Protect SCADA systems, industrial control networks, and converged OT/IT environments with web filtering powered by 100 million classified domains across 59 content categories.
The air gap between operational technology and information technology no longer exists in modern manufacturing.
For decades, manufacturing operational technology networks -- the SCADA systems, PLCs, HMIs, and industrial sensors that control physical production processes -- were isolated from corporate IT networks and the internet. This air gap provided inherent security. But Industry 4.0, smart manufacturing, predictive maintenance, and cloud-based analytics have driven the convergence of OT and IT networks. PLCs now receive firmware updates from vendor cloud platforms. SCADA historians push data to cloud analytics services. HMIs connect to corporate dashboards. Every one of these connections creates a pathway that content risk actors can traverse from the IT network into the OT environment.
Web filtering at the network boundary between OT and IT zones provides a critical defensive layer. By classifying and filtering all domain-level traffic flowing between these environments, you can ensure that OT systems only communicate with approved vendor update servers, authorized cloud analytics platforms, and sanctioned management interfaces. Our database of 100 million classified domains enables manufacturers to create highly restrictive allowlist-style policies for OT network segments while maintaining more permissive but still security-conscious policies for IT zones. This defense-in-depth approach aligns with the Purdue Model and IEC 62443 zone-and-conduit architecture that industrial cybersecurity standards recommend.
Attacks on industrial control systems can cause physical damage, endanger workers, and halt production.
The consequences of a successful cyberattack on manufacturing SCADA and ICS systems go far beyond data loss. The Stuxnet attack demonstrated that unsafe content can cause centrifuges to spin out of control. The TRITON/TRISIS unsafe content targeted safety instrumented systems designed to prevent catastrophic failures. The Norsk Hydro ransomware attack forced one of the world's largest aluminum manufacturers to switch to manual operations, costing over $70 million. These are not theoretical scenarios -- they are documented incidents that underscore why protecting industrial control systems from internet-borne content risks is a matter of physical safety and operational continuity.
DNS and URL filtering provides a foundational defense for ICS environments. By blocking all outbound internet traffic from SCADA and ICS network segments except for explicitly approved domains -- vendor update servers, cloud historian endpoints, and authorized remote access gateways -- you eliminate the vast majority of attack vectors that rely on command-and-control communication or data leakage over HTTP/HTTPS. Our 59-category classification system identifies unsafe content distribution sites, restricted content domains, botnets, cryptomining infrastructure, and other content risk categories that have no legitimate reason to be accessed from an industrial control network.
Manufacturing relies on deep supply chain integration that extends network trust boundaries.
Modern manufacturing supply chains are deeply interconnected. Suppliers access your procurement portals. Equipment vendors connect remotely to perform maintenance on CNC machines and robotic systems. Logistics partners integrate with your warehouse management systems. Quality management platforms exchange data with customer and supplier organizations. Each of these integrations extends your network trust boundary and creates potential entry points for attackers who may compromise a less-secure supply chain partner to reach your systems.
Web filtering helps manage the risk introduced by supply chain connectivity. Workstations and jump servers used for vendor remote access can be filtered to allow only the specific domains and IP ranges associated with authorized vendor support platforms. Engineering workstations that access supplier portals can be prevented from simultaneously connecting to personal email, social media, or other domains that could serve as restricted content attack vectors. Our API-based classification enables automated policy updates as new vendor domains are onboarded or decommissioned, maintaining tight control over what external resources are accessible from your manufacturing network without creating manual overhead for your security team.
Manufacturing enterprises operate multiple production facilities with varying network maturity levels.
Large manufacturers often operate production facilities across multiple countries and continents, each with different network architectures, equipment vintages, and local IT capabilities. A state-of-the-art smart factory in one location may coexist with a legacy plant that still runs Windows XP on its SCADA workstations. Maintaining consistent cybersecurity policies across this heterogeneous environment is one of the greatest challenges facing manufacturing CISOs, particularly when local plant IT teams may have limited security expertise. A centralized corporate web security layer built on domain classification enforces the same policy everywhere, regardless of local infrastructure.
Our cloud-based API approach to domain classification enables centralized security policy definition with distributed enforcement across all manufacturing sites. Corporate security defines which content categories are blocked for each network zone type -- OT, engineering, office, and guest -- and these policies are enforced locally at each plant through whatever DNS or proxy infrastructure is available. Plants with modern SD-WAN deployments and plants with basic routers alike can query our API for real-time domain classification, ensuring that even the least sophisticated network receives the same content classification and filtering capabilities as the most advanced facility. With 100 million domains classified and sub-50ms response times, the classification layer adds negligible overhead to any plant's network infrastructure.
Security features aligned with industrial network requirements
Enforce strict allowlist policies on SCADA and ICS network segments. Block all domains except approved vendor, update, and cloud analytics endpoints to minimize the OT attack surface.
Block unsafe content, command-and-control, and cryptomining domains across all network zones. Prevent the initial infection vector that leads to lateral movement into OT environments.
Restrict remote vendor access workstations and jump servers to only the domains associated with authorized support platforms. Prevent vendor sessions from becoming pivot points for attackers.
Deploy consistent filtering policies across global manufacturing sites through a single API. Support heterogeneous network environments from modern SD-WAN to legacy infrastructure.
How industrial organizations leverage our web filtering database
SCADA and DCS networks that control production processes should have extremely limited internet access. Web filtering enables an allowlist approach where only specific vendor domains for firmware updates, cloud historian endpoints, and authorized NTP servers are permitted. All other DNS queries are blocked by default, preventing any unsafe content from establishing outbound communication.
Engineering workstations running CAD, CAM, and PLC programming software often have both OT and IT network access, making them high-value targets. Web filtering on these workstations blocks access to restricted content sites, unauthorized cloud storage, and personal webmail that could serve as vectors for credential theft or unsafe content delivery targeting industrial design files.
Modern factories deploy WiFi for handheld devices used by operators, quality inspectors, and maintenance technicians. This WiFi network needs internet access for cloud-based work order systems and documentation platforms but should not allow access to social media, streaming, or other productivity-draining and potentially malicious content categories.
Manufacturing organizations subject to NIST Cybersecurity Framework, IEC 62443, NIS2 Directive, or customer-mandated security requirements can use web filtering logs and categorization data as evidence of proactive network security controls during audits, certification assessments, and customer security reviews.
From SCADA to the shop floor -- protect manufacturing operations with 100 million classified domains