latest hole exposed by security researcher Nightmare Eclipse after months of public sparring over the company’s handling of vulnerability reports. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-50656, was addressed through an update to the Microsoft Malware Protection Engine rather than via its monthly Patch Tuesday bundle. Microsoft said ...

  • WinRAR flaw could allow attackers to take control of your computer

    July 2, 2026

    Rarlab has released a new version of the popular WinRAR tool to patch a vulnerability that can be abused in remote code execution attacks. The issue is fixed in WinRAR 7.23, but users must install the new version manually because WinRAR still does not offer automatic updates. They also need to make sure they download the version that matches their ...