Rethinking Secure Remote Access to Industrial and OT Networks

Rethinking Remote Access eBook

Remote access is essential—but traditional solutions like VPNs and jump hosts are increasingly under fire from both attackers and regulators. With guidance from CISA and CCCS urging organizations to move beyond legacy remote access tools, the stakes for industrial and OT networks have never been higher.

This ebook demystifies secure remote access technologies, from classic firewalls and 2FA to hardware-enforced solutions and unidirectional gateways. Discover which approaches truly protect against today’s threat landscape—and which leave critical operations exposed.

Download the book now to:

arrow red right Gain a deep understanding of modern and legacy remote access technologies – including VPNs, firewalls, 2FA, jump hosts, cloud systems, and hardware-enforced solutions.

arrow red right Explore common attack scenarios and assess how different combinations of security technologies perform against actual threats

arrow red right Learn which security measures are most effective for specific attack types, helping you make informed decisions about protecting remote access in your organization

About the author
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Waterfall team

FAQs About Remote Access

Remote access for OT (Operational Technology) networks is the ability to connect to and control industrial systems from outside the facility—often over the internet or corporate IT networks.

This allows engineers, vendors, or operators to:

  • Monitor and manage ICS, SCADA, and other OT systems remotely

  • Perform maintenance, updates, or troubleshooting without being on-site

  • Enable emergency intervention from anywhere

✅ Common technologies for remote access:

  • VPNs – Secure encrypted tunnels into OT networks

  • Jump servers / Bastion hosts – Controlled gateways between IT and OT

  • Remote Desktop (RDP/VNC) – Access to HMI or control workstations

  • OT-specific platforms – Purpose-built tools for safe industrial remote access

  • MFA / 2FA – Authentication to ensure only authorized users connect

⚠️ Remote access increases convenience, but also creates potential entry points for attackers if not properly secured.

Organizations use remote access to:

1. Improve Efficiency

  • Engineers can diagnose and configure systems without traveling

  • Reduces downtime for routine maintenance

2. Support Vendor Access

  • Equipment vendors can update or troubleshoot systems remotely

  • Faster support without waiting for on-site technicians

3. Handle Emergencies

  • Teams can respond to incidents outside working hours

  • Quick intervention minimizes production impact

4. Lower Costs

  • Saves money on travel, labor, and incident response

  • Enables small OT teams to manage multiple sites

5. Enable Remote Operations

  • Operators can control or monitor sites across large geographic areas

  • Ideal for distributed infrastructure like pipelines, wind farms, or utilities

While powerful, remote access brings serious cybersecurity risks to industrial environments:

⚠️ Top Risks Include:

  1. Unauthorized Access

    • Stolen or reused credentials can give attackers access

    • Weak or shared authentication increases exposure

  2. Vulnerable Technologies

    • VPNs, RDP, and web tools may have unpatched flaws

    • Attackers exploit them to gain a foothold in OT

  3. Lateral Movement

    • Once inside, attackers move from one device to another

    • Can lead to control over critical operations

  4. Human Error

    • Remote staff may misconfigure systems

    • Vendors might introduce malware accidentally

  5. Malware and Ransomware

    • Remote sessions can be used to inject malicious code

    • Poor segmentation allows malware to cross into OT from IT

  6. Regulatory and Safety Violations

    • Unauthorized changes can impact safety and compliance

    • Could trigger penalties, outages, or safety incidents


Conclusion: Remote access brings flexibility, but also risk. Implementing strong authentication, network segmentation, monitoring, and vendor controls is essential to stay secure.

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