When production can’t pause.
Bishop Fox helps manufacturers secure the systems and autonomous heavy equipment that keep production moving: plant applications and networks, OT/ICS, IIoT, MES/ERP integrations, and cloud-connected workflows. We go beyond checkbox testing and simulate real attackers in the environments where downtime, safety issues, and IP loss turn into real business risk.
When Production Can’t Stop
Manufacturers who build heavy machinery are the backbone of real-world uptime and safety; especially the equipment that powers food production and other essential supply chains. As these machines become more connected, and software-driven (IIoT, telemetry, remote support, autonomy), they also become high-value targets: disruption can halt production, safety incidents can escalate fast, and IP or design data can be stolen and reused.
Bishop Fox helps manufacturers take a proactive approach to security, testing the applications, hardware, and systems that keep production running. With more than two decades in offensive security, we combine expert-led testing and AI/tech-enabled delivery to uncover real attack paths, so weaknesses are found and fixed before they lead to downtime, safety issues, or IP loss.
Services Engineered for Essential Production Environments
Every engagement is designed to protect manufacturing operations, keep production moving, and meet compliance expectation and customer requirement—from the machines and control systems on the factory floor, all the way out to the security expectations your supply chain and OEMs require you to meet.
Whether we’re validating IT and OT segmentation , testing remote access and cloud-connected production workflows, or supporting audit readiness, Bishop Fox helps manufacturers strengthen security where it matters most.
Emulate real adversaries targeting plants, corporate networks, and production pipelines with engagements built around meaningful objectives (IP access, production disruption, lateral movement, fraud scenarios).
Our penetration testing is built for the realities of manufacturing. We test the environments that keep production running: plant networks, OT/ICS, API, remote access, and cloud-connected workflows; and we also evaluate the products you ship, including connected heavy machinery and embedded systems, to find the attack paths that could lead to downtime, and safety impact.
Our managed services identify, prioritize, and help you remediate business-impacting exposures across your attack surface, taking the burden off your teams while strengthening your security posture.
Manufacturers operate under layered requirements; we align offensive testing to the standards and expectations that commonly show up in manufacturing audits, contracts, and OEM requirements, including:
OT/ICS-specific: ISA/IEC 62443, NIST SP 800-82
NIST CSF Manufacturing Profile (roadmap-style guidance tailored to manufacturing environments)
DFARS 252.204-7012 / NIST SP 800-171 expectations for defense supply chain and controlled information
CMMC readiness (where applicable for DoD contractors and subs)
TISAX (common in automotive ecosystems and supplier networks)
ISO/IEC 27001 alignment for broader ISMS requirements (when manufacturing security is driven by enterprise governance)
SOC 2
CIRCIA new federal mandate for critical infrastructure
EU product security: Cyber Resilience Act (CRA)
Data privacy: GDPR, CCPA/CPRA
From remote access pathways and vendor tooling to firmware, exposed services, and cloud-to-plant connectivity, we evaluate your full operating ecosystem, not just what sits behind your firewall. (And yes, that includes third parties and “temporary” integrations that never go away.)
Tabletop exercises and simulations for your executives and operational teams. They are designed to accelerate decisions and reduce dwell time in the event of a breach.
ADVANCED RED TEAMING & THREAT SIMULATION
PENETRATION TESTING
CONTINUOUS THREAT EXPOSURE MANAGEMENT
REGULATORY GAP ASSESSMENT & ADVISORY
SUPPLY CHAIN & THIRD-PARTY SECURITY TESTING
INCIDENT RESPONSE READINESS & TABLETOP EXERCISES
Featured Manufacturing Customer
Bishop Fox security consultants that specialize in testing and finding vulnerabilities whether it be in software, embedded systems or cloud environments, have been a very impressive partner that connects with John Deere's mission and also with our security group.
Offensive Security for Manufacturers Explained
Bishop Fox provides a full range of offensive security services built for the realities of manufacturing environments — including OT/ICS hardware penetration testing, red team engagements, continuous threat exposure management (CTEM) solutions, product security assessments, and incident response tabletop exercises. Every engagement is designed around the operational constraints and risk profile of industrial environments, where downtime, safety, and IP protection are the stakes.
We align testing and reporting to the frameworks most commonly required in manufacturing audits, contracts, and OEM relationships, including ISA/IEC 62443, NIST SP 800-82, NIST CSF Manufacturing Profile, DFARS 252.204-7012 and NIST SP 800-171 for defense supply chain, CMMC (for DoD contractors), TISAX (common in automotive ecosystems), ISO/IEC 27001, SOC 2, CIRCIA, and the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA).
Segmentation is one of the most common — and most consequential — gaps we find in manufacturing environments. We validate whether your IT and OT networks are actually isolated or just assumed to be, by testing the pathways that connect them: remote access tools, vendor jump hosts, historian servers, data diodes, and cloud integrations. We map real lateral movement paths, not theoretical ones.
Yes. For manufacturers in the defense industrial base, we support CMMC readiness assessments and NIST SP 800-171 gap analysis — helping organizations identify and close the control deficiencies that assessors will test. Our work is scoped to the systems that handle Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and the networks connected to them.
Yes. We test operational technology (OT) and industrial control systems (ICS) — including PLCs, HMIs, SCADA systems, DCS, and the networks that connect them to IT environments. Our assessments cover IT/OT segmentation validation, remote access pathways, historian and MES/ERP integrations, and cloud-to-plant connectivity. We work within your operational constraints to avoid disrupting production.
Yes. We assess connected heavy machinery, embedded systems, IIoT devices, and the firmware and communication protocols that govern them. This includes pre-market product security reviews for manufacturers shipping connected equipment, as well as post-deployment assessments of devices already in the field. We test for the vulnerabilities that lead to production disruption, unauthorized control, and IP extraction.
Manufacturers face a concentrated threat landscape: ransomware groups targeting production systems for high-leverage extortion, nation-state actors pursuing design IP and defense-related research, and supply chain compromises introduced through vendors, OEMs, and third-party remote access tools. The convergence of IT and OT has significantly expanded the attack surface, and many manufacturing environments carry legacy systems that were never designed with network-connected threat models in mind.
RELATED RESOURCES
Tell us your offensive security goals. We’ll help you find the right solution and be a trusted partner every step along the way.
