As government agencies accelerate digital transformation, operational technology (OT) is becoming inseparable from mission execution. Increased connectivity across sensors, control systems, and industrial components is delivering new capability and speed. It is also expanding the attack surface and raising the stakes for leaders responsible for availability, integrity, and operational continuity.
That was the focus of the latest GIST360 webinar, Integrating and Securing Operational Technology, hosted by Sean Applegate, CTO of Swish. The discussion featured a panel of experts sharing real-world insights around securing OT from the front lines of government missions and included:
A central message emerged quickly: mission success is now directly tied to the security of OT and connected systems. The era of the air gap is effectively over. As OT connects to enterprise IT and cloud environments, any disruption or manipulation can create immediate operational impact. Security is no longer a support function it is mission assurance.
Five Critical Takeaways for Government and Industry Stakeholders
Modernize OT, but do not underestimate legacy risk. Much of today’s OT was designed decades ago, before modern encryption and authentication expectations and legacy equipment can become a launching point for lateral movement that compromises broader environments. The priority is not just modernization, but safe modernization, starting with asset inventory, vulnerability management, hardened configurations and segmentation with OT-protocol aware firewalls.
Connectivity enables resilience and speed, not just convenience. For many federal agencies, including the U.S. Navy, OT enclaves run mission functions across multiple platforms, from navigation and aviation to propulsion and combat systems. Networking these systems supports continuous monitoring and predictive maintenance so teams can prevent failure and restore readiness faster. The rewards are improved workforce productivity and mission decisions, provided the risk is engineered down with the right controls.
Adopt a cyber-first mentality. Participants echoed a common theme heard across government do not build for performance and bolt on security later. Leaders need a common, platform wide cybersecurity architecture that includes robust OT-aware continuous monitoring, layered security controls, vulnerability management, patch management, and red teaming to pace evolving threats and meet the unique of OT systems which can impact the physical world.
Use AI as an assistant and not as an authority. It’s critical that agencies leverage AI to speed analysis and improve threat detection, while keeping humans responsible for validation. AI and ML offer significant value in establishing baselines and tuning alerts so teams can identify meaningful anomalies without drowning in noise.
Partnerships are essential, not optional. All panelists returned to public private collaboration as the mechanism for OT cybersecurity best practices, coordinated threat intelligence, and secure by default configurations. Government relies on industry for innovation and expertise, and industry needs mission context to build capabilities that work in constrained operational environments.
Continue the Conversation with GIST360
As government agencies modernize OT, connect OT to enterprise systems, or evaluate AI enabled cyber defense, the risk is not theoretical, and the timeline is not forgiving. Mission owners, CIOs, CISOs, and program leaders need a shared playbook that aligns operational outcomes with secure architecture.
To view the entire conversation, this webinar can be viewed on-demand. In addition, check out the GIST360 website to view future conversations around OT and cybersecurity. GIST360 convenes government and industry stakeholders to translate these challenges into actionable strategies.
Interested in learning more about OT?
Below are a few useful resources for readers hungry to learn more.
Swish’s Center of Excellence (CoE) has extensive experience with OT connectivity, cybersecurity, and data integration. Go here to schedule a technical discussion with our experts.