Manufacturing & Critical Infrastructure Penetration Testing

Manufacturing and critical infrastructure organizations face a rapidly escalating cyber threat landscape. Production facilities, utilities, and industrial operators manage complex environments where information technology and operational technology converge, creating attack surfaces that span corporate networks, industrial control systems, and supply chain integrations. A successful breach can halt production lines, compromise proprietary designs, disrupt supply chains, and in the most severe cases endanger physical safety. DarkPoint Security provides specialized manufacturing penetration testing and OT security assessment services designed to identify and remediate vulnerabilities across both IT and production environments before attackers can exploit them.

Our team understands the operational constraints and safety requirements of industrial environments. Whether you need to validate the security of ICS and SCADA systems, test the segmentation between corporate and production networks, or satisfy compliance requirements under PIPEDA, NIST CSF, or IEC 62443, DarkPoint delivers thorough, manual-driven ICS penetration testing that protects critical operations and intellectual property without disrupting production.

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Cybersecurity Challenges in Manufacturing

The manufacturing sector faces a distinct and rapidly growing threat landscape driven by the convergence of IT and OT systems. As production environments become increasingly connected, the attack surface expands across corporate networks, plant floor systems, and supply chain integrations. Manufacturing organizations must contend with a range of cybersecurity risks that can directly impact production, safety, and revenue.

  • IT/OT Convergence — The integration of corporate IT networks with operational technology environments creates pathways that attackers can use to pivot from business systems into production networks. Without proper segmentation and access controls, a compromised workstation can provide a direct route to programmable logic controllers, SCADA systems, and human-machine interfaces
  • Industrial Control System Vulnerabilities — ICS and SCADA systems often use proprietary protocols such as Modbus, OPC UA, and EtherNet/IP that were not designed with security in mind. Default credentials, lack of authentication, and unencrypted communications are common across industrial environments and create persistent entry points for attackers
  • Supply Chain Attacks — Manufacturers operate within complex supply chains where a compromise of a single vendor, supplier portal, or third-party integration can cascade across multiple organizations. Attackers increasingly target supply chain entry points to gain access to larger manufacturing networks
  • Ransomware and Production Downtime — Manufacturing is one of the most targeted sectors for ransomware. Attackers understand that halting a production line creates immediate financial pressure, making manufacturers more likely to pay. A single ransomware event can shut down entire facilities, delay shipments, and cost millions in lost revenue
  • Intellectual Property Theft — Manufacturing organizations hold valuable trade secrets, proprietary designs, formulas, and production processes. Nation-state actors and competitors actively target manufacturers to steal intellectual property that can take years and significant investment to develop
  • Legacy Systems with No Patching — Many production environments run on legacy operating systems and firmware that vendors no longer support. These systems cannot be easily patched or updated without risking production disruptions, leaving known vulnerabilities exposed indefinitely

Regular manufacturing penetration testing is essential for identifying and addressing these risks before they result in a breach that halts production, exposes intellectual property, or compromises the safety of critical infrastructure.

Compliance Requirements for Manufacturing

Manufacturing and critical infrastructure organizations in Canada face a growing set of regulatory, contractual, and industry-standard requirements that mandate or strongly recommend regular security testing. Penetration testing plays a critical role in demonstrating compliance and providing documented evidence that security controls across both IT and OT environments are functioning as intended.

  • PIPEDA — Canada's federal privacy law requires organizations to implement security safeguards proportionate to the sensitivity of information held. Manufacturers handling employee data, customer information, and supply chain records must demonstrate appropriate technical controls, and penetration testing provides key evidence of these safeguards
  • OSFI B-13 — Manufacturers that supply financial institutions or operate within financial sector supply chains may need to demonstrate compliance with OSFI's third-party risk management expectations. Penetration testing provides evidence that security controls meet the standards expected by regulated financial sector partners
  • SOC 2 — Enterprise customers and partners increasingly require SOC 2 Type II compliance from their manufacturing suppliers, particularly those providing cloud-connected services, IoT platforms, or data processing. Penetration testing provides evidence for the Security trust service criteria
  • NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) — Widely adopted across critical infrastructure sectors, NIST CSF provides a structured approach to identifying, protecting against, detecting, responding to, and recovering from cyber threats. Penetration testing directly supports the Identify and Protect functions by validating that security controls are effective
  • IEC 62443 — The international standard for industrial automation and control system security defines security levels and requirements for securing industrial environments. IEC 62443 recommends security assessments including penetration testing to verify that zone and conduit models, access controls, and network segmentation are properly implemented

DarkPoint Security's reports are structured to satisfy each framework's documentation requirements, giving your compliance, engineering, and executive teams the assurance they need.

