Hidden Risks in Industrial Communications: Real Findings from a Manufacturing OT Environment
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Presented at BSides Tallinn 2026 by
How do you know the communication your production depends on is actually secure? Communication is everywhere in manufacturing. Controllers, applications, machines and systems constantly talk to each other, but the protocols behind that communication usually do not get much attention. If production keeps running, then everything is fine. Until something goes wrong and protocol vulnerabilities turn into real availability and safety problems like an explosion. I wanted to look a little deeper into industrial communication, so I studied a real manufacturing environment and analysed how common protocols like Modbus TCP, OPC DA, OPC UA and MQTT were configured and used in production. In this talk, I will share the most interesting findings, explain why they matter in practice and discuss ways to improve communication security based on IEC 62443. My goal is to help you look at communication in your own OT environment from a different perspective and maybe start asking questions you had not thought to ask before. Third-party version: How do you know the communication your production depends on is actually secure? Communication is everywhere in manufacturing. Controllers, applications, machines and systems constantly talk to each other, but the protocols behind that communication usually do not get much attention. If production keeps running, then everything is fine. Until something goes wrong and protocol vulnerabilities turn into real availability and safety problems like an explosion. The speaker wanted to look a little deeper into industrial communication, so they studied a real manufacturing environment and analysed how common protocols like Modbus TCP, OPC DA, OPC UA and MQTT were configured and used in production. In this talk, the speaker will share the most interesting findings, explain why they matter in practice and discuss ways to improve communication security based on IEC 62443. The speaker’s goal is to help you look at communication in your own OT environment from a different perspective and maybe start asking questions you had not thought to ask before.