Insights from the Shieldworkz CISO Peer Survey 2025 Report, Decoding the OT Future

1. Table of Contents

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   Executive summary

The Shieldworkz CISO Peer Survey 2025 captures how security leaders across industrial sectors are thinking about OT/ICS, IoT and converged IT security as geopolitical pressure, ransomware activity and supply-chain complexity accelerate. The report surfaces three headline realities:

• CISOs increasingly feel the threat environment is worsening and report significant operational impact from incidents.
• Security teams are overwhelmed by noisy alerts, false positives and tooling gaps that undermine detection and response.
• Investment intent is there, but procurement will favour solutions that deliver measurable ROI, reduce manual toil, and improve OT visibility.

This web page expands those findings, places them within the latest industry intelligence, and presents practical steps for industrial organizations to close the gap between strategy and resilient operations.

2. Why this report matters – background & context

Industrial cyber risk has moved from theoretical to operational in boardrooms worldwide. In 2024–2025 several authoritative threat assessments and industry reports documented sharp increases in targeted activity against industrial environments, a proliferation of ransomware groups focusing on OT/ICS, and a shift toward attackers abusing valid credentials and living off the land. These broader trends mean CISOs can no longer relegate OT to “specialist IT” – OT risk requires dedicated strategy, tooling and service models tailored to process safety and availability.

3. Survey snapshot: what Shieldworkz CISOs told us (quick takeaways)

Below are the top-line findings from the Shieldworkz CISO Peer Survey 2025 (aggregated responses from CISOs and senior security leaders working in industrial and critical infrastructure organizations):

• Operational dashboards and decision support: ~41% reported they have a fully operational, relevant dashboard delivering the information they need to manage OT risk.
• Alert fatigue & prioritization: 55% say their teams struggle to prioritise security alerts; 70% report alert noise and false positives overwhelm analysts.
• Tooling shortages vs. emerging threats: 65% feel their current toolset is insufficient for emerging OT threats.
• Threat environment: 59% believe the threat landscape has materially deteriorated in the past 12 months.
• Recent incidents: 90% reported experiencing at least one major cyber incident in the prior 18 months.

These figures indicate that while leaders are aware of the problem, a broad operational shortfall persists – particularly in visibility, automation, and human capital.

4. The big picture: threat trends shaping CISO decisions in 2025

To place the Shieldworkz survey inside the global context, three widely reported trends are especially relevant:

1. OT/ICS targeting is rising, and ransomware is a key vector.Dragos and other OT specialists documented meaningful year-over-year increases in ransomware activity and groups targeting industrial environments, with exposed OT data and leaks becoming a common industry pain point. Industrial processes and availability are frequently the objective.
2. Attackers increasingly exploit valid credentials and living-off-the-land techniques.Large threat-intelligence programs observed sharp increases in credential abuse and techniques that avoid commodity malware, forcing defenders to rely on behavior and context-based detection rather than signature matching.
3. Resource strain and skills shortages are real and measurable.Industry surveys report understaffing, prolonged hiring timelines for cybersecurity roles, and burnout among security teams – all of which degrade the ability to detect and respond quickly. CISOs face the twin pressure of increasing expectations and limited headcount.

Taken together, these trends explain why many CISOs prioritise visibility, automation, and managed services – not just point-products.

5. Four core pain points for security teams – and why they persist

1) Lack of unified OT visibility

Many industrial plants still rely on segmented pockets of monitoring: network logs, PLC telemetry, historian data and third-party scanners that don’t communicate. Without a canonical OT picture, detection rules are brittle and root-cause investigations are slow. The survey’s dashboard number (~41%) reflects how rare a truly unified operational view still is.

2) Alert overload and poor prioritization

High false-positive rates (70% reporting being overwhelmed) consume analyst cycles and mask high-impact incidents. In OT, the stakes are different – a misrouted alert can delay action on a real disruption that affects safety or production.

3) Tooling mismatch and integration gaps

Security teams often have multiple products that don’t integrate cleanly with OT toolchains or engineering workflows. Responding effectively requires context – asset criticality, process dependency and maintenance windows – which many IT-centric tools lack.

4) People & process fragility

Even the best tools fail without skilled operators and operational playbooks. The hiring slowdown, long fill times for roles, and burnout reported by industry surveys mean playbooks stay on paper while attackers iterate.

6. Tech roadmaps & procurement signals – what CISOs will buy in the next 12 months

Based on survey responses and market signals, procurement priorities in 2025 look like this:

• OT-native visibility platforms that map process flows, asset interdependencies and cross-domain communications.
• SOAR and case automation for OT workflows – not generic IT SOAR, but playbooks that respect maintenance windows and safety constraints.
• Identity-centric controls and credential protection – multifactor authentication for critical OT interfaces and segmentation of human/automation identities.
• Managed detection & response (MDR) for OT – hybrid models where vendors provide 24/7 detection with operator-facing playbooks.
• Rapid assessment & patch orchestration services that can triage high-impact vulnerabilities without disrupting operations.

Vendors that can demonstrate clear ROI (mean time to detect/reduce false positives/avoid production downtime) will win program dollars. Recent industry commentary also shows CISOs expect vendors to shoulder more integration and outcomes risk than they did previously.

7. Sector focus: specific implications by industry

OT risk plays out differently across sectors. Here’s a condensed view of the implications for the verticals Shieldworkz serves.

Energy & Utilities

Availability is a primary safety and regulatory concern. Attacks that disrupt grid control or telemetry risk cascading outages; investment is increasingly directed at resilient communication stacks and micro-segmentation.

