Insight
Securing OT Assets: How Cybersecurity Drives Superior Reliability and Maintenance Performance
In today’s digitally connected industrial environment, Operational Technology (OT) systems form the backbone of asset performance, production continuity and maintenance efficiency. Yet these same systems face growing cyber threats that can trigger unplanned shutdowns, accelerate equipment wear, corrupt critical data and derail maintenance schedules. Integrating deep OT cybersecurity expertise with established reliability and maintenance methodologies creates solutions that protect critical assets, elevate reliability metrics, reduce costs and extend equipment life.
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When a Cyber Incident Becomes a Maintenance and Reliability Crisis
Recent events have shown that OT cyberattacks are no longer abstract IT problems. They are direct threats to physical assets and maintenance programs. In late 2023, for example, a water authority near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania suffered a cyber intrusion that targeted the programmable logic controllers (PLCs) at a pumping station. Attackers gained access to critical OT equipment, forcing operators to take systems offline and switch to manual operations to maintain safe service.
While the incident was contained, the impact went far beyond cybersecurity:
- Normal operating conditions were disrupted, increasing the risk of equipment being cycled outside its optimal ranges.
- Maintenance and operations teams had to divert attention from planned work to emergency response and verification of system integrity.
- Confidence in sensor readings and control setpoints was shaken, undermining trust in the data used for maintenance and reliability decisions.
- Customer confidence was eroded due to public visibility of the attack and temporary reliance on manual operations.
- Consistent service output was threatened, raising concerns over potential reductions in reliable water pressure delivery.
This is how a single cyber event can quickly become a reliability, maintenance and asset life problem. The same pattern has appeared in other sectors such as pipelines and manufacturing where cyber intrusions led directly to equipment stress, unplanned downtime and costly recovery efforts.
The Direct Link Between OT Cybersecurity and Reliability Excellence
When cybersecurity stands as an isolated concern, organizations risk a critical gap in their reliability strategy. A single successful cyber incident, whether ransomware, unauthorized configuration changes or denial-of-service, can:
- Force emergency shutdowns, creating unplanned downtime
- Corrupt historian and sensor data used for predictive maintenance
- Introduce undetected faults that accelerate mechanical failure
- Generate false alarms that erode trust in condition-monitoring systems
In contrast, embedding robust OT cybersecurity into reliability and maintenance practices closes this gap and delivers measurable, compounding benefits across the organization.
Proven Results and Benefits of Integrated OT Cybersecurity
Organizations that implement cybersecurity solutions alongside their reliability programs can help achieve:
- Significant Reduction in Unplanned Downtime
Continuous monitoring, rapid threat detection and automated alerts prevent cyber events from escalating into production interruptions. Clients typically see substantial reductions in unplanned downtime by neutralizing threats before they impact operations, allowing maintenance teams to execute planned work instead of reactive repairs. - Lower Overall Maintenance Costs
Predictive and condition-based maintenance depends on trustworthy data. Secure OT environments preserve data integrity, enabling accurate failure forecasting and optimized work scoping. This shift commonly yields meaningful lower maintenance costs compared to traditional time-based approaches through reduced overtime, fewer emergency spare parts orders and elimination of unnecessary intrusive inspections. - Extended Asset Life and Higher Availability
Protected configurations and hardened systems prevent unauthorized changes that accelerate wear. Combined with reliable sensor data, this enables precise remaining-useful-life calculations, helping organizations defer capital replacements and achieve clear improvements in asset availability and Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF). - Optimized Maintenance Resource Allocation
Clear visibility into both cyber threats and equipment health allows teams to prioritize high-impact work. Maintenance budgets focus on value-adding activities rather than crisis response, typically improving wrench time and technician productivity. - Enhanced Reliability Metrics and Operational Resilience
Integrated programs deliver sustained improvements in key performance indicators (KPIs) such as Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), maintenance cost as a percentage of Replacement Asset Value (RAV) and bad-actor elimination rates, creating a virtuous cycle of continuous improvement.
A Tiered Approach to Integrating Cybersecurity for Enhanced Reliability
A structured tiered framework such as Foundation, Growth and Excellence allows organizations to progressively build OT cybersecurity capabilities while realizing incremental improvements in reliability and maintenance performance at each stage.
- Foundation: Establishing Visibility for Informed Maintenance Decisions
Asset inventory, vulnerability scans, system hardening and OT visibility solutions create accurate trusted asset registers and establish baseline conditions that reliability engineers use for effective planning and risk prioritization. - Growth: Developing Proactive Defenses to Support Predictive Maintenance
Standards-based assessments, compliance evaluations and targeted training equip teams to maintain system integrity and preserve the high-quality data required for accurate predictive analytics and condition-based strategies. - Excellence: Achieving Continuous Optimization for Maximum Performance
Continuous managed services including network monitoring, vulnerability management, configuration control and advanced analytics enable real-time correlation of cybersecurity and reliability data to refine failure modes, optimize maintenance intervals and prevent recurrence of issues.
Positioning Your Organization for Sustained Advantage
In an era where cyber threats can undo years of reliability progress overnight, the most successful organizations treat OT cybersecurity as an essential enabler of maintenance and reliability excellence. The benefits of dramatically less downtime, optimized costs, extended asset life and superior performance metrics are evident in the measurable results our clients achieve.
Organizations that integrate robust OT cybersecurity into their reliability and maintenance programs can achieve breakthrough performance. This approach drives competitive advantage and supports sustained long-term success.
Why Organizations Choose ABS Consulting
As a Forbes World’s Best Management Consulting Firm, ABS Consulting is a trusted advisor backed by more than five decades of safety and risk management expertise. Our integrated OT cybersecurity and reliability services, supported by ISO 55000-aligned frameworks, deep industrial experience and measurable methodologies, will help your organization to improve performance and mitigate the impacts of unplanned downtime.
About the Author
Jason Smith - Director, Business Development
Jason Smith is Director of Business Development at ABS Consulting, bringing over 25 years of experience in sales and operations, specializing in EAM, CMMS and reliability consulting services. He has helped numerous global organizations optimize their asset management strategies and achieve operational excellence.
