Why Choose Industrial Cyber Security and AI-Enabled Defence Training Course?

Industrial organisations depend on interconnected control systems, remote access, industrial data platforms, and increasingly, artificial intelligence to support operational performance. Protecting these environments requires cybersecurity practices that account for production continuity, equipment reliability, process safety, and the limitations of legacy infrastructure.

This AZTech training course provides a practical approach to securing Operational Technology (OT), Industrial Control Systems (ICS), and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) environments. Participants will explore how to assess industrial cyber risks, strengthen network architecture, manage vulnerabilities, and coordinate incident response without compromising operational safety.

The course also examines how AI can support anomaly detection, security monitoring, and incident analysis, alongside the risks introduced by industrial AI applications. Through case studies and guided exercises, participants will develop an actionable approach to improving industrial cyber resilience.

What are the Goals?

By the end of this training course, participants will be able to:

  • Identify cyber threats and vulnerabilities affecting industrial operations.
  • Assess OT risks according to their operational, safety, and business consequences.
  • Apply industrial security architecture and access control principles.
  • Evaluate AI applications for industrial threat detection and security analysis.
  • Identify and manage cybersecurity risks affecting industrial AI systems.
  • Develop a coordinated incident response and recovery plan for OT environments.

Who is this Training Course for?

This training course is designed for professionals who protect, operate or govern industrial environments where a cyber incident could affect safety, production or the environment. It suits both technical specialists and the operational leaders who make decisions during an incident.

It is particularly relevant for:

  • OT and ICS security engineers, analysts and security operations teams monitoring industrial networks
  • Control systems, automation and instrumentation engineers responsible for PLCs, DCS and SCADA
  • IT security professionals extending their responsibilities into operational environments
  • Operations, maintenance and plant managers accountable for production continuity
  • HSE and process safety professionals assessing the safety consequences of cyber events
  • Risk, compliance and audit professionals working with ISA/IEC 62443 or national OT security requirements
  • Digital transformation and data teams deploying AI or IIoT solutions in industrial settings
  • Procurement and contract professionals managing system integrators and remote maintenance suppliers

The course is relevant across oil and gas, petrochemicals, power and utilities, water, manufacturing, mining and transport. Participants should have a working understanding of either IT networks or industrial operations. No coding experience is required.

How will this Training Course be Presented?

This course is built around the decisions industrial security teams actually face. Each day combines focused expert-led sessions with a practical workshop, so participants apply every concept to an industrial scenario before moving on.

Content is aligned with recognised guidance, including the ISA/IEC 62443 series of standards for industrial automation and control system security and NIST Special Publication 800-82 Rev. 3, Guide to Operational Technology Security.

Delivery methods include:

  • Expert-led sessions: Structured explanations of OT architecture, threats, risk and AI, with time to relate each topic to participants' own sites.
  • Case studies: Analysis of publicly documented incidents such as the 2015 attack on Ukraine's power distribution grid, the TRITON malware that targeted a safety instrumented system, and the Colonial Pipeline ransomware shutdown.
  • Daily workshops: Asset mapping, OT risk registers, network design reviews and assessment of AI-generated findings using realistic industrial scenarios.
  • Cross-functional group work: Teams that mirror how cybersecurity, engineering, operations and safety collaborate during an incident.
  • Response planning: Development of an OT incident response and recovery approach that participants can adapt to their own organisation.

All exercises are scenario-based and do not require access to live control systems, so participants can explore attack and response decisions safely.

