Operational technology
OT, ICS & SCADA Security Assessments
Understand how the control environment actually works, where trust crosses boundaries and which changes reduce consequence without undermining operations.
The engagement
Review architecture before touching live systems
OT security cannot be reduced to finding unpatched devices. Architecture, process criticality, remote support, safety systems, legacy protocols, recovery capability and the ability to observe an incident all affect risk.
GDF uses interviews, documentation, passive observation and carefully governed validation to build an evidence-based view of the environment. Recommendations are sequenced around operational feasibility and consequence.
Scope
Architecture and zone review
Document conduits, trust relationships, dependencies and gaps between enterprise, DMZ, control and safety environments.
Asset and communication visibility
Assess the accuracy of inventories and the organization’s understanding of normal connections and protocols.
Remote access and identity
Review vendor, employee and administrative pathways, authentication, authorization, monitoring and revocation.
Segmentation validation
Evaluate policy and, where safe, validate whether defined boundaries prevent unauthorized paths.
Monitoring and forensic readiness
Assess evidence sources, time synchronization, retention and examination access inside the OT environment.
Recovery and change control
Review backups, configuration baselines, restoration testing, spares and authorization of control-system changes.
Methodology
How the assessment runs
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Contextualize
Understand the process, safety functions, availability requirements and critical operating states.
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Observe
Review evidence and passively map assets, communications and trust paths where practicable.
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Validate
Test selected assumptions only within agreed operational boundaries.
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Sequence
Prioritize architectural, procedural and monitoring improvements by consequence and feasibility.
Evidence commonly examined
Evidence reviewed
- Network and system architecture
- Asset and software inventories
- Firewall and remote-access configurations
- Passive traffic and monitoring data
- Backup and restoration records
- Vendor, maintenance and change procedures
What you can expect
What you receive
- Current-state architecture and trust map
- Risk findings tied to operational consequence
- Prioritized remediation roadmap
- Executive and engineering briefings
Frequently asked
Common questions
Do you perform active scans in OT environments?
Not by default. Active methods require explicit engineering approval and may be inappropriate. Passive and documentation-based approaches are often the starting point.
Can you assess an environment with legacy systems?
Yes. The goal is not to pretend every asset can be patched; it is to identify compensating controls, exposure, monitoring and recovery options.
Will the report work for executives and engineers?
We provide a concise decision narrative and enough technical evidence for the teams responsible for implementation.
Related capabilities
Related services
Talk with an examiner
Discuss the matter and the next step.
Call to discuss timing, scope and the safest way to share information. Do not send evidence or credentials by email.
24/7 hotline: 1-800-868-8189