Distinguishing features of IIoT connectivity

The industrial internet and Industrie 4.0 are driving the transformation of industrial assets into cyber-physical entities. The erstwhile air-gapped devices and operational domains are now being connected to business application systems over IP-based network infrastructure (Figure 5.3):

Figure 5.3: Transition of industrial systems from unconnected to converged IT/OT model 

Ubiquitous connectivity introduces new operational dynamics in OT environments. To adequately protect OT connectivity, we need to consider its key distinguishing aspects, as discussed in this section.

Deterministic behavior

Traditionally, in industrial systems, field devices such as sensors communicate with control and actuation devices such as PLCs in highly deterministic modes. Consider the example of an oil and gas plant where the field sensors send out data in deterministic timeframes. The control devices receive, process, and analyze this data to send out control and actuation...