Secure IT/OT Convergence Through Physical Boundary Enforcement
Convergence delivers operational efficiency but destroys the air gap that protected industrial systems for decades. Firevault Control restores the physical boundary while preserving the data flows that convergence enables.
Threat Response
You cannot firewall your way to an air gap. If a packet can traverse from your IT network to your OT environment, the boundary exists only in your network diagram, not in reality.
91%
Of OT environments now have some IT network connectivity
Zero
Persistent IT-to-OT network paths during production
Physical
Separation between IT and OT management planes
Full
IEC 62443 zone and conduit compliance evidence
Convergence creates pathways that industrial systems were never designed to defend.
Eroded Air Gaps
The physical separation that protected OT systems for decades has been replaced with firewalls and VLANs. These logical controls are bypassed through misconfigurations, credential theft, and zero-day vulnerabilities.
Legacy System Exposure
Industrial control systems running decades-old software are now reachable from IT networks. These systems cannot be patched, cannot run endpoint protection, and were never designed for network-connected operation.
Shared Management Planes
IT and OT often share authentication infrastructure, jump servers, and management tools. A compromise of the IT management plane provides direct access to OT control systems.
The Scenario
Scenario: IT Compromise Reaching Industrial Control Systems
A water treatment facility connects its SCADA systems to the corporate IT network for remote monitoring and reporting. An attacker compromises a corporate workstation through a phishing email and discovers the jump server used for SCADA access. Using harvested credentials, they traverse from the IT network to the OT environment, gaining access to programmable logic controllers that manage chemical dosing. With Firevault Control, the IT-to-OT boundary is physically enforced. Data flows from OT to IT for monitoring occur through the Transfer module during scheduled windows, but there is no persistent path from IT into the OT environment. The jump server is physically disconnected from OT infrastructure outside authorised maintenance windows.
"We had a firewall between IT and OT with 47 rules. Our penetration testers traversed it in 3 hours. The only separation that would have stopped them was physical disconnection."
Restore the air gap without losing the data.
Firevault Control restores physical separation between IT and OT environments while preserving the monitoring and reporting data flows that convergence enables. The boundary is enforced through physical disconnection, not firewall rules that can be bypassed.
- Physical IT/OT boundary that cannot be traversed through privilege escalation
- Separate management planes for IT and OT infrastructure
- Controlled, time-bound data flows for monitoring and reporting
- Emergency OT isolation that preserves safe operation
- IEC 62443 zone and conduit compliance evidence
- Tamper-proof logging of all boundary crossings
Isolate — IT/OT Boundary Enforcement
Module 1 of 4Physically separates IT and OT networks at the boundary. No packet can traverse between zones without passing through a physically controlled conduit that activates only during authorised windows.
Key Capabilities
Physical Boundary Enforcement
The IT/OT boundary is enforced through physical disconnection, not firewall rules. No misconfiguration, credential theft, or zero-day can bypass a path that does not exist.
One-Way Data Diodes
Monitoring data flows from OT to IT through controlled transfer mechanisms that prevent any return path from IT into the OT environment.
Separate Management Planes
IT and OT management infrastructure exists on physically separate networks. Compromise of IT management systems provides no path to OT control systems.
Emergency OT Isolation
A single authorised command physically severs all IT/OT connections, allowing OT systems to continue safe operation while the IT compromise is contained.
Conduit Activity Logging
Every data transfer and maintenance session across the IT/OT boundary is logged on physically disconnected storage for compliance and forensic purposes.
IEC 62443 Compliance
Physical zone and conduit architecture maps directly to IEC 62443 requirements, with automated evidence generation for audit and certification.
Demo to Live
Adoption Guide
Convergence Point Audit
Map every connection between IT and OT environments, including shared management infrastructure, jump servers, historian links, and vendor access paths.
Zone and Conduit Design
Design physically separated zones aligned to the Purdue model with controlled conduits for each authorised data flow and maintenance path.
Non-Critical System Pilot
Deploy physical boundary enforcement on a non-critical OT segment, testing monitoring data flows, maintenance windows, and emergency isolation procedures.
Full OT Deployment
Extend to all IT/OT boundaries with automated compliance evidence generation, continuous conduit monitoring, and integration with existing SCADA management.
Convergence Point Audit
Map every connection between IT and OT environments, including shared management infrastructure, jump servers, historian links, and vendor access paths.
Zone and Conduit Design
Design physically separated zones aligned to the Purdue model with controlled conduits for each authorised data flow and maintenance path.
Non-Critical System Pilot
Deploy physical boundary enforcement on a non-critical OT segment, testing monitoring data flows, maintenance windows, and emergency isolation procedures.
Full OT Deployment
Extend to all IT/OT boundaries with automated compliance evidence generation, continuous conduit monitoring, and integration with existing SCADA management.
Questions
Frequently Asked
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See how Control can govern your data paths with physical enforcement no software exploit can bypass.