The Background: Why OT Automation is No Longer Optional
Historically, OT environments relied on “security by obscurity.” Today, industrial networks are hyper-connected. According to recent threat intelligence, the manufacturing sector has overtaken financial services as the most targeted industry for cyberattacks.
The primary hurdle in OT is the “Protocol Gap.” Traditional IT security tools speak HTTP/HTTPS; industrial tools speak Modbus, Profinet, and DNP3. Automation in this space requires “OT-native” intelligence-tools that can distinguish between a legitimate firmware update and a malicious command without crashing a sensitive legacy system.
Top 20 OT Security Automation & Orchestration Tools
We have categorized these tools based on their primary function within the industrial security stack: Visibility, Threat Detection, and Orchestration (SOAR).
1. Dragos Platform
Widely considered the “Cadillac” of OT security, Dragos provides deep-packet inspection (DPI) for industrial protocols. Its automation shines in vulnerability management, using a “Now, Next, Never” model to prioritize the 3-6% of vulnerabilities that actually pose a risk to your specific process.
2. Claroty (Focus Platform)
Claroty excels in the Extended Internet of Things (XIoT). Its automation capabilities focus on “Continuous Threat Detection” (CTD) and secure remote access. It automatically maps every asset, from the boiler in the basement to the robotic arm on the line.
3. Nozomi Networks Guardian
Nozomi leverages AI-driven insights to automate the baseline of “normal” network behavior. When an anomaly occurs-such as a strange command sent to a SCADA master-it triggers an automated alert with full forensic context, reducing mean-time-to-respond (MTTR).
4. Fortinet (FortiSOAR for OT)
Fortinet’s OT-specific SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response) provides hundreds of “playbooks.” These are automated workflows that can, for example, automatically isolate a compromised segment of a refinery’s network without human intervention.
5. Microsoft Sentinel (with Defender for IoT)
For organizations heavily integrated into the Azure ecosystem, Microsoft provides a cloud-native SIEM/SOAR. It automates the correlation of IT signals (like a phishing email) with OT signals (like an unauthorized PLC change), providing a unified defense.
6. Palo Alto Networks (Cortex XSOAR)
Cortex XSOAR is the heavyweight in the orchestration space. It automates the “incident lifecycle,” allowing OT teams to integrate disparate tools like firewalls, endpoint protection, and threat feeds into a single automated response engine.
7. Forescout (eyeInspect)
Formerly known as SilentDefense, eyeInspect specializes in automated asset inventory. In an environment where “you can’t protect what you can’t see,” Forescout automatically identifies and profiles every connected device in real-time.
8. Tenable.ot (Indegy)
Tenable.ot focuses on active and passive scanning. Its automation engine tracks “configuration drift”-automatically alerting you if a technician (or an attacker) changes a single line of code in a PLC.
9. Swimlane Turbine
A low-code security automation platform that is gaining massive traction in 2025. Turbine allows OT engineers-who might not be coders-to build complex automation “stories” to handle repetitive security tasks.
10. Splunk SOAR
Splunk’s acquisition of Phantom created a powerhouse for automated threat hunting. In OT, it is used to ingest massive amounts of sensor data and automatically surface high-fidelity threats while filtering out the “noise” of industrial vibrations.
11. Darktrace/OT
Darktrace uses “Self-Learning AI.” It doesn’t rely on signatures; it learns your specific industrial process and automatically “interrupts” suspicious activity in real-time, effectively acting as a digital immune system for the plant floor.
12. Cisco Cyber Vision
Integrated directly into Cisco’s industrial switches, Cyber Vision automates visibility at the edge. It allows for automated micro-segmentation, ensuring that if one machine is infected, the infection cannot move laterally to the rest of the factory.
13. IBM Security QRadar SOAR
A veteran in the space, IBM’s SOAR provides highly structured automation for compliance and regulatory reporting (like NIS2 or NERC CIP), which is a major pain point for OT operators.
14. Tines
Tines is a no-code automation tool that focuses on “connecting the dots.” It’s highly flexible, allowing OT teams to automate workflows between proprietary industrial software and modern security tools via APIs.
15. Rapid7 InsightConnect
Known for its ease of use, InsightConnect helps mid-sized industrial firms automate their incident response. It features pre-built plugins for popular OT firewalls and endpoint tools.
16. Torq Hyperautomation
Torq is the “next-gen” player in 2025, focusing on AI-driven hyperautomation. It uses natural language processing to help security teams describe an OT threat and automatically generate the necessary response workflow.
17. Siemens Siveillance
A niche but powerful tool for critical infrastructure. Siemens integrates physical security automation (cameras, sensors) with digital OT security, providing a “glass floor” view of the entire facility.
18. Honeywell Forge Cybersecurity+
Honeywell focuses on the automation of “USB Risk.” Given that 25% of OT incidents involve infected removable media, Forge automates the vetting and validation of every device plugged into the industrial network.
19. Radiant Security
An “Agentic AI” SOC platform. It uses autonomous AI agents to perform the work of a Tier-1 analyst, automatically triaging thousands of OT alerts and only escalating the ones that represent a physical risk.
20. CISA Malcolm (Open Source)
For those looking for a powerful, budget-friendly option, Malcolm is an open-source tool for automated network traffic analysis. It simplifies the process of visualizing and enriching OT telemetry.
Comparing the Top OT Automation Leaders
Key Trends to Watch in 2025
- Agentic AI: We are seeing a shift from “if-then” playbooks to autonomous AI agents that can investigate an incident, gather evidence, and propose a remediation plan.
- Software-Defined Automation (SDA): Companies like Siemens and Rockwell are moving toward SDA, which allows security policies to be updated as easily as a software patch.
- Zero Trust for OT: Automation is now being used to enforce “least privilege” access dynamically, meaning a contractor only gets access to a specific PLC for a specific window of time.
Conclusion: The Path Forward
Securing an OT environment is a marathon, not a sprint. The “Best 20” list above highlights that there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution. The key is to select tools that integrate seamlessly with your existing industrial hardware while providing the automation necessary to stay ahead of modern threat actors.
At OT Ecosystem, we believe that the future of industrial safety is inseparable from the future of industrial cybersecurity. By automating the mundane, we empower our human operators to focus on what matters most: keeping the world’s critical infrastructure running.