The Course Content

  • Understanding OT, ICS, SCADA, DCS, PLCs, and their operational relationships
  • Differences between IT and OT security: safety, availability, reliability, and change constraints
  • Industrial attack surfaces: legacy equipment, remote access, IIoT, and IT/OT connectivity
  • Industrial cyber threats: ransomware, unauthorised access, and manipulation of control processes
  • AI-assisted social engineering, impersonation, and emerging industrial threat scenarios
  • Practical workshop: Mapping industrial assets, connections, and potential operational consequences
  • Building an industrial asset inventory and identifying critical systems and dependencies
  • Conducting scenario-based assessments of cyber, operational, and safety risks
  • Applying ISA/IEC 62443 principles and NIST SP 800-82 OT security guidance
  • Designing security zones, conduits, industrial DMZs, and controlled IT/OT connections
  • Managing supplier, contractor, system integrator, and remote maintenance risks
  • Practical workshop: Developing an OT risk register and prioritised treatment plan
  • Applying defence in depth to industrial networks, engineering workstations, and controllers
  • Securing remote access through authentication, privileged access controls, and session monitoring
  • Managing OT vulnerabilities, patching constraints, and compensating controls
  • Strengthening configurations, application controls, removable media security, and change management
  • Implementing passive monitoring, industrial protocol visibility, and security event collection
  • Practical workshop: Reviewing an industrial network design and recommending security improvements
  • Understanding machine learning, behavioural analytics, and generative AI for OT security
  • Using AI to identify anomalies in industrial network traffic and process measurements
  • Supporting alert correlation, incident triage, and investigation with AI-assisted analysis
  • Evaluating detection quality: data suitability, false positives, model drift, and explainability
  • Protecting industrial AI systems against data poisoning, evasion, and compromised models
  • Practical workshop: Assessing AI-generated findings and defining human approval requirements
  • Developing OT incident response playbooks, escalation routes, and decision responsibilities
  • Coordinating cybersecurity, engineering, operations, safety teams, and external suppliers
  • Selecting containment actions that account for process safety and operational continuity
  • Preserving evidence and using AI-assisted incident summaries with analyst verification
  • Restoring trusted configurations, validating backups, and returning systems safely to service

Certificate

  • AZTech Certificate of Completion for delegates who attend and complete the training course

In Partnership With

Anderson Copex Coventry

Do you want to learn more about this course?

Register now or contact our team to discuss schedules, delivery formats, and customised options.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about our training courses

No. All exercises are scenario-based and use realistic industrial case material rather than live control systems or production networks. This allows participants to explore attack paths, design weaknesses and response decisions safely. It also means no specialist equipment or software installation is required to take part.

Yes. The course is scheduled in classroom format in cities such as Dubai, Doha and London, and in live online format. The online version follows the same five-day outline with interactive workshops and group exercises. You can check current dates and venues in the course schedule on this page.

The course is designed for OT and ICS security professionals, control and automation engineers, and IT security staff taking on responsibility for industrial systems. Operations and plant managers, HSE and process safety professionals, and risk and compliance teams also benefit. Mixed groups are encouraged because real incidents require these functions to work together. Participants come from sectors such as oil and gas, power, water, manufacturing and petrochemicals.

The course is aligned with the ISA/IEC 62443 series of standards for industrial automation and control system security and with NIST Special Publication 800-82 Rev. 3, Guide to Operational Technology Security. Participants apply concepts such as security zones, conduits and risk-based assessment to realistic scenarios. The course helps you interpret these frameworks for your own site. It is not an exam preparation course for a specific certification.

Day 4 covers how machine learning, behavioural analytics and generative AI support anomaly detection, alert correlation and incident investigation in OT environments. You will learn to judge detection quality, including false positives, model drift and explainability. The course also covers how to protect industrial AI systems against data poisoning, evasion and compromised models. A workshop focuses on reviewing AI-generated findings and defining when human approval is required.

Yes. AZTech can deliver this course in-house at your premises or a venue of your choice. Case studies, scenarios and workshop exercises can be adapted to your sector, such as oil and gas, utilities or manufacturing, and to the standards your organisation follows. In-house delivery also allows teams to discuss their own architecture and risks in confidence.

Delegates who attend and complete the training course receive an AZTech Certificate of Completion. AZTech Training & Consultancy is KHDA-approved and ISO-certified, with more than 25 years of experience in professional training. The certificate supports your continuing professional development records.

No coding experience is required. Participants should have a working understanding of either IT networks or industrial operations. Day 1 establishes a shared foundation in OT, ICS and SCADA concepts so that engineers, security staff and managers can work at the same level. Technical depth is balanced with decision-making, making the course useful for specialists and leaders alike.

Industrial environments put safety, availability and reliability ahead of confidentiality. Many systems run legacy equipment that cannot be patched or restarted easily, and a poorly chosen security action can disrupt production or create a safety hazard. This course focuses on those constraints throughout, from risk assessment and network design to containment and recovery. It prepares participants to make security decisions that operations and safety teams can support.

Yes. During the daily workshops, participants map industrial assets and connections, build an OT risk register with a prioritised treatment plan, and recommend improvements to an industrial network design. On the final day, participants work through incident response, containment and recovery decisions for OT environments. Bringing anonymised information about your own systems helps you leave with outputs you can adapt immediately.

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