The rise of IoT and OT systems has brought unprecedented connectivity but also new cybersecurity challenges, making them prime targets for ransomware, malware, and supply chain attacks.
In an exclusive interview with
Website Planet, Vishram Mishra, a cybersecurity expert, sheds light on the biggest threats facing critical infrastructure and how organizations can safeguard their networks. He explains how legacy OT systems, a lack of real-time visibility, and increasing device complexity create vulnerabilities that cybercriminals exploit.
Mishra also highlights how MicroSec’s AI-driven, automation-first approach is redefining IoT security with lightweight, adaptive solutions tailored for industrial environments.
What are the biggest cybersecurity threats facing IoT and OT systems today?
One of the biggest threats is the increasing number of ransomware and malware attacks targeting OT-based critical infrastructure. Many OT systems still run on legacy platforms that were never designed with cybersecurity in mind, making them highly vulnerable. We also see risks from supply chain compromises and firmware-level attacks, especially in IoT devices where security is often overlooked in favor of cost or convenience.
Another major concern is the lack of real-time visibility and control — organizations often don’t know what’s connected to their networks or what vulnerabilities those assets carry. With the number of devices increasing exponentially, heterogeneity and proprietary systems contribute to a broader and more fragmented attack surface, where attackers can exploit protocol mismatches, unpatched components, and visibility gaps to gain footholds and move laterally across systems.
How does MicroSec differentiate itself from other cybersecurity solutions in the market?
At MicroSec, we approach security holistically — from both inside the device and across the network. Our ultra-lightweight MicroAgents provide built-in, security-by-design protection at the device level. They also leverage advanced AI at the edge for intelligent, adaptive threat detection — even in low-connectivity or resource-constrained environments.
On the network side, our MicroIDS platform delivers real-time threat detection, network segmentation, vulnerability management, and automatic remediation to ensure fast and effective containment of threats. Supporting this architecture is our patented LCMS (Lightweight Cryptographic Management Suite), which provides streamlined PKI, certificate management, key provisioning, and lifecycle management tailored for OT and IoT. It enables secure onboarding and communication, with support for post-quantum cryptography (PQC).
In addition, our CyberAssessor is the world’s first tool of its kind to automatically identify compliance gaps against industry standards like IEC 62443, and apply the necessary controls without manual effort. This tightly integrated, AI-driven, and automation-first approach makes MicroSec uniquely equipped to secure today’s industrial ecosystems.
What strategies do you use to secure legacy OT systems that weren’t designed with cybersecurity in mind?
Our process begins with CyberAssessor, which performs an automated gap assessment to identify compliance and security weaknesses based on industry standards like IEC 62443. Based on the identified risks, automated security controls are applied, such as VLAN-based segmentation on switches or the automatic generation and application of firewall rules, helping to isolate critical assets and contain threats without disrupting operations.
We then activate our MicroIDS platform to enable continuous monitoring of the network using a hybrid approach — combining passive and active techniques to detect vulnerabilities, policy violations, and suspicious behavior in real-time. MicroIDS functionalities include deep protocol inspection, anomaly detection, zero-day threat detection, and adaptive threat response — all tuned for legacy and vendor-diverse environments.
To extend visibility into remote or segmented networks, we deploy AI-enabled MicroAgents, which can run on existing endpoints or be installed as standalone edge devices. These agents provide localized intelligence, adaptive anomaly detection, and real-time data collection even in bandwidth-limited or disconnected environments.
Finally, our LCMS protection suite delivers unified PKI management, enabling secure certificate provisioning, cryptographic key lifecycle management, and post-quantum cryptography (PQC) support. By integrating identity and encryption across siloed systems, LCMS reduces the attack surface and ensures secure communication across the entire infrastructure — legacy and modern alike.
Can you share an example or case study where MicroSec prevented a major security incident or helped a customer recover quickly?
Absolutely. In one real-world deployment with a critical infrastructure operator, MicroSec detected and stopped a malicious remote access attempt that leveraged a known vulnerability in a third-party remote management interface.
The attacker exploited this vulnerability to bypass authentication and gain unauthorized access to an engineering workstation connected to sensitive OT assets. While the access appeared legitimate on the surface — using valid-looking protocols and ports — MicroSec’s MicroAgent, deployed on the workstation, identified a sudden deviation in access patterns, including logins outside of the standard time window and abnormal command sequences not typically seen from that user profile.
At the same time, MicroIDS observed lateral movement attempts from the compromised machine, probing PLCs and SCADA systems that were unrelated to the user’s typical scope of access. Based on this combined behavior, our system triggered an automated response: the device was quarantined via VLAN segmentation, and access control policies were enforced to block further communication.
The customer was alerted within minutes — well before any critical command could be issued to the control network. Upon investigation, it was confirmed that the attacker had used a public exploit targeting an outdated remote access module, but had been stopped before any damage could be done.
How do AI and machine learning contribute to improving IoT security?
AI significantly enhances IoT and OT security by increasing detection accuracy and identifying threats that traditional systems may miss.
First and foremost, it increases detection accuracy by analyzing vast volumes of data in real-time and identifying subtle anomalies that rule-based systems often miss. This is especially valuable in detecting zero-day attacks, where no known signatures exist — allowing AI to spot novel behavior before damage is done.
We also leverage transfer learning to share intelligence across networks, allowing attack patterns identified in one environment to inform and protect others — a major advantage in distributed industrial deployments. Federated learning further improves security by learning system-wide behavioral baselines across multiple sites, without requiring raw data to be centralized — preserving privacy while still training robust models.
Through edge AI, our MicroAgents perform localized machine learning directly on devices, enabling on-site threat detection and adaptation, even when connectivity to the cloud is limited.
