Updated: Nov 25, 2025
India’s manufacturing sector is entering a new phase of digital acceleration. From industrial hubs like Pune and Chennai to emerging clusters in Indore and Sriperumbudur, factories are now hyper-connected through Industrial IoT (IIoT), cloud-based SCADA systems, and remote maintenance tools. This interconnection improves productivity, but it also expands the threat surface. Every connected sensor, PLC, and production management application becomes a potential entry point for attackers.
Recent reports show that manufacturing now ranks among the top three most targeted industries for ransomware globally. For multi-factory operations, the challenge multiplies — each site has distinct systems, vendors, and operational priorities, but all share the same corporate network backbone. A breach in one plant can quickly ripple across others.
One of the biggest risks stems from the divide between IT and OT. Traditional IT networks are governed by central policies, while OT systems are often older, proprietary, and isolated from routine patching cycles. Many legacy machines still run unsupported operating systems or communicate through unsecured protocols. When these are integrated with modern MES or ERP systems, they become soft targets.
A manufacturer in Gurugram, for instance, discovered that a legacy production line controller was still using default credentials. Once that system was connected to a new cloud analytics dashboard, the vulnerability was exposed to the internet. This type of oversight is common — not due to negligence, but because OT environments prioritise uptime and continuity over rapid patching or software upgrades.
In multi-factory setups, security teams struggle with fragmented visibility. Each site might use different firewall vendors, endpoint protection tools, or monitoring systems. Logs reside in silos, making it difficult to detect correlated anomalies. A phishing-led compromise in a smaller facility may go unnoticed until it affects critical operations in the main plant.
This lack of unified control means that incident response becomes reactive rather than predictive. The SOC needs a consolidated view of threats across plants, supply chain partners, and remote employees. Without consistent policy enforcement, every new site or contractor increases the risk footprint.
To address these issues, leading manufacturers are turning to Zero Trust architecture. The principle is straightforward: trust nothing, verify everything. This involves segmenting the network into logical zones, continuously validating identities, and enforcing least-privilege access.
Cisco’s Secure Networking portfolio, combined with industrial-grade security sensors, brings Zero Trust into factory networks. Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) ensures that only authenticated devices and users can connect, while Cisco Secure Firewall enforces policy controls at every boundary — between IT, OT, and the cloud. When combined with SecureX for unified visibility, enterprises gain a single pane of glass to manage policies, investigate incidents, and automate responses across multiple sites.
Even with robust technology, security outcomes depend on sustained operational excellence. That’s where Proactive Data Systems’ Managed Firewall Services come in. As a Cisco Gold Integrator and Cisco Gold Provider, Proactive delivers 24x7 firewall monitoring, configuration management, and threat response, tailored to multi-site manufacturing environments.
Our team manages distributed firewalls across plants, ensuring consistent policies and rapid change management. Through automation, we detect configuration drift, identify vulnerabilities, and push updates without disrupting production. This model is supported by a dedicated NOC that tracks Service Level Objectives (SLOs) such as:
By outsourcing firewall operations, manufacturers can maintain focus on production while ensuring a consistent, audit-ready security posture.
Next-generation manufacturing security will be data-driven. AI-driven anomaly detection is already helping predict failures and identify insider threats by analysing operational patterns across plants. Integrating Cisco Secure Network Analytics (Stealthwatch) with managed firewall services enables proactive threat hunting. When a factory line in Pune begins generating unusual outbound traffic, alerts can be triggered and triaged before damage occurs.
Proactive Data Systems has over three decades of experience securing India’s most complex networks. Our dual Cisco Gold accreditations — Integrator and Provider — reflect technical depth and service excellence. We design industrial security architectures that are compliant, scalable, and performance-aligned. From implementing Zero Trust across plants to managing firewalls and security telemetry, we deliver measurable resilience.
Email [email protected] to schedule a 60-minute consultation on securing your multi-factory operations.
