Cybersecurity for Manufacturers: How to Protect Your OT Systems
08/07/2025
In today’s connected manufacturing environment, digital transformation is reshaping how factories operate. Smart technologies are streamlining processes, improving productivity, and enabling data-driven decisions. But as Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) systems become more interconnected, the risk of cyberattacks increases. For Australian manufacturers, protecting these systems is no longer optional—it’s essential for maintaining uptime, ensuring safety, and safeguarding your bottom line.
Understanding the IT-OT Divide
IT systems manage data, communications, and enterprise software, while OT systems control machinery, sensors, and industrial processes. Whilst they traditionally operated in silos, today they're deeply linked. This integration, while transformative, also introduces new vulnerabilities. IT systems are typically well-defended with mature cybersecurity protocols. OT systems often rely on legacy infrastructure that prioritises uptime over security, making them a vulnerable point of exploitation—potentially disrupting production or damaging equipment.
Assessing the Risk
In 2023–24, the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) recorded over 94,000 cybercrime reports, with manufacturing experiencing a 38% rise in attacks. These incidents aren’t just technical hiccups—they can bring production to a halt, breach safety protocols, and damage customer trust. The average cost of a cyberattack on an Australian business now exceeds $97,000, with far greater losses when operational downtime, reputational damage, and regulatory implications are factored in.
Implementing Your Cybersecurity Framework
As manufacturers look to future-proof and build resilient operations, many are turning to the NIS (Europe) or NIST (USA) Cybersecurity Frameworks. These provide a structured, practical approach to cyber risk management, and are particularly useful where IT and OT increasingly converge.
Credit: N. Hanacek/NIST
IMAGE CREDIT: NIST
Govern
Define cybersecurity responsibilities, risk appetite, and policies, and ensuring cybersecurity is embedded in business governance.
Identify
Understand your systems and vulnerabilities through mapping your IT and OT assets, including legacy equipment and remote access points.
Protect
Put safeguards in place to secure operations, including network segmentation, strong access control, and endpoint protection.
Detect
Monitor your environment for signs of compromise in real-time. Use monitoring tools to identify anomalies across both IT and OT networks.
Respond
Act quickly to contain and mitigate threats by developing a coordinated plan that spans digital systems and operational processes.
Recover
Restore your operations and strengthen defences by maintaining secure backups, reviewing incidents, and continuously assessing protocols.
Protect Your Systems with HMS Anybus Defender
To support manufacturers in defending their OT environments, NHP now offers the HMS Anybus Defender—a specialised cybersecurity device designed to isolate critical machines using a risk-based zoning approach and a deny-by-default architecture.
The Anybus Defender:
- Monitors traffic to and from industrial control systems (ICS) to detect and block suspicious activity in real time.
- Creates a virtual barrier around critical devices—ideal for legacy systems not built with cybersecurity in mind.
- Enables deep packet inspection and protocol whitelisting, ensuring only safe, authorised communication occurs.
- Keeps your production moving, reducing the risk of unplanned downtime due to cyber threats.
With plug-and-play simplicity and compatibility across a wide range of industrial protocols, the Anybus Defender is a powerful, practical step toward protecting your systems without costly redesigns or workflow interruptions.
Tell me more
Not Sure Where to Start?
Cybersecurity can feel overwhelming—but you don’t have to tackle it alone. At NHP, we combine deep industry knowledge with a growing suite of cyber-secure solutions tailored to the industrial sector.
Australia: 1300 NHP NHP nhpsales@nhp.com.au
New Zealand: 0800 NHP NHP sales@nhp-nz.com
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