Protecting Critical Infrastructure Systems with Tailored Security

Q: How would you describe TXOne Networks' position in the Latin American market?
A: We are a unique company with a clear focus on the protection of critical infrastructure and environments with operational technology (OT). In Latin America, we position ourselves as a key player within the industrial cybersecurity sector, standing out as a native OT cyber security company, in contrast to the broader IT ecosystem. Our presence in the region includes Brazil, Chile, Colombia and an office in Mexico, which reinforces our commitment to the protection of cyber-physical systems in Latin America, ensuring the continuity of industrial operations.

Q: What factors have enabled you to achieve this position?
A: Our ability to offer specific solutions for OT, an industry that is experiencing a growing demand for specialized cybersecurity solutions, is unlike those from IT vendors. We focus on prioritizing operational resilience and ensuring business continuity, which is essential in an industrial context. In addition, our geographic expansion and physical presence in several Latin American countries has allowed us to be closer to our customers, understanding their needs and adapting to local challenges.

Q: What role does Mexico play in TXOne Networks' global strategy, and what potential do you see in the country?
A: Mexico plays a key strategic role in our global operation due to its size and industrial maturity. As one of the largest economies in the world, with sectors such as manufacturing, automotive, healthcare, and food and beverage, Mexico presents a highly automated environment. This makes it necessary for companies to adopt advanced cybersecurity technologies to protect their operations.

Q: How is TXOne Networks' offering different from other cybersecurity solutions for industrial environments in Latin America?
A: The main difference is that TXOne’s offerings were designed purposefully to protect OT , which allows us to offer solutions that are specific and tailored to this environment. Unlike IT vendors, who try to adapt IT solutions to industrial environments, we designed our solutions around the unique requirements of OT, which gives us a unique ability to protect these critical systems. While there are other OT cybersecurity vendors, many focus on asset visibility and identifying vulnerabilities. Our solutions have a direct defensive action, meaning the system can protect against malicious threats and cyber incidents that can impact production and industrial processes.

Q: How does TXOne Networks help mitigate vulnerabilities in these environments without impacting performance?
A: We understand that in OT environments, operations cannot be interrupted, which makes it essential that our solutions do not disrupt operational performance. We offer solutions that integrate quickly into our customers' existing OT infrastructure without the need to redesign networks or provide significant downtime. We focus on ensuring the continuous protection of our clients’ assets through a ML process, which allows us to identify normal OT network behaviors.

Q: How do you integrate with your customers' existing infrastructure?
A: Our methodology for integrating with our customers' infrastructure is based on our deep understanding of OT protocols, ICS applications and unique security requirements for industrial networks. We do not require our customers to make significant modifications to their existing architecture. In addition, our solutions support both legacy and modern systems, such as Windows 2000 XP. This ensures protection throughout the long lifecycle of OT assets.

Q: What are the key criteria for determining which of your service lines is the most suitable for each industrial environment?
A: We offer three main product lines tailored to the specific needs of industrial cybersecurity requirements. The Element series focuses on the security inspection of portable and new equipment entering production facilities, ensuring that devices such as USBs or media drives are free of threats before entering plants and the OT network, thus mitigating supply chain risks. The Edge series focuses on the protection of industrial networks, which operate under unique and OT vendor-specific protocols. Our solution places physical appliances in line with the OT devices to monitor and block unusual activities, ensuring the security of production equipment without modifying its original configuration. This is especially important in the case of protecting legacy or unpatched systems from known vulnerabilities.

Finally, our third line is dedicated to endpoint protection, ensuring the security of assets with legacy operating systems in industrial environments. We implement industrial grade antivirus endpoint protection that allows us to protect these machines from threats such as malware or ransomware, without the need to upgrade or reboot the system.

Q: What level of automation and integration do your solutions offer to facilitate deployment in companies with limited cybersecurity teams?
A : Our solutions prioritize autolearning to simplify OT cybersecurity deployment and management for organizations with limited resources. Key features include machine learning-based auto rule generation, automating security policy creation tailored to specific OT environments, up to protocol command-level. Integration with existing systems like SIEMs enables centralized monitoring, while user-friendly interfaces reduce the learning curve. Centralized management capabilities further streamline workflows, minimizing manual intervention and empowering teams to effectively protect OT environments with limited cybersecurity expertise. We emphasize "out-of-the-box" functionality to lessen the burden on cybersecurity teams. Understanding and accommodating to the realities of OT environments is a key component for implementing effective defense measures with limited resources. 

TXOne was built specifically to protect OT assets and industrial networks. This means that our solutions are designed to support unique requirements, such as legacy systems that are over 25 years old. TXOne solutions are ruggedized to support harsh environments, operate in settings without internet connection, and do not require system reboots or redesigning the OT network. Understanding and accommodating to the realities of OT environments is a key component for implementing effective defense measures with limited resources. 

Q: What emerging trends are redefining enterprise security in these environments?
A: OT environments are seeing an increase in attacks coming from IT systems, given the interconnectedness of networks as shown in the 2024 TXOne Annual OT/ICS Cybersecurity Report. Threat actors, including nation-sponsored adversaries, now identify industrial systems as key targets because of their vulnerability and the disruptive impact potential they represent. Malware targeting OT systems has increased significantly since 2017, directly impacting industrial operations. This highlights the need for proactive protection,

Q: How would you describe the maturity level of companies in Mexico and Latin America in terms of OT security adoption? 
A: The level of maturity in Mexico and Latin America has advanced considerably in recent years. Companies have become aware of the need for cybersecurity to protect their cyber-physical systems, which marks a first step toward maturity. However, effective implementation remains a challenge, as organizations must adapt to industry standards and certifications necessary to ensure operational resiliency.

Q: Considering the evolution of cyberattacks, how do you foresee OT security strategies changing in the coming years?
A: As ransomware and nation-sponsored attackers adopt increasingly advanced technologies targeting critical infrastructure, OT security strategies must focus on protecting the industrial operational processes.  The key is to better understand our OT networks and the operational behaviors to detect and prevent anomalies that disrupt production or put human safety at risk.

Q: What new developments or enhancements is TXOne Networks prioritizing to address emerging threats in OT?
A: Our priority is to keep the operation running. TXOne’s dedicated focus to OT ensures we are developing solutions and technologies that support the unique security requirements for industrial operations. Maintaining one of the largest repositories of ICS protocols and applications enables our solutions to utilize machine learning (ML), to ensure assets are running and implement preventative measures faster.

Q: What specific opportunities does TXOne Networks see in Latin America and Mexico?
A: We identify significant adoption in sectors such as manufacturing, critical infrastructure, renewable energy, clean energy, and natural gas. These industries, as they integrate advanced technologies into their operations, require robust cyber protection for their cyber-physical systems. Given the impact that any disruption in these systems can have on critical infrastructures, such as electricity or water supply, our solutions are essential to ensure operational continuity.

Q: What are your expansion priorities in the region for 2025?
A: We are focusing on strengthening our presence in Latin America, especially Mexico, where we recently opened an office to reaffirm our commitment to its market. In addition, we will continue to focus our efforts on strategic sectors such as clean and renewable energy, as well as critical infrastructure, where the protection of operating systems is essential.

Q: What recommendations would you give to executives looking to strengthen cybersecurity in their industrial environments?
A: To strengthen cybersecurity, executives must recognize that the right technology is already available in the region, with specialized companies ready to provide the necessary support. In addition, they should look for vendors focused on the OT industry, as trying to solve OT problems with IT solutions will not work. Finally, it is essential to act immediately, implementing protection technologies to stay one step ahead of attackers, as risk exposure is constant and prevention must be a priority.