Insider Threat Protection Checklist
When people errors or misuse become safety incidents
Insider threats are different in OT/ICS environments. In industrial sites a single mistaken click, a compromised engineering workstation, or a disgruntled contractor can change a PLC setpoint, wipe a historian, or corrupt a digital twin - and those actions can lead to production loss, safety incidents, or regulatory exposure. This Insider Threat Protection Checklist from Shieldworkz gives plant leaders, OT engineers, security teams and HR practical, prioritized actions to reduce that risk without disrupting operations.
Why this matters now
Insider incidents cause an outsized share of OT outages and near-misses because industrial control systems combine fragile legacy devices, vendor maintenance dependencies, and highly privileged engineering workflows. The consequences in production environments are immediate and sometimes irreversible: wrong firmware on an autoclave, deleted CNC programs, or tampered recipe files can mean scrap parts, failed certifications, safety recalls, or worse.
Unlike pure IT, fixed industrial processes make “block everything” approaches unsafe. Insider protections for OT must balance availability, safety and evidence collection. That balance is what this checklist is designed to deliver: practical controls that defend against malicious or accidental insiders while keeping your certified processes and change windows intact.
Why you should download this checklist
This is not a long academic paper - it’s an operational instrument you can use today:
Actionable & assignable: Every control includes clear actions, priorities (Critical/High/Medium), and recommended frequency so you can assign owners and due dates.
OT-safe guidance: Controls are written for control rooms and engineering workflows - passive monitoring, tested rollbacks, and non-disruptive enforcement where needed.
Standards-aligned: Mapped to IEC 62443 and established OT guidance so you can show auditors and executives how controls satisfy recognized frameworks.
Human + technical: Covers HR processes (screening, termination, monitoring) alongside PAM, UBA, FIM, and air-gapped backups - because insider defense is people and tech.
Quick wins & roadmap: Includes immediate steps you can implement in days and a 12-24 month maturation path for advanced controls like PKI, continuous UBA, and WORM backups.
If you’re responsible for OT safety, compliance, or uptime, this checklist helps you convert risk statements into measurable, plant-compatible controls.
Key takeaways from the checklist
Access control is your first line of defense: Implement RBAC for operators, engineers and admins; enforce least privilege; use PAM for time-boxed admin sessions; require MFA for remote and privileged access. These measures prevent broad lateral movement and reduce the chance a single compromised account becomes a plant-wide problem.
Visibility beats assumptions: Passive asset discovery, continuous logging from PLCs/HMIs/historians, and CCTV correlation are essential. You can’t detect suspicious behavior if you don’t know what devices exist or what “normal” looks like.
Monitor for human signals, not just network noise: User behavior analytics (UBA), file integrity monitoring (FIM), and monitoring of removable media and bulk historian exports catch insider patterns - odd login times, sudden exports of design files, or unsigned code uploads.
Make vendor access transparent and time-limited: Replace standing VPNs and shared credentials with jump hosts, JIT credentials, recorded sessions, and contractual SLAs. Most insider pivots into OT originate from vendor or contractor sessions.
Protect the digital thread and backups: Sign CAD/CAM/PLC code, keep air-gapped/immutable backups, and test restores regularly. Immutable WORM storage prevents insiders from tampering with the evidence or backups.
Combine HR processes with technical controls: Pre-employment screening, continuous vetting for sensitive roles, immediate access revocation on termination, and non-punitive reporting channels are as important as technical measures.
Prepare for safe investigations: Incident playbooks must prioritize safety. Capture volatile evidence only if it won’t endanger operations; preserve chain-of-custody using write-once logs and designated forensic processes.
How Shieldworkz supports your insider threat program
Shieldworkz helps translate checklist items into operational capability with minimal disruption:
Discovery & risk hotspot mapping (7-14 days): passive asset discovery, crown-jewel identification, and a prioritized insider-risk register.
