As technologies and systems become more digitalized and connected across the world, operational technology (OT) environments and industrial control systems (ICS) — from energy and manufacturing to transportation and utilities — are increasingly depending on enterprise networks and the cloud. This expands OT and ICS capabilities — but also their exposure to cyber threats.
Unlike traditional IT environments that manage data and applications, OT systems control real-world processes where cyber incidents can have immediate consequences for safety, availability and operational continuity.
Many of these systems were originally designed for reliability and longevity, not for today’s threat techniques. This can widen the gap between modern attacks and existing defenses. Even as OT and ICS environments modernize with improved automation, connectivity and analytics, most were not built to withstand adaptive, software-driven cyberattacks that evolve in real time.
NVIDIA is collaborating with leading cybersecurity providers Akamai, Forescout, Palo Alto Networks and Xage Security, as well as industrial automation innovator Siemens, to bring accelerated computing and AI to OT cybersecurity, advancing real-time threat detection and response across critical infrastructure.
These efforts represent a fundamental shift in OT and ICS cybersecurity, where security is embedded into and distributed across infrastructure, enforced at the edge and coordinated through centralized, AI-driven intelligence, bringing modern cybersecurity to the systems that keep the physical world running.
Forescout and NVIDIA Bring Zero Trust to OT and ICS Environments
Zero trust is a security model that removes implicit trust from networks. Every user, device and workload must be continuously verified and authorized, regardless of where it originates.
While zero trust has been widely adopted to secure enterprise IT environments, applying its principles to OT environments has traditionally been difficult. Legacy devices, proprietary protocols and safety-critical operations limit the use of intrusive controls or AI-driven enforcement, even as increased connectivity to IT and cloud environments expands the attack surface.
Forescout is working with NVIDIA to make zero trust practical for OT. Forescout provides continuous, agentless discovery and classification of OT, internet of things and IT assets, delivering real-time risk assessment and policy-based enforcement. With deep visibility into network activity, Forescout applies network segmentation to contain lateral movement and enforce zero trust controls precisely where they matter most, without impacting operations.
At the industrial edge, NVIDIA BlueField DPUs run security services on dedicated hardware, keeping protection separate from operational systems so critical processes remain unaffected.
Siemens and Palo Alto Networks Embed Security Into Industrial Automation
Industrial automation environments demand consistent performance, low latency and high availability — requirements that traditional IT security tools often struggle to meet.
At the S4x26 security conference, Siemens will demonstrate its AI-ready Industrial Automation DataCenter, a unified, holistic solution that consolidates decades of cross-industry automation expertise into one robust IT/OT platform. The future-proof solution contains all the core elements of an edge data center such as computing based on virtualization, data archiving and reporting, resilient disaster recovery solutions, and a robust cybersecurity architecture in accordance with IEC 62443. Through the integration of NVIDIA BlueField, it is uniquely possible to deliver a truly AI-ready, zero-trust solution tailored for the demands on industrial automation.
Prisma AIRS AI Runtime Security delivers deep visibility into industrial traffic and continuous monitoring for abnormal behavior. By running these security services on NVIDIA BlueField, inspection and enforcement happen directly at the infrastructure level, closer to the workloads. This AI-powered approach strengthens security coverage and drives greater operational uptime where it matters most.
Akamai Extends Segmentation to OT and ICS With NVIDIA
Akamai Technologies has extended the Akamai Guardicore Platform to now run on NVIDIA BlueField, enabling agentless segmentation — the ability to isolate applications, devices or workloads into tightly controlled security zones — and the ability to enforce zero-trust policies directly at the edge. This removes the need for agents that may not be compatible with legacy OT systems or safety-certified devices.
Segmentation is enforced at full network speed directly within the infrastructure, without introducing latency or disrupting time-sensitive workloads in centralized data centers or remote edge locations. This helps contain threats quickly, limit their spread and keep mission-critical operations running smoothly.
Xage Security Protects the Energy Infrastructure That Powers AI With NVIDIA
As AI scales into a pillar of critical infrastructure, securing the energy systems that power AI factories is as essential as securing the compute itself.
Modern energy supply chains are complex, distributed and deeply interconnected with AI operations, and they operate largely within the operational technology domain. In this environment, cyber-physical systems, legacy assets and real-time controls demand security approaches purpose-built for critical infrastructure protection.
Xage Security is working with NVIDIA to help address this need by bringing zero-trust security to both energy infrastructure and the AI systems it supports. At S4x26, Xage will demonstrate a new integration running on NVIDIA BlueField, showing how zero trust enforcement can be embedded directly into energy and AI infrastructure environments.
Xage already protects about 60% of U.S. midstream pipeline infrastructure and works with utilities and energy operators worldwide. By combining Xage’s distributed, identity-based security platform with NVIDIA BlueField, operators can protect energy assets, manage third-party access and secure AI-driven operations at scale without compromising performance, reliability or resilience.
A New Class of OT Cybersecurity
Across these environments, a consistent OT cybersecurity architecture is taking shape. Security services run at the edge on NVIDIA BlueField DPUs, close to the operational systems they protect. By executing inspection and enforcement on dedicated, hardware-isolated infrastructure, BlueField enables continuous protection without disrupting time-sensitive operations.
OT data generated at the edge is sent to centralized AI factories, where it’s analyzed across many sites to identify patterns, anomalies and emerging threats. In addition, security actions are enforced locally at the edge, while insights are shared centrally — creating a coordinated defense that improves visibility, accelerates response and scales protection consistently across OT and IT environments.
This architecture helps detect and contain threats faster while strengthening resilience across distributed environments, maintaining consistent performance and protecting uptime.
The result is a new standard for securing critical infrastructure — where AI-driven protection and operational excellence move forward together.
NVIDIA-powered OT cybersecurity solutions are delivered through a global ecosystem of trusted partners. Read this OT cybersecurity use case and solution overview for more.
Join NVIDIA at S4x26, running Feb. 24–26 in Miami, to see how accelerated computing and AI are transforming cybersecurity for OT and critical infrastructure.
