OT Vulnerability Assessment

Non-intrusive scanners and controlled exploit, primary focus on operational continuity.

Why It Matters

OT Vulnerability Assessment: Results-Oriented Approach

We deliver a complete snapshot of your OT security posture by evaluating existing controls, identifying gaps, and recommending targeted mitigations. Our outcome-focused approach ensures every recommendation drives real risk reduction.

Leveraging industry best practices (ISO/IEC 62443, ISO/IEC 27001, NIST and ISF) we tailor each assessment to your environment. Automated scanning, manual testing and expert analysis combine to surface all vulnerabilities.

Comprehensive baseline of your current OT security posture

Comprehensive baseline of your current OT security posture

Roadmap to reduce attack surface and risk in the short

Roadmap to reduce attack surface and risk in the short, mid and long term

Gap analysis across People

Gap analysis across People, Process & Technology

Data-driven support for cybersecurity investment decisions

Data-driven support for cybersecurity investment decisions

Non-intrusive methods to preserve production uptime

Non-intrusive methods to preserve production uptime

Rapid execution

Rapid execution, complete assessment in as little as 1–2 weeks

The Process

How We Work

01

Define Scope

Set technical and organizational boundaries.

02

Assessment

Standards-aligned, OT-specific evaluation.

03

Report & Handover

Executive and technical documentation.

Deliverables

What You Get at the End

ISA/IEC 62443 NIST CSF ISO/IEC 27001 ISO/IEC 27019 EU NIS2
Relevant industries

Industries Where This Service Is Critical

This service is particularly valuable in the sectors below, due to their specific regulations, asset base and threat models.

The process

How an OT Vulnerability Assessment Runs

In industrial environments vulnerability assessment does not mean scanning. An active scanner can knock over a controller, so identification happens passively and prioritisation follows reachability and business impact.

01

Asset inventory and version identification

Passive discovery records vendor, model and exact firmware version. Vulnerability matching depends on this: without versions there are no meaningful findings.

02

Vulnerability matching

Versions are matched against several sources: vendor bulletins, ICS-CERT advisories, NVD and the CISA KEV catalogue. The last of these shows what is actually being exploited.

03

Contextual prioritisation

CVSS alone misleads. We look at whether the device is reachable by an attacker, which process it belongs to, and whether compensating controls surround it.

04

Treatment plan

What can be patched gets a schedule for the downtime window. What cannot gets compensating controls: segmentation, virtual patching, access restriction. What gets neither receives documented risk acceptance.

Deliverables

What You Receive

Prioritisation

Why CVSS Does Not Decide

An industrial environment can produce hundreds of findings. A manageable list emerges when context is weighed alongside the score.

FactorWhat we examineEffect on priority
Active exploitationPresence in the CISA KEV listImmediate priority, regardless of CVSS
ReachabilityFrom which zone the device is reachableIsolated zone: orders of magnitude lower
Likelihood of exploitationEPSS scoreBelow 0.01 essentially negligible
Process criticalityWhat happens if this device stopsSIS and key controllers: escalated
Compensating controlIs there an IPS or segmentation in frontVirtual patching: priority can be lowered
PatchabilityIs there a vendor fix, when is downtimeUnpatchable: control-based treatment
Frequently asked

OT Vulnerability Assessment: The Questions We Hear Most

Will you scan our network?

No, at least not in the usual sense. A general network vulnerability scanner can knock over an older PLC by sending it unexpected packets, so we do not use one in industrial environments. Version identification happens passively from traffic analysis. Where active verification is unavoidable, we perform it only in a lab or during planned downtime on identical spare hardware, agreed in advance.

What do we do when patching is impossible?

This is the baseline situation in industrial environments, not the exception. Three answers exist. First, network-level virtual patching: the industrial IPS recognises and blocks traffic targeting the vulnerability while the device stays untouched. Second, tighter segmentation so the vulnerable device is reachable only from where it must be. Third, documented risk acceptance, which is a legitimate answer when somebody makes and signs the decision.

How often should it be repeated?

Comprehensively once a year, plus after any significant change: new equipment, network redesign, vendor firmware update. Beyond that it is worth reviewing quarterly whether new vulnerabilities have appeared for existing devices, because the estate may not change but the threat picture does. That review is no longer field work, just comparing the inventory against the databases.

How does it differ from a penetration test?

A vulnerability assessment shows what known flaws exist and how urgent each is. A penetration test shows what an attacker actually achieves with them. In OT the gap between the two is large, because segmentation renders many theoretically severe vulnerabilities practically unreachable. The recommended order: assessment first, then a test after segmentation to verify that the zone boundaries genuinely hold.

Does it count towards compliance documentation?

Yes. NIS2 measure area five (security in acquisition, development and maintenance) and the IEC 62443-2-3 patch management requirement both ask for the process, not for zero vulnerabilities. A documented assessment, prioritisation and risk acceptance decision is an adequate answer. On request we provide a compliance extract with the report.

OT Vulnerability Assessment
Tailored to Your OT Environment.

Our consultants are ready, let's start with a 30-minute, no-cost scoping call.