Access & vendor governance implementation: RBAC design, PAM deployment guidance, jump-host configuration, and session-recording operationalization.
Monitoring & analytics tuning: deploy OT-compatible SIEM ingestion, UBA models tuned to industrial process cycles, and FIM for PLC/HMI projects.
HR & process integration: templates for background checks, termination playbooks, and policies to tie HR alerts into security workflows.
Playbooks & tabletop exercises: safety-first IR playbooks, legal/HR coordination plans, and simulated insider scenarios to validate detection and response.
Audit readiness & standards mapping: documentation aligned to IEC 62443 and evidentiary trails for compliance or certification reviews.
Our engagements are designed to respect production calendars and safety constraints - improvements that are measurable, repeatable, and defensible to auditors and executives.
Take action today: Secure insider risk before it becomes an incident
Insider threats in OT are inevitable; unpreparedness is optional. Download the Insider Threat Protection Checklist to get the full set of controls, templates, and a pragmatic roadmap you can implement with your existing teams.
Fill out the form to receive the checklist and schedule a complimentary 30-minute scoping call with a Shieldworkz OT specialist. We’ll help you identify quick wins and design a non-disruptive pilot that protects safety, product integrity, and uptime.
Download your copy today!
Get our free Insider Threat Protection Checklist and make sure you’re covering every critical control in your industrial network
When people errors or misuse become safety incidents
Insider threats are different in OT/ICS environments. In industrial sites a single mistaken click, a compromised engineering workstation, or a disgruntled contractor can change a PLC setpoint, wipe a historian, or corrupt a digital twin - and those actions can lead to production loss, safety incidents, or regulatory exposure. This Insider Threat Protection Checklist from Shieldworkz gives plant leaders, OT engineers, security teams and HR practical, prioritized actions to reduce that risk without disrupting operations.
Why this matters now
Insider incidents cause an outsized share of OT outages and near-misses because industrial control systems combine fragile legacy devices, vendor maintenance dependencies, and highly privileged engineering workflows. The consequences in production environments are immediate and sometimes irreversible: wrong firmware on an autoclave, deleted CNC programs, or tampered recipe files can mean scrap parts, failed certifications, safety recalls, or worse.
Unlike pure IT, fixed industrial processes make “block everything” approaches unsafe. Insider protections for OT must balance availability, safety and evidence collection. That balance is what this checklist is designed to deliver: practical controls that defend against malicious or accidental insiders while keeping your certified processes and change windows intact.
Why you should download this checklist
This is not a long academic paper - it’s an operational instrument you can use today:
Actionable & assignable: Every control includes clear actions, priorities (Critical/High/Medium), and recommended frequency so you can assign owners and due dates.
OT-safe guidance: Controls are written for control rooms and engineering workflows - passive monitoring, tested rollbacks, and non-disruptive enforcement where needed.
Standards-aligned: Mapped to IEC 62443 and established OT guidance so you can show auditors and executives how controls satisfy recognized frameworks.
Human + technical: Covers HR processes (screening, termination, monitoring) alongside PAM, UBA, FIM, and air-gapped backups - because insider defense is people and tech.
Quick wins & roadmap: Includes immediate steps you can implement in days and a 12-24 month maturation path for advanced controls like PKI, continuous UBA, and WORM backups.
If you’re responsible for OT safety, compliance, or uptime, this checklist helps you convert risk statements into measurable, plant-compatible controls.
Key takeaways from the checklist
Access control is your first line of defense: Implement RBAC for operators, engineers and admins; enforce least privilege; use PAM for time-boxed admin sessions; require MFA for remote and privileged access. These measures prevent broad lateral movement and reduce the chance a single compromised account becomes a plant-wide problem.
Visibility beats assumptions: Passive asset discovery, continuous logging from PLCs/HMIs/historians, and CCTV correlation are essential. You can’t detect suspicious behavior if you don’t know what devices exist or what “normal” looks like.
