Scary Cyber Truths: 5 Best Practices Every Manufacturer Needs for OT Security

Halloween might be all about ghosts, goblins, and haunted houses—but for manufacturers, the real scares aren’t in your neighborhood. They’re lurking inside your operational technology (OT) systems.

Cyber attackers are the monsters you can’t see. They creep into plant networks through blind spots, disguise themselves in phishing emails, and haunt your production lines with downtime and data loss. And unlike Halloween decorations, these threats don’t go away on November 1st.

That’s why every manufacturer needs to follow proven best practices for OT security. Skip them, and you could find yourself living through a real horror story: halted machines, missed contracts, and reputational damage that’s harder to shake off than a bad ghost story.

Let’s pull back the cobwebs and look at five practices that protect your plant from cyber nightmares.

1. Segment Your Networks (Don’t Leave Doors Wide Open)

Think of your IT and OT systems as different rooms in a haunted house. If every door is wide open, one ghost can float through and spook everyone.

The same is true for cyber attackers. If IT and OT are fully connected, one breach in your office email system can spread to the plant floor.

Best Practice: Create segmented networks so each environment is protected. Even if attackers get into one area, they can’t move freely into your production systems.

2. Get Full Visibility (Shine a Flashlight Into the Dark)

You wouldn’t walk into a creepy basement without a flashlight, right? Yet many manufacturers are doing just that when it comes to their OT systems.

According to the 2024 OT Cybersecurity Report, only 5% of organizations have full visibility into their OT environments. That means attackers may already be lurking in the shadows.

Best Practice: Invest in OT-specific monitoring tools that help you see every device and connection on your network. The more light you shine, the fewer places attackers can hide.

3. Include OT in Your Incident Response Plan (Don’t Forget the Basement)

A lot of companies write incident response plans that only cover IT systems. That’s like locking the front door on Halloween but leaving the back door wide open for tricksters.

If your OT systems aren’t in your plan, your production lines could be sitting ducks when a breach happens.

Best Practice: Make sure your incident response playbooks cover both IT and OT. That means plant managers, operators, and production supervisors should be part of your “cyber fire drill.”

4. Simplify Your Tools (Too Many Potions Spoil the Cauldron)

Over time, manufacturers tend to collect a patchwork of security tools from different vendors. It’s like mixing too many spooky potions—you end up with a bubbling mess that’s hard to control.

Complexity is the enemy of security. The more systems you juggle, the harder it is to get a clear view of what’s really happening.

Best Practice: Consider consolidating your IT and OT security into a single platform. That way, you can manage everything from one place and react faster when trouble appears.

5. Use OT-Specific Threat Intelligence (Read the Right Spell Book)

Generic IT security tools don’t always understand the unique protocols and devices on the plant floor. It’s like bringing a vampire-hunting guide to fight zombies—you’ve got the wrong playbook.

Best Practice: Use threat intelligence built specifically for OT. That means tools and services designed to recognize attacks on PLCs, SCADA systems, and industrial devices, not just office PCs.

How TotalCare IT Helps Keep the Monsters Away

At TotalCare IT, we know manufacturers face enough real-world pressures without adding cyber nightmares to the list. That’s why we help plants across Idaho:

• Segment networks to block attacker movement

• Shine a light on blind spots with OT visibility tools

• Write incident response playbooks that cover the plant floor

• Consolidate tools into easy-to-manage platforms

• Use OT-focused threat intelligence to stop attacks before they spread

Our mission is simple: keep your operations safe, your uptime high, and your reputation intact.

Don’t Let Cyber Ghouls Haunt Your Plant

This Halloween, don’t just worry about ghosts at your door. Worry about the cyber attackers who’d love to creep into your plant floor.

Schedule a 15-minute call with TotalCare IT today. We’ll help you scare away cyber threats and keep your manufacturing operations safe—long after the Halloween decorations come down.