However, while AI brings significant power, it can also introduce high false positives, especially in noisy or dynamic environments.
To mitigate this, we combine AI with rule-based learning borders that act as a control layer, ensuring decisions remain accurate, explainable, and operationally safe. This multi-layered AI strategy allows us to deliver intelligent, distributed, and reliable protection that is purpose-built for complex industrial ecosystems.
What industries benefit the most from MicroSec’s security solutions, and why?
MicroSec’s solutions are purpose-built for industries that operate critical infrastructure and rely heavily on OT and IoT systems, where downtime, data compromise, or control disruption can lead to serious consequences. The industries that benefit the most include:
1.
Maritime and Ports: Vessels, port terminals, and maritime logistics rely on complex, distributed systems with limited connectivity. MicroSec’s edge AI, post-quantum-ready cryptography (for satellite communication), automated remediations, and lightweight continuous monitoring make it ideal for securing this sector.
2.
Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0: With highly connected factories and mixed-vendor equipment, manufacturing environments benefit from MicroSec’s lightweight MicroAgents, real-time monitoring, and automated remediation to reduce cyber risks and maintain uptime.
3.
Energy and Utilities: Power plants, substations, and grid operators depend on legacy systems that require secure remote access, anomaly detection, and Zero Trust enforcement. MicroSec helps them monitor and segment these environments without disrupting operations.
4.
Smart Cities and Infrastructure: Public services such as traffic systems, water management, and building automation are increasingly reliant on connected devices. MicroSec enables security-by-design, centralized policy control, and standards-driven compliance for municipalities.
5.
Healthcare and Medical IoT: Devices in hospitals and clinics are often difficult to patch and critical to patient care. MicroSec’s solutions provide security-by-design, device visibility, behavioral anomaly detection, and secure identity management to protect patient safety and data privacy.
These sectors benefit because MicroSec offers a unified, standards-aligned, and lightweight cybersecurity stack that fits the unique constraints and regulatory requirements of each environment — all while reducing risk, cost, and compliance burden.
What role does compliance play in your solution design, and how do you help customers meet standards like IEC 62443 or NIST 800-82?
Compliance is a foundational pillar in the way we design and deliver our solutions. In OT and IoT environments, where systems are increasingly becoming targets of cyber threats, aligning with frameworks like IEC 62443, NIST 800-82, and other regulatory standards is essential — not just for security, but for operational continuity, stakeholder trust, and regulatory readiness.
Our CyberAssessor tool automates compliance by identifying gaps against industry standards and applying corrective controls where possible — dramatically reducing manual effort and audit preparation time. Our MicroAgents and MicroIDS enforce key technical controls such as access management, anomaly detection, and threat response, while LCMS manages identity, certificates, and key provisioning to support cryptographic requirements.
Rather than treating compliance as a one-time task, we enable continuous, standards-aligned security that helps customers stay resilient and audit-ready by design.
What partnerships or ecosystems are you building to scale MicroSec’s technology globally?
We’re building a robust global ecosystem that includes technology partners, device manufacturers, SOC operators, MSSPs, consulting firms, system integrators, and value-added distributors (VADs) to scale MicroSec’s cybersecurity solutions across critical infrastructure sectors.
We collaborate with hardware vendors to embed our MicroAgents and LCMS into edge devices, ensuring security-by-design at the device level. Through SOC operators and MSSPs, our platforms — including MicroIDS and CyberAssessor — are leveraged for real-time threat detection, risk management, and compliance enforcement.
Our consulting partners play a key role in helping customers navigate their end-to-end OT and IoT cybersecurity journey — from risk assessment and architecture planning to implementation, governance, and standards alignment (such as IEC 62443, Zero Trust, and PQC readiness). In parallel, technology partners and system integrators enable interoperability and seamless integration across complex IT-OT environments.
Lastly, our value-added distributors extend our global reach by offering local expertise, technical support, and pre-integrated solution bundles tailored to regional and sector-specific needs.
Together, this ecosystem allows MicroSec to deliver scalable, standards-aligned, and future-ready cybersecurity solutions worldwide.
What are the key trends shaping the future of IoT and OT security?
A major trend is the global push toward Zero-Trust architectures. While full implementation is difficult in legacy OT environments, many organizations are adopting a more practical approach through risk-based Zero Trust — dynamically applying access controls and enforcement based on asset criticality, behavior, and real-time risk assessments. This approach enables tighter security without requiring complete infrastructure overhauls.
At the same time, national-level cybersecurity standards are becoming more stringent, focusing not only on network and user-level access controls but also on device-level requirements. These standards increasingly mandate security by design, requiring features like cryptographic identity, secure boot, and encrypted communications to be embedded directly into devices. To meet future-proofing needs, there’s also growing adoption of post-quantum cryptography (PQC), especially for long-lifecycle OT systems that must remain secure even in a post-quantum era.
Another key shift is the evolution of network segmentation. Traditional static VLANs are giving way to dynamic, policy-driven segmentation, where devices can be automatically isolated or moved to different network zones based on detected threats or changing trust levels. This limits the spread of attacks without disrupting critical operations — a necessity in industrial environments.
Closely linked to segmentation is the rise of automation in security operations. From automatic firewall rule generation to real-time enforcement of controls based on threat intelligence or compliance gaps, automation helps reduce response time, human error, and operational burden — especially in complex, distributed infrastructures.
Finally, with IT and OT systems becoming increasingly interconnected, many organizations are moving toward centralized Security Operations Centers (SOCs) that monitor and respond across both domains. This convergence allows for unified visibility, faster incident response, and coordinated policy enforcement — all of which are essential for managing modern cyber-physical systems.
Find out more at:
www.microsec.io