Monitor for human signals, not just network noise: User behavior analytics (UBA), file integrity monitoring (FIM), and monitoring of removable media and bulk historian exports catch insider patterns - odd login times, sudden exports of design files, or unsigned code uploads.
Make vendor access transparent and time-limited: Replace standing VPNs and shared credentials with jump hosts, JIT credentials, recorded sessions, and contractual SLAs. Most insider pivots into OT originate from vendor or contractor sessions.
Protect the digital thread and backups: Sign CAD/CAM/PLC code, keep air-gapped/immutable backups, and test restores regularly. Immutable WORM storage prevents insiders from tampering with the evidence or backups.
Combine HR processes with technical controls: Pre-employment screening, continuous vetting for sensitive roles, immediate access revocation on termination, and non-punitive reporting channels are as important as technical measures.
Prepare for safe investigations: Incident playbooks must prioritize safety. Capture volatile evidence only if it won’t endanger operations; preserve chain-of-custody using write-once logs and designated forensic processes.
How Shieldworkz supports your insider threat program
Shieldworkz helps translate checklist items into operational capability with minimal disruption:
Discovery & risk hotspot mapping (7-14 days): passive asset discovery, crown-jewel identification, and a prioritized insider-risk register.
Access & vendor governance implementation: RBAC design, PAM deployment guidance, jump-host configuration, and session-recording operationalization.
Monitoring & analytics tuning: deploy OT-compatible SIEM ingestion, UBA models tuned to industrial process cycles, and FIM for PLC/HMI projects.
HR & process integration: templates for background checks, termination playbooks, and policies to tie HR alerts into security workflows.
Playbooks & tabletop exercises: safety-first IR playbooks, legal/HR coordination plans, and simulated insider scenarios to validate detection and response.
Audit readiness & standards mapping: documentation aligned to IEC 62443 and evidentiary trails for compliance or certification reviews.
Our engagements are designed to respect production calendars and safety constraints - improvements that are measurable, repeatable, and defensible to auditors and executives.
Take action today: Secure insider risk before it becomes an incident
Insider threats in OT are inevitable; unpreparedness is optional. Download the Insider Threat Protection Checklist to get the full set of controls, templates, and a pragmatic roadmap you can implement with your existing teams.
Fill out the form to receive the checklist and schedule a complimentary 30-minute scoping call with a Shieldworkz OT specialist. We’ll help you identify quick wins and design a non-disruptive pilot that protects safety, product integrity, and uptime.
Download your copy today!
Get our free Insider Threat Protection Checklist and make sure you’re covering every critical control in your industrial network
When people errors or misuse become safety incidents
Insider threats are different in OT/ICS environments. In industrial sites a single mistaken click, a compromised engineering workstation, or a disgruntled contractor can change a PLC setpoint, wipe a historian, or corrupt a digital twin - and those actions can lead to production loss, safety incidents, or regulatory exposure. This Insider Threat Protection Checklist from Shieldworkz gives plant leaders, OT engineers, security teams and HR practical, prioritized actions to reduce that risk without disrupting operations.
Why this matters now
Insider incidents cause an outsized share of OT outages and near-misses because industrial control systems combine fragile legacy devices, vendor maintenance dependencies, and highly privileged engineering workflows. The consequences in production environments are immediate and sometimes irreversible: wrong firmware on an autoclave, deleted CNC programs, or tampered recipe files can mean scrap parts, failed certifications, safety recalls, or worse.
Unlike pure IT, fixed industrial processes make “block everything” approaches unsafe. Insider protections for OT must balance availability, safety and evidence collection. That balance is what this checklist is designed to deliver: practical controls that defend against malicious or accidental insiders while keeping your certified processes and change windows intact.
Why you should download this checklist
This is not a long academic paper - it’s an operational instrument you can use today:
Actionable & assignable: Every control includes clear actions, priorities (Critical/High/Medium), and recommended frequency so you can assign owners and due dates.
