1. Protection of Critical Infrastructure: OT cybersecurity is a key component of protecting the uptime, security, and safety of industrial environments and critical infrastructure1. It safeguards operating technology assets, systems, and processes from cyber attacks

2. Regulatory Compliance: Organizations focus on OT cybersecurity to comply with strict regulatory requirements1. also offers scalable system capabilities

3. Reduced Risk of Cyber Attacks: The connectedness of OT environments, IT-OT convergence, and the proliferation of cyber-physical systems have expanded OT owners’ attack surface1. Cyber attacks on this sector have intensified

4. Financial Implications: According to the 2021 Cost of a Data Breach Report by IBM and Ponemon Institute, the average cost of a breach was $4.65 million in energy and $4.24 million in the industrial sector

5. Physical Consequences: OT cyberattacks tend to have higher, more negative effects than those in IT do, as they can have physical consequences (for example, shutdowns, outages, leakages, and explosions)

6. Geopolitical Risks: Geopolitical risks in 2022 resulted in an 87 percent increase in ransomware incidents