It No Longer Takes an Expert to Attack a Factory
Zscaler, Thursday, August 27th, 2026
Zscaler argues AI has removed the specialist barrier to writing exploits for industrial controllers on the factory floor.
Zscaler notes that factories have never lacked attackers, with manufacturing sitting at or near the top of attacked-industry rankings for years.
But nearly all of that activity has landed on the business side of the company: email, file servers and the systems running the enterprise rather than the production line.
The factory floor was different because writing a working exploit for an industrial controller, the small computers that open valves, run motors and keep lines moving, was specialist work requiring knowledge of the protocol and firmware.
The post argues that barrier is falling, and examines what changes for plant security when OT exploitation no longer requires an expert.