For decades, the belief that operational technology (OT) systems were “safe by separation” shaped how Australia’s critical infrastructure was built, managed and defended. Air-gapped environments were treated as inherently secure — physically isolated, shielded from the internet, and largely immune to the threat landscape engulfing IT.
2025 proved, conclusively, that this assumption is dead.
Not because operators abandoned it, but because the world outpaced it.
Across mining, utilities, energy, transport and manufacturing, the drive toward modernisation — AI-powered maintenance, digital twins, cloud-connected applications, vendor remote support and automated operations — forced OT online at a scale that had never existed before. Isolation wasn’t eroded by choice; it was erased by necessity.
And with that shift came a new reality:
If you can’t see your OT environment, you can’t protect it.
1. The Forces That Finally Closed the Gap
The death of the air gap wasn’t a single event — it was a long-building convergence of operational, technological and economic pressures.
AI and digital twins require real-time, high-fidelity data loops.
Predictive maintenance tools, asset-health models and digital-twin simulations are only as useful as the freshness of their data. Operators who relied on manual inputs quickly found themselves at a disadvantage.
Remote diagnostics and vendor access became operationally essential.
OEMs and service partners increasingly mandate remote support pathways as part of modern service contracts — accelerating the connection of previously isolated environments.
Cloud-connected industrial software became the standard.
Historian systems, fleet management, production optimisation and OT analytics platforms all moved to cloud-native architectures.
Workforce shortages amplified the shift.
With fewer staff on site, automation, remote monitoring and centralised control rooms became the only viable model for maintaining continuity.
These forces — all legitimate and strategic — didn’t merely narrow the air gap.
They eliminated it.
2. The Exposure Moment
When OT environments were first connected, the reality was stark:
Legacy didn’t magically modernise itself.
Operators discovered:
Unpatched, unsupported and undocumented systems were suddenly reachable.
Many industrial assets simply weren’t engineered for connectivity. They lacked patching pathways, authentication options or modern encryption standards.
Visibility gaps created dangerous blind spots.
In some environments, the moment telemetry tools were switched on, operators realised they had no complete inventory — no authoritative list of what was connected, how it communicated or who could access it.
Attackers exploited interconnected pathways faster than defenders anticipated.
Once IT and OT became intertwined, threat actors used lateral movement techniques that traditional OT defences were never designed to counter.
“Unknown unknowns” became a new category of risk.
Hidden devices. Forgotten links. Inherited connections. Shadow networks.
Critical infrastructure operators discovered that their biggest vulnerabilities were often the assets they didn’t know existed.
3. SOCI as the Accelerant
The Security of Critical Infrastructure Act (SOCI) didn’t kill the air gap — but it did expose why it had already died.
2025 saw Boards and regulated entities face rising accountability for visibility, detection capability, governance and uplift. SOCI obligations forced a shift from theoretical protection to demonstrable resilience.
Where operators previously asked, “Are we isolated?”
SOCI forced them to ask, “Are we observable? Are we recoverable?”
The result was a national reset: organisations realised that isolation is not a strategy — but visibility is.
4. What Connectivity Actually Changed
Once OT systems came online, the entire operating model changed with them.
IT and OT became interdependent.
Network segmentation, identity controls, change management and incident response could no longer be siloed. A failure on one side carried potential consequences for the other.
Reliability risks became cybersecurity risks.
In industrial environments, the line between downtime and danger is thin. A cyber incident is no longer an IT problem — it’s a production, safety and economic problem.
Operators needed unified monitoring.
Disconnected consoles and separate SOCs were no longer practical.
A blended view of IT and OT telemetry became essential for early detection and contextual response.
OT SOC capability emerged as a requirement, not a luxury.
Industrial environments need threat hunters who understand protocols like Modbus and DNP3, not just Windows Event Logs.
They need analysts trained to differentiate between a network anomaly and a process-upset condition.
They need incident responders who can coordinate with engineering teams, not just IT.
This convergence is where Orro has focused deeply — combining IT SOC capability, OT visibility tooling, process-aware threat detection, and regulated-environment expertise.
5. The New Reality: Visibility Over Isolation
With the air gap gone, visibility has become the foundational pillar of critical infrastructure resilience.
Modern OT protection now hinges on:
1. Asset Identification and Inventory
No resilience is possible without knowing what exists.
Operators need authoritative, continuously updated OT asset inventories — not static spreadsheets.
2. Real-Time Monitoring and Detection
Continuous telemetry from controllers, sensors, PLCs and HMIs is essential for spotting early anomalies.
3. Segmentation and Access Control
The move from “flat” networks to tiered, role-based architectures is essential for containing incidents.
4. OT-Focused Playbooks and Simulation
Traditional IT incident response plans are not fit-for-purpose in industrial environments.
Operators need OT playbooks aligned to process safety, production continuity and restoration windows.
5. Joint IT/OT Governance
The old silos are no longer defensible.
Boards expect unified accountability, joint ownership and shared reporting.
6. The Mindset Shift
Perhaps the most significant shift of 2025 wasn’t technological — it was philosophical.
OT is no longer an island.
Safety, reliability and cybersecurity are now inseparable.
Operators can no longer assume isolation; they must assume connection.
And once they do, they can plan for it.
2025 marked the point of no return — the year the industry collectively recognised that visibility, governance and resilience now matter more than physical separation ever did.
The Way Forward: Building the Connected, Resilient Environments of 2026
The organisations succeeding today are those who embraced this reality early — modernising their OT environments, uplifting their SOC capabilities, aligning to SOCI, and building operational resilience into the fabric of their architecture.
For critical infrastructure operators, Australia’s national resilience depends on the decisions made now. And for those navigating this shift, Orro brings the integrated expertise across OT, IT, cloud, networks and cyber to guide the way with authority.
The air gap is gone.
Visibility is here to stay.
Resilience starts with what you can see — and what you prepare for.
This article was informed by direct experiences and insights from Orro’s OT, Critical Infrastructure, and Cyber Leadership Teams, working at the frontline of operational environments across Australia.
