Representative engagement
OT Network Segmentation for a Process Operator
A representative brownfield segmentation engagement for an operator that needs stronger network separation without disrupting production.
Client profile
Industrial processing operator
Client situation
A UK process operator was reviewing an established OT environment supporting continuous operations. The network had evolved over a number of years as PLCs, SCADA systems, engineering workstations, historians and vendor-support connections were added or modified. The engineering team no longer had a sufficiently clear picture of which communications were necessary, where trust boundaries should sit, or how segmentation could be introduced without affecting production. The requirement was not a wholesale network replacement, but a practical target architecture and a controlled route from the existing environment to a more defensible segmented design.
The engagement
What the client needed
- confirm the existing OT architecture and identify uncertain interfaces
- identify the communications genuinely required for operation and support
- define appropriate security zones, conduits and trust boundaries
- identify uncontrolled or unnecessary network pathways
- produce a target architecture and migration approach that respects operational constraints
How Meridian would approach it
- reconcile available drawings, configuration information, asset data and engineering knowledge against the installed system
- group assets according to function, consequence, trust requirement and operational dependency rather than IP addressing alone
- map required communications between zones and record them as defined conduits
- derive firewall and access-control requirements from operational need instead of assumption
- sequence implementation, testing and rollback around maintenance windows and outage constraints
What the client would receive
- validated OT architecture baseline
- zone and conduit model
- permitted-flow and interface record
- target network architecture
- prioritised segmentation and migration plan
What this would enable
Client outcome
The client would leave the engagement with an agreed architecture baseline, a reviewable zone-and-conduit model, identified interface requirements and a prioritised route for improving segmentation without requiring a disruptive clean-sheet redesign.
Representative engagement: this scenario is based on common industrial requirements and shows how Meridian would approach the work. It is not presented as a completed client engagement.
From example to a defined engagement
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Have a defined OT or IEC 62443 question?
Use the 30-minute introductory call to outline the system, decision, project stage and evidence currently available. Keep sensitive site details out of the booking form.