The conversation around Operational Technology (OT) security has shifted significantly in the last 24 months. It’s no longer enough to simply "see" the network. With the convergence of AI-driven threats and increasingly complex supply chains, your 2026 OT security budget needs to prioritize active response and validated risk remediation. Beyond sophisticated threats, not so skilled threat actors are also keeping an eye on OT environments to access and steal and/or encrypt data to extort a ransom.

Today’s blogpost outlines the key areas where industrial leaders should be allocating their capital to move beyond compliance and into true operational resilience.

Before we move forward, don’t forget to check out our previous blog post on “Deciphering the coordinated GPS spoofing attacks on Indian airports” here.

Automated asset visibility and real-time protection

Maintaining asset inventories on paper or a worksheet was a good practice eons ago. In 2026, manual asset inventories are a major liability. Budgets should move away from static spreadsheets and toward true, automated and continuous discovery. Beyond discovery, you should also have the means to fingerprint your assets and their behaviors. This is important from a cybersecurity standpoint as well as to improve operational efficiency.   

• The goal: Operate with a dynamic inventory that includes not just PLCs and HMIs, but also nested components, firmware versions, patch status and communication paths.

• Protection shift: Allocate funds for virtual patching and endpoint protection specifically designed for legacy industrial controllers that cannot be taken offline for traditional updates.

• Ensure that the need for protection or rather the justification for protection is conveyed across the enterprise

 Network monitoring, detection, and response (NDR)

Visibility tells you what is there; monitoring tells you what it’s doing. 2026 is the year of Managed Detection and Response (MDR) for OT.

• Passive vs. active: Passive monitoring remains the gold standard for safety as of now. You do need to budget for a NIDS tool such as Shieldworkz that can detect threats and help with remediation as well. The tool should be able to support active scanning as well.     

• Response integration: Don't just detect. Ensure your OT monitoring tools are integrated with your Security Operations Center (SOC). Budget for OT-specific playbooks so your team knows exactly how to respond when an anomaly occurs in a blast furnace vs. a data server.

 Risk assessments: The IEC 62443 AKA the OT security North Star

Risk assessments in 2026 must be way more than a "check-the-box" annual event. They need to be timebound and validated.

• Planned and bespoke: Budget for deep-dive assessments based on IEC 62443. This should include "Zone and Conduit" segmentation audits to ensure your network isn't a "flat" environment where a single breach can move laterally.

• Validation: Use reach and Attack Simulation (BAS) tools designed for OT to validate that your security controls actually work.

• Closing the Loop: Allocate a "Remediation Fund." The most common failure in OT security is identifying a risk but having no budget left to fix the hardware or software that caused it.

  
  

Securing the "Invisible" supply chain

The next major outage likely won't come from your front door, but through a trusted vendor.

• SBOM (Software Bill of Materials): Prioritize vendors who provide a transparent list of software components. Budget for tools that can ingest and analyze SBOMs for vulnerabilities.

• Vendor Access Control: Move away from "always-on" VPNs for maintenance. Budget for Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) solutions that grant vendors access only to specific assets for a specific window of time.

 Human resilience: beyond "Never Click This"

As most CISOs are aware, the "human element" remains the weakest link, particularly regarding accidental missteps like plugging in an infected personal USB or "shadow OT" (bringing in unauthorized hardware).

• Training priorities: Move toward simulated tabletop exercises. Spend your training budget on role-based scenarios where operators practice responding to a simulated ransomware attack on the HMI.

• Physical safeguards: Budget for USB sanitization stations (kiosks) and hardened USB ports. If an employee must use a removable drive, it should pass through a "sheep dip" station that scans it in an isolated environment first.

  
  

The 2026 budgetary roadmap

To ensure your organization stays ahead of the curve, consider this quarterly allocation strategy for the 2026 fiscal year:

2026 OT Security budgetary checklist.

I am sharing a table to help you prepare for a C-level presentation on enhancing OT security capabilities for your enterprise. This one focuses on the transition from passive visibility to active resilience.

2026 OT Security Budgetary Checklist

And finally the key insight for 2026: In the past, OT security was considered as a "cost center." Today, it is "insurance for uptime and brand credibility." Think about it: Every dollar spent on validating your risk findings today saves at least ten dollars in emergency response and lost production tomorrow.

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