Oil & Gas

Complex supply chains and remote operations increase exposure. Remote terminal units (RTUs) and integrated supplier systems present lateral movement paths that attackers exploit.

Manufacturing & Large Process Industries

Downtime directly equates to lost revenue. Here, anomaly detection that understands process baselines is often more valuable than signature-based antivirus.

Pharma & Life Sciences

Intellectual property protection and production integrity are the priorities. Threats include sabotage of batch processes and exfiltration of proprietary formulations.

Transportation & Logistics

Ransomware and supply-chain tampering can quickly ripple through distribution networks; identity management for third-party access is critical.

Water & Wastewater

Process availability and public safety are paramount. Many water operators are still modernizing legacy control systems and are prime targets for state and criminal actors.

For all sectors, the need is the same: contextual detection + resilient response tailored to process-centric risk.

8. Actionable strategy: how to move from reactive to resilient OT security

Below are practical steps CISOs should prioritize now:

1. Build a canonical OT asset & process inventory. Map not just devices, but process impact and safety dependencies.
2. Align detection to process intent, not just network anomalies. Use process-aware baselines (e.g., historian deviations) to lower false positives.
3. Adopt identity & least-privilege for automation accounts. Credential misuse is rising – control human and machine identities separately.
4. Operationalize playbooks with cross-discipline exercises. Run tabletop and full-scale drills that include engineering, operations and third-party suppliers.
5. Leverage managed OT detection where in-house skill is lacking. MDR models with OT expertise can shorten detection times and provide 24/7 monitoring.
6. Measure outcomes – MTTR, false positive rate, and production-impacting incidents. Drive procurement decisions with outcome KPIs.

Implementing these steps requires a pragmatic blend of process change, targeted automation and vendor partners who understand industrial operations.

9. How Shieldworkz helps – end-to-end OT security services explained

Shieldworkz is positioned to support industrial organizations across their entire OT security maturity curve. Our services combine engineering-grade understanding of industrial processes with security operations and cloud-native tooling. Key offerings include:

• OT Risk Diagnostics & Asset Discovery: Rapid, non-disruptive discovery of ICS assets, mapped to process risk and safety impact.
• Managed OT Detection & Response (M-OTDR): 24/7 monitoring by analysts fluent in PLC, historian and MES telemetry, with playbooks that respect production constraints.
• Incident Response & Crisis Management for OT: Field-ready containment procedures, forensic capture that preserves process integrity, and recovery playbooks.
• IEC 62443 & NIS2 Compliance Programs: Practical compliance roadmaps marrying standard controls to operational realities – ideal for energy, manufacturing, and critical infrastructure partners.
• Vulnerability Triage & Patch Orchestration: Prioritisation based on process impact and safe maintenance windows, with vendor coordination and testing.
• Identity & Access Management for OT/IoT: Segmentation, MFA for critical interfaces, and least-privilege models for machine identities.
• Training & Tabletop Exercises: Custom scenarios that align with plant operations and supply-chain realities.

What differentiates Shieldworkz is the combination of deep OT domain knowledge plus a commitment to measurable outcomes – not just selling tools but operational capabilities that reduce downtime and risk.

10. What to watch next: emerging trends & indicators for CISOs

CISOs should monitor several leading indicators through 2026:

• Increase in OT-focused ransomware groups and data leak activity. Keep an eye on OT leak sites and DLS activity as early warning.
• Shifts toward credential misuse and living-off-the-land techniques. Detection strategies must prioritize behavioral analytics.
• Supply-chain and third-party access incidents. Expect regulators to scrutinize vendor risk – ensure supplier security SLAs are enforceable.
• Evolving regulation (NIS2, sectoral rules). Investment in compliance is also an investment in documented, repeatable controls.
• Pressure on talent & budgets. Managed services and automation will remain critical as hiring timelines lengthen.

11. Appendix: methodology note, recommended resources & next steps

Methodology (brief): The Shieldworkz CISO Peer Survey 2025 aggregated responses from CISOs and senior security leaders across Energy, Oil & Gas, Manufacturing, Pharma, Transportation, Water and Critical Infrastructure in Q1–Q2 2025. Responses were weighted to reflect organization size and sector.

Selected reading & industry references

• Dragos – Year in Review (OT/ICS security trends).
• ENISA Threat Landscape 2024.
• IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence (2024–2025 updates).
• ISACA / industry surveys on workforce and readiness (2024–2025 trend summaries).

Recommended next steps for CISOs

1. Request a Shieldworkz OT Risk Diagnostic to get a process-mapped asset inventory.
2. Run a 48-hour “false-positive triage” to cut alert noise by tuning rules to process context.
3. Pilot a Shieldworkz Managed OT Detection engagement for a single site – measure MTTR and false positive rate at 30/60/90 days.

A practical note for security leaders

The Shieldworkz CISO Peer Survey 2025 shows that the narrative has shifted: industrial CISOs are no longer asking if a disruptive incident will happen – they’re asking when and how quickly they can get operations back to safe state. The answer is not another isolated product; it’s an operational partnership that blends OT engineering, tailored detection, identity controls, and measurable outcomes. Shieldworkz builds that partnership – to reduce noise, shorten response time, and protect what matters most: safety, continuity and critical industrial mission.

If you’d like a concise executive brief of the full survey findings, or a customised risk snapshot for your sector, reach out to Shieldworkz for a tailored consultation.