Manufacturing cybersecurity faces persistent governance gaps as accountability, funding, operational priorities diverge

Fortinet’s 2026 survey of more than 700 OT professionals found 81% expect OT security to shift to the CISO within a year, which suggests it has not happened yet.

Without clear ownership and lifecycle funding, security work can lose priority to production and maintenance,” ShangJyh ‘SZ’ Lin, chief cybersecurity advisor at Sun Square, told Industrial Cyber.

Saunders said that the biggest issue is delaying an update to OT systems because a manufacturing line would be taken down.

“OT systems that are 10-15 years or older are highly vulnerable to cyber attack,” Saunders said.

Cybersecurity governance meets production pressure The executives addressed how conflict gets resolved when plant managers are measured on uptime and throughput, though security governance demands decisions create short-term operational friction.