Cyberattacks & Downtime: Why OT Security Can't Wait Anymore

The divide between information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) no longer exists.

According to the World Economic Forum's Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026, the manufacturing sector is now seeing IT and OT systems converge, driving efficiencies but dramatically expanding the attack surface.

This convergence is creating urgent vulnerabilities that industrial organisations are not yet equipped to address.

Despite the growing exposure, only 16% of organisations with industrial environments report OT security issues to their boards. Just 20% maintain dedicated OT security teams.

Without board-level oversight, investment lags and enterprise-wide understanding of risk remains superficial. When disruptions occur in industrial systems, their effects cascade far beyond a single organisation, reaching suppliers, partners and national economies.

Legacy infrastructure compounds the problem further. Some 31% of survey respondents identified legacy systems as one of their greatest challenges to achieving cyber resilience.

Taking place on 10 June at 3pm BST, an Acronis webinar, The OT resilience blueprint: Protecting industrial operations from cyberattacks and downtime, will host experts on OT cybersecurity.

Damage from downtime

Modern OT attacks are not just about data theft. Availability is the target.

Ransomware groups have learned that halting a production line or disabling SCADA systems delivers immediate, measurable pain. Downtime translates directly to lost revenue, contractual penalties and reputational damage.

For OT leaders, the ability to recover operations in minutes rather than days has become the most critical metric of all.

Recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO) must be calibrated specifically for OT environments, where legacy systems, air-gapped networks and proprietary machine logic complicate conventional backup strategies.

Protecting SCADA systems, PLCs and engineering workstations requires a strategy built for operational realities, not retrofitted from IT playbooks.

Register for the Acronis webinar now to learn how to take action for OT security.

What the webinar will cover

Built for OT technical leaders responsible for uptime, this webinar delivers actionable guidance across the full spectrum of industrial security challenges.

Sessions will address:

• Why availability and uptime are the real targets in modern OT attacks
• How to reduce downtime using realistic OT recovery metrics including RTO, RPO and mean time to contain and recover (MTCR)
• How to protect SCADA systems, PLCs, engineering workstations and other ICS components
• How to strengthen resilience across the Purdue model without disrupting operations
• How to secure legacy and air-gapped environments without costly downtime
• How to meet IEC 62443, NERC CIP and FDA 21 CFR Part 11 requirements without slowing production.

Expert voices and real-world strategies

The webinar brings together three specialist organisations with deep industrial security experience.

Speakers from Acronis, GuidePoint Security and Copia Automation will join forces for a discussion covering the real-world challenges and strategies for securing industrial environments.

Attendees will also see a unified demo of full-stack recovery, illustrating how to restore both infrastructure and machine logic across the Purdue model.

The speaker line-up includes:

• Ryan Davis, Senior Director, Enterprise Sales at Acronis
• Subramani Rao, Senior Manager, Cybersecurity Solutions Strategy at Acronis
• Mary Gannon, OT Incident Response Lead at GuidePoint Security
• Adam Gluck, Founder and CEO of Copia Automation
• J.D. Perham, Solutions Architect at Acronis.

Each speaker brings front-line experience of securing live industrial environments against today's most disruptive threats.

Register for The OT resilience blueprint: Protecting industrial operations from cyberattacks and downtime and leave with a practical framework you can apply immediately.