As organisations adopt more connected devices across industrial systems, healthcare, automotive, energy, and enterprise IT, the security landscape is becoming harder to understand — and even harder to control. Achieving comprehensive visibility is essential to gain real-time insights into all connected devices and their behaviors, enabling organisations to understand and manage their security posture effectively.

This is why IoT/OT visibility and control has become a top priority for CISOs in 2025.

Device Authority’s latest guide highlights the key challenges and the critical role of machine identity automation in securing these fast-growing environments. With unmanaged devices now involved in a third of all data breaches, and more than 50% of connected devices containing critical vulnerabilities, visibility is no longer optional — it’s foundational. Identifying and safeguarding critical assets within OT and IoT environments is crucial to ensure operational resilience and protect against evolving threats.

This article simplifies the guide’s insights and explains, in plain language, how organisations can achieve continuous visibility and control across both IoT and OT estates. Complete visibility is essential for effective risk management and protection against cyber threats in today’s interconnected environments.

Why IoT/OT Visibility Matters More Than Ever in 2025

1. The number of connected devices is exploding

Industrial systems, medical devices, smart buildings, and automotive platforms are all becoming heavily digitised, leading to the proliferation of many IoT devices across these environments. Most organisations underestimate their device count by 25–40%, mainly due to hidden, legacy, or vendor-locked assets. Legacy systems often go undetected and require specialized asset discovery methods to identify and manage all connected devices effectively.

2. Unmanaged devices are driving real attacks

Threats like the Eleven11Bot botnet and other IoT-specific malware show how quickly attackers target weak, unmonitored devices. Unmanaged assets create significant security gaps, making them prime targets for cyber attacks.

3. Zero Trust requires real-time visibility

You can’t enforce Zero Trust without knowing:

• What devices exist
• Whether they belong on the network
• What their identity is
• Whether they are secure and compliant
• What the security posture of each device is

Continuous monitoring and robust security controls are essential for maintaining Zero Trust in IoT/OT environments.

This is a direct requirement in frameworks such as NIST, CRA, and EO 14028 mentioned in the Device Authority guide .

4. OT environments can no longer be isolated

The old idea that industrial OT systems exist on closed, protected networks is no longer true. The convergence of IT and OT has significantly expanded the attack surface across highly connected and distributed environments, making organizations more vulnerable to cyber threats. Convergence with IT means that compromise in one domain often exposes the other, especially within these complex connected environments.

Understanding IoT vs OT: What’s the Difference?

Although IoT and OT overlap, they differ in purpose and risk profile. IoT systems and OT networks often intersect with information technology, creating unique security challenges that require unified visibility and management across these environments.

IoT (Internet of Things)

Consumer or business devices connected to networks for data exchange.

Examples include:

• Sensors
• Smart cameras
• Wearables
• Smart lights
• Monitoring devices

IoT devices require robust device security measures due to their diverse functions and connectivity.

OT (Operational Technology)

Systems that control physical processes.

Examples include:

• PLCs
• Industrial robots
• Energy grid equipment
• Medical machinery
• Building management systems

Many OT environments include industrial control systems that are vital to critical infrastructure operations.

OT has life-safety and operational risk, making visibility and control even more critical.

The Core Challenge: Lack of Device Identity

Most IoT and OT devices ship without:

• Strong cryptographic identities
• Secure boot
• Certificate-based authentication
• Tamper-resistant credentials

Without proper identity, organizations lack accurate asset information and asset data, making it difficult to distinguish between managed and unmanaged devices.

As a result:

• Devices cannot prove their trustworthiness
• Network access decisions are guesswork
• Vulnerabilities persist undetected
• Attackers masquerade as legitimate assets

This is the root cause of most IoT/OT security failures.

The Four Pillars of IoT/OT Visibility & Control in 2025

1. Complete Discovery of All Connected Devices

Device Authority’s new Discovery Tool performs:

• Agentless network scanning
• Fingerprinting of all devices (IoT, OT, unmanaged, shadow IT)
• Identification of vulnerabilities and misconfigurations
• Mapping of device behaviour and risk scores
• Automated onboarding into Zero Trust workflows
• Device discovery using a discovery engine that enables deep visibility and continuous discovery of all network devices, including automated IT asset discovery

Comprehensive asset discovery and asset visibility are essential for building a complete inventory and understanding the security posture of all devices.

The July newsletter confirms that the tool scans networks, reveals risks, and directly ties into KeyScaler’s identity automation workflows for full lifecycle control .

This is the essential first step in any modern IoT/OT security programme.

