NVIDIA has announced that Akamai, Forescout, Palo Alto Networks, Siemens and Xage Security are integrating its accelerated computing and AI into cybersecurity for operational technology, the industrial control systems that underpin critical infrastructure, including energy, water and manufacturing.
Why OT security is a different problem
Conventional cybersecurity approaches developed for enterprise IT do not translate cleanly to operational technology environments. OT systems frequently run legacy devices and proprietary protocols that cannot support traditional security agents, and the consequences of an attack are physical rather than purely digital. A compromised IT network typically means stolen data; a compromised OT network can mean a halted production line, a failed safety system or a disrupted utility.
The partners in NVIDIA's programme will address this by running security inspection and enforcement on NVIDIA BlueField data processing units at the edge. Placing protection on the DPU rather than on the operational system itself keeps security separate from the machinery it is protecting, which matters in environments where any interference with timing or availability can have direct safety implications.
What each partner is doing
Each of the five companies is applying the architecture to a different part of the problem. Forescout is using agentless discovery and continuous risk assessment to enforce zero-trust controls inside OT networks, avoiding the need to install software on the devices it monitors. Akamai has extended its Guardicore Platform to run on BlueField, enabling agentless network segmentation at full line speed.
Siemens will demonstrate an AI-ready Industrial Automation DataCenter alongside Palo Alto Networks' Prisma AIRS AI Runtime Security at S4x26, with BlueField enabling infrastructure-level inspection closer to workloads. Xage is integrating its identity-based security on BlueField and already protects around 60% of US midstream pipeline infrastructure under that model.
The architecture NVIDIA is pitching
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NVIDIA frames the combined effort as a consistent OT cybersecurity architecture rather than a collection of separate integrations, with AI-driven security running at the edge and continuous protection that does not disrupt time-sensitive operations. The underlying commercial logic is straightforward: BlueField DPUs become the common hardware layer across multiple security vendors, positioning NVIDIA as infrastructure rather than as a single-purpose product.
Critical infrastructure has become a priority target for state-sponsored and criminal threat actors over the past several years, and regulators in the United States and Europe have moved to tighten security requirements for industrial operators. Whether the architecture NVIDIA and its partners are proposing becomes a standard will depend partly on how those regulatory requirements evolve and partly on whether operators can integrate new hardware without disrupting systems that were never designed with security retrofits in mind.
The recap
- NVIDIA and partners integrate accelerated computing into OT cybersecurity.
- Xage protects about 60% of U.S. midstream pipeline infrastructure.
- Demonstrations and integrations will appear at S4x26, Feb. 24–26.