OT-safe guidance: Controls are written for control rooms and engineering workflows - passive monitoring, tested rollbacks, and non-disruptive enforcement where needed.
Standards-aligned: Mapped to IEC 62443 and established OT guidance so you can show auditors and executives how controls satisfy recognized frameworks.
Human + technical: Covers HR processes (screening, termination, monitoring) alongside PAM, UBA, FIM, and air-gapped backups - because insider defense is people and tech.
Quick wins & roadmap: Includes immediate steps you can implement in days and a 12-24 month maturation path for advanced controls like PKI, continuous UBA, and WORM backups.
If you’re responsible for OT safety, compliance, or uptime, this checklist helps you convert risk statements into measurable, plant-compatible controls.
Key takeaways from the checklist
Access control is your first line of defense: Implement RBAC for operators, engineers and admins; enforce least privilege; use PAM for time-boxed admin sessions; require MFA for remote and privileged access. These measures prevent broad lateral movement and reduce the chance a single compromised account becomes a plant-wide problem.
Visibility beats assumptions: Passive asset discovery, continuous logging from PLCs/HMIs/historians, and CCTV correlation are essential. You can’t detect suspicious behavior if you don’t know what devices exist or what “normal” looks like.
Monitor for human signals, not just network noise: User behavior analytics (UBA), file integrity monitoring (FIM), and monitoring of removable media and bulk historian exports catch insider patterns - odd login times, sudden exports of design files, or unsigned code uploads.
Make vendor access transparent and time-limited: Replace standing VPNs and shared credentials with jump hosts, JIT credentials, recorded sessions, and contractual SLAs. Most insider pivots into OT originate from vendor or contractor sessions.
Protect the digital thread and backups: Sign CAD/CAM/PLC code, keep air-gapped/immutable backups, and test restores regularly. Immutable WORM storage prevents insiders from tampering with the evidence or backups.
Combine HR processes with technical controls: Pre-employment screening, continuous vetting for sensitive roles, immediate access revocation on termination, and non-punitive reporting channels are as important as technical measures.
Prepare for safe investigations: Incident playbooks must prioritize safety. Capture volatile evidence only if it won’t endanger operations; preserve chain-of-custody using write-once logs and designated forensic processes.
How Shieldworkz supports your insider threat program
Shieldworkz helps translate checklist items into operational capability with minimal disruption:
Discovery & risk hotspot mapping (7-14 days): passive asset discovery, crown-jewel identification, and a prioritized insider-risk register.
Access & vendor governance implementation: RBAC design, PAM deployment guidance, jump-host configuration, and session-recording operationalization.
Monitoring & analytics tuning: deploy OT-compatible SIEM ingestion, UBA models tuned to industrial process cycles, and FIM for PLC/HMI projects.
HR & process integration: templates for background checks, termination playbooks, and policies to tie HR alerts into security workflows.
Playbooks & tabletop exercises: safety-first IR playbooks, legal/HR coordination plans, and simulated insider scenarios to validate detection and response.
Audit readiness & standards mapping: documentation aligned to IEC 62443 and evidentiary trails for compliance or certification reviews.
Our engagements are designed to respect production calendars and safety constraints - improvements that are measurable, repeatable, and defensible to auditors and executives.
Take action today: Secure insider risk before it becomes an incident
Insider threats in OT are inevitable; unpreparedness is optional. Download the Insider Threat Protection Checklist to get the full set of controls, templates, and a pragmatic roadmap you can implement with your existing teams.
Fill out the form to receive the checklist and schedule a complimentary 30-minute scoping call with a Shieldworkz OT specialist. We’ll help you identify quick wins and design a non-disruptive pilot that protects safety, product integrity, and uptime.
Download your copy today!
Get our free Insider Threat Protection Checklist and make sure you’re covering every critical control in your industrial network
