Industry Insights

Securing IoT and OT Devices with Versa Next-Generation Firewall

Today’s enterprise networks support a growing number of Internet of Things (IoT) and Operational Technology (OT) devices — each generating massive data, driving critical operations, and expanding the potential attack surface. When compromised, these devices result in the exfiltration of data, service disruptions, and even the risk of physical safety.

Unlike traditional endpoints, IoT and OT systems lack the ability to support native security features and, in some cases, operate outside centralized control, which makes them the perfect targets for cyberattacks. Security teams face mounting challenges in extending traditional and even older Next-Generation firewalls (NGFW) to protect these dynamic, distributed devices. At Versa, we’ve seen that a modern NGFW is essential — delivering consistent protection across users, devices, and locations to strengthen security posture, maintain uptime, and simplify control in complex hybrid environments.

NGFW vs Legacy Firewalls for IoT/OT

IoT and OT is one of the fastest growing segments in technology today. This growth has led to new verticals within categories such IIoT, IoMT, CIoT, etc. The challenge this is bringing to security teams is fragmented visibility, inconsistent policy enforcement, and heightened operational risk.

NGFW must offer a mechanism to secure IOT and OT environments— delivering a Zero Trust model that can secure access by fingerprinting IoT/OT devices and employing protections such as URL filtering, intrusion detection and prevention, and even advanced security capabilities such as data loss prevention in case a device is used as a data exfiltration point. With these features, your teams can achieve granular segmentation, continuous behavior monitoring, and automated threat prevention. NGFWs also enable organizations to effectively secure both digital infrastructure and critical operational processes against the evolving landscape of cyber threats.

Key Capabilities of Versa NGFW for IoT/OT Environments

1. Device Discovery and Classification

The Versa NGFW uses advanced fingerprinting technology along with passive traffic analysis and Layer 7 Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) to automatically detect and classify IoT and OT devices.

This allows the NGFW to build a real-time asset inventory, enabling security teams to detect unmanaged, shadow, or unauthorized devices without manual effort​. After the inventory has been built, Versa then can apply a “tag” to the device as an identifier that is honored via the NGFW to apply and enforce policies for the defined IoT equipment.

2. Adaptive Software-Defined Micro-segmentation and Zero Trust Conditional Access

Through software-defined micro-segmentation, the Versa NGFW can adapt to changes in network behavior of the defined IoT and OT devices and dynamically enforce conditional access controls that restrict a potentially compromised device from being able to communicate across the network.

 NGFW features used in this approach include:

• Deep Packet Inspection (DPI):

  Inspects all payloads transmitted from devices

• Antivirus/Anti-malware (AV/AM):

  Validates that payloads are not malicious.

• Data Loss Prevention (DLP):

  Ensures intellectual property is not being exfiltrated.

• Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems (IDS/IPS):

  Detects known exploits.

• Sandboxing:

  Analyzes payloads to detect and stop zero-day threats.

If any of these features gives a true positive then the device is isolated within the network ensuring that no bad actors, malware, etc. laterally moves across the network exposing it for a wider breach.

This dynamic segmentation model significantly reduces the attack surface and strengthens operational resilience across distributed IoT and OT environments.

3. Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

The Versa NGFW brings Data Loss Prevention (DLP) to IoT and OT environments. The DLP feature set can detect and prevent data exfiltration with advanced techniques for scanning, detecting, and blocking sensitive and/or confidential data while in motion across the network.

For example, an IoT device in a hospital could be used as an entry point for a threat actor to gain access to the hospital system. The threat actor can then use the device to move laterally and compromise enterprise network devices and other IoT within the medical facility to exfiltrate patient health records and more.

DLP ensures that all data flows are monitored, flagged, and controlled before any potential leak occurs, securing data integrity.

4. Intrusion Prevention, Threat Detection, and Automated Response

Versa NGFW delivers robust, multi-layered threat protection tailored for IoT and OT environments through advanced Next-Generation Intrusion Prevention (IPS) and real-time response. It leverages both signature-based and anomaly-based detection to identify and block vulnerabilities not just for north and southbound traffic but for east/west traffic as well.

Additional Threat Detection and Response Capabilities include:

• AI-driven malware detection:

  Identifies zero-day threats using behavioral analysis and machine learning.

• Sandboxing:

  Inspects unknown files and payloads in a secure environment to detect malicious behavior.

• DNS and URL filtering:

  Blocks IoT and OT devices from accessing known malicious or suspicious web destinations.

When threats are detected, the NGFW will automatically block the malicious activity and isolate the compromised devices.  These capabilities are backed by the fastest TLS/SSL proxy engine on the market per CyberRatings.org to allow all traffic to be decrypted, scanned, and re-encrypted to reduce latency for traffic latency-sensitive devices.

Building Resilient IoT/OT Security

By combining intelligent discovery, dynamic segmentation, continuous monitoring, and real-time threat prevention, enterprises can strengthen operational continuity and cyber resilience. The next step is applying these technologies through proven best practices. With these capabilities in place, your teams can move beyond reactive defense models and take a proactive, resilient approach to securing their expanding IoT and OT environments.

Want to secure your IoT and OT landscape with Zero Trust and real-time threat prevention? Contact Versa or request a demo to see NGFW in action.