2. Assigning a Cryptographic Identity to Every Device

Once you know what’s on your network, you must give each device a verifiable identity.

This includes:

• Certificate issuance
• Key generation
• Secure storage of credentials
• Binding identity to firmware and device capabilities

Assigning cryptographic identity is a foundational step for secure management of all connected devices, enabling visibility, control, and policy-based automation across your IoT/OT environment.

Identity is the foundation that enables all subsequent policy decisions.

3. Continuous Policy Enforcement

Zero Trust for IoT/OT requires:

• Device authentication for every transaction
• Continuous verification (not one-time onboarding)
• Role-based access controls
• Encryption of data in motion
• Isolation or revocation when risk increases

A proactive approach to operational security ensures that threats are detected and mitigated before they can impact critical systems.

Policy must be automated, not managed manually, and must apply to both IT and OT assets consistently.

4. Automated Lifecycle Management

IoT and OT devices often last 10–20 years, far longer than typical IT assets. During that time, they require:

• Certificate renewal
• Password rotation
• Firmware updates
• Identifying and remediating outdated firmware to reduce vulnerabilities
• Secure provisioning of new credentials
• Decommissioning and identity revocation

These tasks are impossible to manage manually at scale.

This is why the guide emphasises the role of AI and automation in addressing lifecycle complexity.

As organizations accumulate more data from connected devices, managing lifecycle complexity and maintaining visibility across siloed information becomes even more challenging.

How Machine Identity Automation Solves the IoT/OT Visibility Problem

Machine identity automation is now the recommended approach for securing IoT/OT ecosystems. By enabling organizations to gain visibility into all connected devices and generate actionable intelligence, machine identity automation empowers better security decisions across complex environments.

Platforms like KeyScaler 2025 use automation to deliver:

✔ Agentless onboarding

Works even for legacy, vendor-locked, or medical/industrial devices. Agentless onboarding supports devices that use unique and specialized communication protocols, ensuring secure identification and management across diverse IoT and OT environments.

✔ Continuous compliance monitoring

Detects policy violations or risky behaviour in real time.

✔ Automated certificate and credential management

Eliminates outages and manual errors.

✔ End-to-end Zero Trust enforcement

Identity-led access controls for every device in the chain.

✔ Regulatory alignment

Meets the demands of NIST, CRA (Cyber Resilience Act), EO 14028, WP.29, sectoral healthcare and energy standards.

✔ Integration with existing IT/OT infrastructure

Extensible across cloud, edge, and hybrid environments.

Integration with KeyScaler extends visibility and control across the entire infrastructure, including distributed and cloud environments, ensuring unified asset discovery and comprehensive security coverage.

Industries Facing the Biggest Visibility Gaps

Healthcare

Legacy devices and long product lifecycles make hospitals heavily exposed. Collaboration between IT teams and OT professionals is essential to address visibility gaps in healthcare environments.

Manufacturing & Industrial OT

Production equipment is often unmanaged but deeply interconnected. Manufacturing environments increasingly rely on integrated OT IoT systems, which require unified visibility and control to ensure comprehensive asset discovery, continuous monitoring, and effective risk management across both OT and IoT environments.

Automotive

Global regulations now require lifecycle security and identity verification for vehicle components.

Energy & Utilities

Threat actors often target grid infrastructure and connected substations.

Transport & Smart Cities

Large networks of sensors, cameras, lights, and autonomous systems require continuous trust assurance.

A Practical Visibility & Control Roadmap for 2025

Step 1: Discover Everything

Run an agentless scan to identify all devices, including hidden or unknown assets. Building a comprehensive asset inventory is the foundation for effective visibility and control across your IoT ecosystem.

Step 2: Analyse Risk

Score devices based on vulnerabilities, behaviour, firmware, and identity posture.

Step 3: Automate Identity

Issue certificates and keys automatically to every device.

Step 4: Enforce Zero Trust

Apply continuous authentication and policy controls.

Step 5: Automate Lifecycle Management

Ensure credentials rotate, certificates renew, and devices remain compliant.

Step 6: Monitor & Improve

Use AI to detect anomalies and refine policies. Continuous monitoring enhances situational awareness, enabling rapid response to emerging threats.

Final Thoughts

2025 marks a turning point in IoT and OT security.
As device estates grow in size and complexity, organisations can no longer rely on manual processes, fragmented tooling, or trust-by-default models.

Real-time visibility and automated identity-led control are now essential — not just for security, but for regulatory compliance, operational resilience, and Zero Trust adoption.

Device Authority’s 2025 IoT/OT guide and platforms like KeyScaler 2025 give security teams a practical, scalable way to secure every device across every environment.