IIoT connectivity architectures

In the industrial world, 100 percent greenfield IIoT use cases are a rarity. As industries embrace digital innovations, they must factor in the unique characteristics of their existing connectivity frameworks, as discussed in the previous section. Due to the convergence of legacy OT infrastructure with IT connectivity frameworks, the cybersecurity envelope must extend to the industrial edge, factory floors, and remote field sites.

Security, however, incurs a cost. Plant downtime has massive cost implications, which plant managers want to avoid under any circumstances. Before introducing secured connectivity to a production environment, the threat landscape for the specific use case needs to be properly assessed, as does how these security technologies would interplay with that operational environment. An architectural understanding of secured industrial connectivity is also a precursor to implementing the appropriate security controls.

To design a secured network...