Rockwell hosts OT cybersecurity roundtable in Hamilton

Rockwell Automation will host an operational technology cybersecurity roundtable in Hamilton, bringing together senior leaders from critical infrastructure and industrial sectors across New Zealand.

The session, titled Securing Critical Operations, is aimed at executives and professionals responsible for OT cybersecurity and the resilience of industrial operations. It will cover strategic planning, standards-based security frameworks, vulnerability management, and ways to reduce complexity in connected operational environments.

Patrick Ho, Global Cybersecurity Sales Executive and OT Cybersecurity Principal - Asia Pacific at Rockwell Automation, will lead the event alongside Michael Murphy, Director, Operational Technology and Critical Infrastructure, Asia Pacific at Fortinet. Ho has more than 20 years of experience advising industrial organisations on cyber resilience and operational continuity, while Murphy has worked in OT and critical infrastructure security, including incident response and digital forensics.

Industrial operators in sectors including water and wastewater, food and beverage, life sciences, renewable energy, and conventional power are among those being invited. The focus reflects broader concern among operators of essential services and manufacturing assets over how to secure systems that are increasingly connected to wider digital networks.

OT focus

Operational technology systems control physical processes in factories, utilities, and infrastructure networks, and often have different requirements from conventional information technology systems. Security controls in these environments must protect networks and devices without interrupting production lines, treatment plants, or energy assets that depend on continuous uptime.

That distinction has pushed OT cybersecurity higher on the agenda for boards, plant managers, and technology chiefs, particularly as industrial systems become more integrated with remote monitoring, analytics, and other connected tools. For critical infrastructure operators, the issue carries added weight because disruption can affect public services as well as commercial performance.

Discussion will include the development of OT cybersecurity roadmaps aligned with business and operational objectives, as well as a defence-in-depth approach based on IEC 62443, a set of standards widely referenced in industrial cybersecurity for segmenting networks, managing risk, and improving security across control systems.

The agenda also includes vulnerability management with risk-based prioritisation and operational context. In industrial settings, companies often cannot patch or replace equipment as quickly as in office IT systems because downtime can be costly and some operational assets remain in service for long periods.

Sector pressure

Water utilities and other essential service providers have faced increasing scrutiny over cyber preparedness as threats against infrastructure operators have grown globally. Manufacturers and energy operators face similar pressures as production assets become more connected and as attacks on suppliers and service providers create knock-on risks across industrial networks.

By bringing together executives from multiple sectors, the roundtable is intended to create a forum for sharing practical approaches to these challenges. The discussion is framed around balancing stronger cyber defences with operational continuity, an issue that often shapes investment decisions in industrial environments.

Shane Riley, New Zealand Country Manager, Rockwell Automation, highlighted that balance in comments on the event. "OT environments present a very different cybersecurity challenge to traditional IT environments," Riley said.

"Organisations need to protect critical operations while ensuring that security measures support, rather than disrupt, the availability and performance of those operations. Bringing industry leaders together to share experiences and practical approaches is an important part of building that resilience," he said.

Riley said the event is particularly relevant to C-suite executives and professionals responsible for OT cybersecurity and the resilience of critical operations.