ISA Exams

Securing Operational Technology

Founded in 1945, the International Society of Automation (ISA) develops technical standards for industrial control systems. While enterprise IT focuses on data confidentiality, industrial automation prioritizes physical safety and process availability. The systems that manage water treatment facilities, power grids, and chemical plants operate under different constraints than traditional corporate networks.

To address the growing threat to these physical processes, ISA partnered with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) to publish the ISA/IEC 62443 series. This framework provides the standard vocabulary, risk models, and security requirements for Industrial Automation and Control Systems (IACS).

If your employer operates physical infrastructure or manufactures operational technology (OT) equipment, these standards dictate how those systems must be secured. Regulatory bodies and industry groups across maritime, medical device manufacturing, and energy sectors mandate or heavily reference ISA/IEC 62443. As of 2024, the International Association of Classification Societies requires maritime vessels to conform to these standards for onboard control systems.

The ISA/IEC 62443 Certificate Program

ISA structures its cybersecurity credentials around the lifecycle phases defined in its standards. The program bypasses typical IT security domains, focusing entirely on industrial risk assessment, system design, and ongoing OT maintenance.

Candidates progress through a specific sequence. You must pass a foundational exam before advancing to specialized certificates in risk assessment, secure design, or operations and maintenance. Each step requires demonstrating practical knowledge of how to apply the 62443 framework to physical control systems.

The Cybersecurity Fundamentals Specialist

The entry point for this track is the Cybersecurity Fundamentals Specialist exam.

You cannot attempt the advanced certificates without holding this credential first.

The exam tests your understanding of foundational OT security principles and the structure of the ISA/IEC 62443 standards. You must demonstrate knowledge of the IACS security lifecycle, from asset identification to incident response. The test also requires you to map security requirements to specific industrial components.

You will need to understand the "zones and conduits" model. Unlike IT networks, which often rely on flat architectures or logical VLANs, industrial systems use physical and logical segmentation to isolate critical processes. A zone groups assets with similar security requirements, while a conduit represents the specific communication path between zones.

The exam also covers how to determine Target Security Levels (SL-T). The standard defines four security levels, ranging from protection against casual or coincidental violations (SL 1) to protection against intentional attacks by sophisticated threat actors with extensive resources (SL 4). You must know how to apply Defense-in-Depth strategies specifically to programmable logic controllers (PLCs), distributed control systems (DCS), and human-machine interfaces (HMIs).

The exam tests your knowledge of the CIA triad (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability) as it applies to industrial environments. In enterprise IT, confidentiality often comes first. In OT, availability and safety take precedence. You are tested on why standard IT practices - like automated vulnerability scanning or immediate patch deployment - can cause physical damage if applied blindly to an OT environment.

Bridging the IT and OT Divide

Corporate IT teams often clash with plant engineers over security policies. IT professionals want to encrypt traffic and isolate compromised endpoints. Plant managers need continuous, microsecond-level communication between sensors and valves to prevent mechanical failures.

Holding an ISA credential proves you understand both sides of this equation. It signals to hiring managers in critical infrastructure sectors that you know how to secure industrial networks without disrupting the physical processes they control. An IT security analyst knows how to stop a data breach, but an ISA-certified OT specialist knows how to secure the network that keeps the power grid online.