Your CISO walks into the boardroom with a comprehensive cyber security proposal. Every system receives enterprise-grade protection. Every endpoint is monitored with military precision. Every network segment is defended with consistent controls. The vendor presentation promises complete coverage, the solution appears thorough, and the price tag is hefty. It’s also an enormous waste of your limited resources.
The equal protection model has become the default approach for industrial cyber security. Vendors market it as comprehensive. Compliance frameworks support it. And executives approve it because it feels responsible and complete. But protecting everything equally isn’t just ineffective. It’s actively harming your security posture and bottom line.
The resource reality no one discusses
Here’s what every vendor presentation overlooks: you don’t have unlimited resources. Your cyber security budget is limited. Your operational downtime windows are restricted. Your technical team’s attention is already spread across numerous priorities. Yet, industry advice often treats resource scarcity as a minor detail rather than the core challenge it truly is.
When you try to protect everything equally, you end up protecting nothing properly. Your critical production systems get the same minimal focus as the Wi-Fi printer in the break room. Your safety instrumented systems are given the same baseline controls as the visitor management tablet.
The systems that are vital to your business are protected at the same level as those that could vanish tomorrow without impacting operations. This isn’t a true security strategy. It’s security theatre performed on a very expensive budget.
Why risk assessment comes first
Before any vendor discussion, technology choice, or budget decision, you need one thing: a detailed risk assessment that genuinely reflects your operational reality. Not a broad overview that labels everything as “medium risk,” nor a compliance checklist that treats all connected devices as equal threats. Instead, it’s a thorough evaluation of which systems, if compromised, would genuinely affect your ability to operate safely and profitably.
This assessment should answer specific questions: Which systems control core production processes? Which failures would lead to safety shutdowns? Which breaches would stop revenue flow? Which compromises would harm customer trust or regulatory standing?
Many organisations believe they’ve done this assessment, but they haven’t. They’ve only completed paperwork to satisfy auditors, which offers no real guidance for resource allocation.
A proper risk assessment involves understanding the business impacts of system failures, not just technical vulnerabilities.
The vendor problem
Once you approach the market without proper risk assessment, vendors will happily solve the wrong problem for you.
They’ll present their solution as the all-encompassing answer to all your security challenges. They recommend applying their enterprise-grade protection across your entire infrastructure. They frame this blanket approach as “best practice” and suggest that anything less leaves dangerous gaps in your coverage.
This is where the issues begin. Low-risk systems receive costly, complex protection they don’t need. Administrative networks get the same intensive monitoring as process control systems. Office printers are defended with the same diligence as distributed control systems.
The vendor isn’t lying when they say their solution works. It does work. It’s just grossly disproportionate to the actual risk these systems pose to your operations. You’re buying premium protection for systems that don’t need it, then wondering why your security budget is drained.
Getting the sequence right
Most executives approach cyber security backwards. They focus on technology first, then bring in consultants to set up and run the tools they’ve already chosen.
This order guarantees poor results. Technology without strategy is just costly complexity. Tools without an understanding of risk create confusion instead of clarity. Solutions without operational insight lead to compliance efforts rather than real security gains.
The correct sequence starts with understanding your risk landscape. Which systems are truly vital to your business? What plausible threat scenarios could affect your operations? Where are your genuine vulnerabilities, and what would their exploitation actually cost you? Only then can you have meaningful conversations with vendors.
Only then can you determine if their solutions address your real risks rather than just marketing claims. Only then can you allocate resources based on actual priority rather than equally.
What proportional protection looks like
Once you understand your actual risk profile, protection strategies can be tailored accordingly.
Critical systems, those whose compromise directly threatens operations, safety, or revenue, are protected with robust, layered defences. These systems warrant significant investment in monitoring, response capabilities, and redundant controls. When these systems generate alerts, your security team responds immediately.
Important systems, which support critical functions but do not directly control them, receive solid baseline protections with regular review cycles. These systems deserve professional attention but not emergency response protocols.
Standard systems, which handle administrative or secondary functions, are protected with appropriate but not excessive security measures. These systems can be monitored through normal operational procedures and addressed during scheduled maintenance windows.
This isn’t about abandoning security for non-critical systems. It’s about aligning protection levels with actual business risk.
The questions executives should ask
The next time someone presents a cyber security strategy, ask these questions:
“Have we conducted a detailed risk assessment that identifies which systems actually impact our operations if compromised?”
“Are we allocating our security budget proportionally to the business risk each system poses?”
“How quickly would we detect and respond to a compromise of our five most critical systems compared to our five least important systems?”
“Are we buying technology before understanding our risk, or after?”
If your team can’t answer these questions clearly, you’re likely protecting everything equally and protecting nothing adequately.
The cost of getting this wrong
Equal protection not only wastes money; it also creates a false sense of security that can be more dangerous than honest acknowledgement of your limitations.
When every system gets the same minimal protection, executives assume everything is equally secure. When every alert prompts the same response priority, security teams lose the ability to focus on genuine threats. When every technology investment is given equal consideration, budgets are spent on solutions that address theoretical rather than practical risks.
Meanwhile, the systems that actually run your business remain vulnerable to the same real-world attacks they always faced, only now with more costly monitoring.
Making the shift
Transitioning from equal to proportional protection requires three key changes in your approach to industrial cyber security.
First, perform a genuine risk assessment before engaging with any vendors. Identify which systems are critical to your operations and assess the potential costs if they are compromised. This assessment should be detailed enough to guide specific resource allocation.
Second, adjust your security budget to match this risk landscape. Instead of dividing resources evenly, focus the majority of your cyber security investment on systems that present the greatest business risks when compromised.
Third, communicate clear requirements to vendors based on your risk assessment, not solely on their solution capabilities. Ask them to demonstrate how their tools specifically address your high-priority risks rather than just covering your entire infrastructure.
This strategy demands discipline. It involves declining vendor presentations that don’t directly tackle your actual risks and accepting that some systems will receive minimal protection because they pose low risks. It requires making explicit decisions about priorities, rather than hiding behind the notion of fairness through equal treatment.
Ultimately, this approach means genuinely safeguarding what is vital to your business. Your operations aren’t built on the idea that all systems matter equally, and your cyber security strategy shouldn’t be either. Strategic protection involves making informed choices about where to allocate your limited resources.
It begins with understanding your risk landscape before selecting your tools and accepting that effective security is about prioritising critical areas, not just achieving comprehensive coverage.
In cyber security, as in all aspects of business management, not everything holds equal importance. Recognising this early allows you to develop a security posture that truly defends what keeps your business operational.