Our Manufacturing Security Services

DarkPoint Security offers a full suite of penetration testing services tailored to the security challenges of manufacturing and critical infrastructure organizations across Canada.

  • External Network Penetration Testing — Assess internet-facing infrastructure including perimeter firewalls, VPN gateways, remote access portals, and publicly exposed services that attackers target to gain initial access to corporate and production networks
  • Internal Network Penetration Testing — Evaluate corporate and production network segments, Active Directory environments, IT/OT boundary controls, and network segmentation to determine the blast radius of a compromise and validate that production systems are properly isolated from corporate infrastructure
  • Web Application Penetration Testing — Test supply chain portals, vendor management platforms, customer ordering systems, and production dashboards for injection flaws, authentication bypasses, access control weaknesses, and business logic errors that could expose sensitive manufacturing data
  • API Penetration Testing — Assess IoT device APIs, OT integration interfaces, supply chain data exchange endpoints, and ERP system integrations that connect production environments to business systems, cloud platforms, and third-party partners
  • Red Team Engagement — Simulate realistic adversary scenarios that test the full kill chain from initial access through lateral movement to production network compromise, evaluating detection and response capabilities across both IT and OT security teams
  • Phishing Campaign — Assess the susceptibility of manufacturing employees, plant operators, and administrative staff to targeted phishing attacks that serve as the initial access vector in the majority of ransomware incidents targeting the manufacturing sector

Why Manufacturing Organizations Choose DarkPoint

  • Safe Testing Approach — Our consultants understand the safety and uptime requirements of production environments. We use non-disruptive testing techniques, coordinate testing windows with plant operations teams, and establish clear boundaries to ensure that penetration testing never impacts manufacturing uptime or equipment safety
  • Manual-First Methodology — We perform hands-on manufacturing penetration testing that uncovers business logic flaws in supply chain portals, access control weaknesses at IT/OT boundaries, and lateral movement paths between corporate and production network segments that automated scanners cannot detect
  • Canadian-Owned and Operated — As a Toronto-based, Canadian-owned firm, all testing data and reports remain within Canadian jurisdiction. This addresses data sovereignty requirements and ensures that sensitive intellectual property and production data are handled under Canadian privacy legislation
  • Critical Environment Experience — Our team has experience testing environments where security failures have real-world consequences. We bring the discipline, communication, and risk awareness required to operate safely in production-critical settings
  • Compliance-Ready Reporting — Our reports are structured to satisfy PIPEDA, SOC 2, OSFI B-13 supply chain requirements, NIST CSF, and IEC 62443 documentation needs, providing the evidence your compliance and engineering teams require
  • Certified Professionals — Our team holds OSCP, CEH, and CISSP certifications, bringing deep offensive security expertise to every manufacturing and critical infrastructure engagement

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. DarkPoint Security uses a safety-first approach when testing operational technology and industrial control system environments. We work closely with plant engineers and operations teams to define testing windows, establish safe boundaries, and use non-disruptive techniques that avoid sending harmful commands to programmable logic controllers or safety instrumented systems. Testing can be conducted on isolated network segments, staging replicas, or production environments with appropriate safeguards in place to ensure zero impact on manufacturing uptime.

Canadian manufacturers are subject to several regulatory and contractual requirements. PIPEDA requires security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of information held. Manufacturers supplying the financial sector may need to demonstrate compliance with OSFI B-13 third-party risk management expectations. SOC 2 audits are increasingly required by enterprise customers. Industry standards such as NIST Cybersecurity Framework and IEC 62443 for industrial automation also recommend regular security assessments including penetration testing.

Manufacturing penetration testing must account for the unique characteristics of operational technology environments. OT networks include programmable logic controllers, SCADA systems, human-machine interfaces, and industrial IoT sensors that often run proprietary protocols and cannot tolerate unexpected traffic or restarts. Testing requires specialized knowledge of industrial protocols such as Modbus, OPC UA, and EtherNet/IP, as well as an understanding of the physical consequences that a compromised controller could cause. DarkPoint Security combines IT security expertise with OT awareness to test both corporate and production network segments without endangering equipment or personnel.

Manufacturing organizations should conduct penetration testing at least annually, and after significant changes to IT or OT infrastructure such as new production line integrations, ERP system upgrades, or network architecture changes. Organizations operating critical infrastructure or supplying regulated industries should consider semi-annual or quarterly testing. Regular testing ensures that vulnerabilities from system updates, new IoT deployments, or expanded supply chain integrations are identified and remediated promptly.