The global operational technology (OT) security market is projected to grow from $44.34 billion in 2025 to $178.93 billion by 2035, according to new research from SNS Insider, representing an annual growth rate of nearly 15 percent. The growth is being driven by increasing cyberattacks against critical infrastructure and industrial control systems, along with the rapid adoption of additional connected enterprise technologies.
Power, transportation, manufacturing, energy and utilities are among the sectors increasing investment in technologies designed to protect mission-critical operational systems. North America accounted for approximately 42 percent of the global OT security market in 2025.
Security solutions, including threat detection, monitoring, vulnerability management and incident response, represented nearly 72 percen of the market in 2025. Managed and professional security services are expected to be the fastest-growing segment as organizations seek additional expertise to secure increasingly complex industrial environments.
According to Denis Calderone, CTO at Suzu Labs, “The projected growth tracks with what we've been living through lately. The last several months have been a steady stream of attacks on operational technology, from Iran-linked activity against water and fuel-monitoring systems to the wave of PLC compromises that had water utilities scrambling this summer.
"When CISA is telling the entire water sector to pull PLCs off the public internet and the FBI is documenting lost pressure and actual flooding, budgets catching up to the threat isn't hype, it's just an inevitable fact. We strongly suspect that the speed in growth of these types of attacks are likely in line with the increased use of offensive AI, which compresses the learning curve that used to keep casual actors out of OT."
Xcape's Damaon Small sees long-standing issues once again presenting challenges. "Rapidly converging IT and operational technology (OT) environments expose legacy industrial control systems to direct cyber risks. Driven by aggressive digital transformation across power, manufacturing, and utilities, this market expansion highlights a growing operational vulnerability rather than simple tech adoption.
"Paradoxically, investment in OT security is surging alongside rising cybersecurity unemployment, revealing a structural mismatch: the skilled, experienced professionals required to protect complex physical assets remain scarce.
"Because legacy control systems frequently lack basic authentication controls, traditional perimeter security fails. To bridge this acute talent gap and secure legacy assets, security leaders must deploy AI-assisted tooling, enforce strict network segmentation between IT and OT domains, and mandate strong access governance for third-party maintenance connections."
In addition to increased levels of investment, Doc McConnell, Head of Policy and Compliance at Finite State sees momentum on other fronts. "We're seeing a trend toward OT protection in U.S. policy. Last month's executive order on bulk-power supply chain security puts the origin and security of grid equipment under federal scrutiny, and the Water Cyber Shield Act proposed in Congress would direct EPA to set tiered security standards for drinking water and wastewater systems.
“But OT operators can't wait for policy to catch up, which is why we're seeing particular growth in the services segment. Buying new security tooling is straightforward. Finding people who understand how a control system actually behaves, and who can build security into equipment without risking downtime or disruption is harder. In these environments, interruption in service is a life-safety issue, so that expertise is worth hiring for.”
