You are a cybersecurity consultant at SecureIoT Inc. A manufacturing company has contracted you to strengthen the security of their Industrial IoT (IIoT) devices used in their operational technology (

Increasing password change frequency, while generally good practice, is often impractical for numerous IIoT devices with limited interfaces and does not address fundamental network-level vulnerabilities or provide comprehensive protection against various attack vectors.

IIoT devices often have resource constraints (processing power, memory) that may not support the same robust encryption standards used in IT environments, and encryption alone does not prevent all attack vectors or provide network isolation.

Many IIoT devices run specialized, resource-constrained operating systems that do not support traditional antivirus software installation, and the question explicitly states that relying solely on the existing firewall is insufficient.

Network segmentation isolates IIoT devices, which are often critical and vulnerable, from the broader IT network. This significantly reduces the attack surface, limits lateral movement for attackers, and contains potential incidents, directly mitigating the risk of production disruption and safety compromises by creating a robust defense-in-depth architecture.