Thales announced the launch of its Operational Technology Extended Detection and Response (OT XDR) capability in the UK, designed to help organisations protect critical infrastructure by gaining a unified view of cyber risk across both IT and operational technology (OT) environments.
Fragmented visibility and rising threats put critical infrastructure at risk
Organisations across the UK are facing a growing challenge in securing critical systems as cyber threats become more sophisticated and environments more complex.
According to the 2026 Thales Data Threat Report, only 35% of organisations in the UK have full visibility of where their data resides, while 81% are managing five or more security tools – highlighting a fragmented landscape that makes it increasingly difficult to understand and reduce risk.
At the same time, the threat landscape is evolving rapidly. Nearly two-thirds (66%) of organisations report that their AI applications are already being targeted, while 69% are seeing a rise in credential-based attacks – a key technique used by attackers to move laterally across IT and operational environments.
Closing the IT-OT gap with unified risk visibility
Thales’ OT XDR capability addresses a critical gap for operators across energy, transport, utilities and manufacturing: how to understand exposure and prioritise risk across increasingly interconnected digital and physical systems.
“Most organisations aren’t short of security tools, they’re short of OT-specific visibility,” said Robert Hodges, Cyber Portfolio Lead, Thales in the UK “If you can’t see what’s happening across your operational environment, you can’t understand your exposure or protect what matters most.”
Thales’ OT XDR capability brings together OT asset visibility, vulnerability intelligence and exposure analysis into a single, integrated view. Built on the Tenable One exposure management platform, it enables organisations to identify risk across IT and OT systems, understand potential attack pathways, and prioritise remediation based on operational impact.
Built for real-world environments, not just IT systems
Unlike traditional cybersecurity approaches, which often treat IT and OT separately, OT XDR is designed to reflect the realities of industrial environments. It combines passive monitoring with deep protocol awareness to provide insight into industrial networks without disrupting live operations.
A key differentiator is Thales’ engineering-led approach. Rather than deploying tools in isolation, Thales works alongside customers to design, configure and integrate solutions based on a deep understanding of industrial processes and environments.
“Cyber risk in critical infrastructure is no longer just an IT issue – it’s an operational resilience challenge,” said Hodges. “Our approach is built around understanding how these environments actually function, so we can help customers reduce risk without impacting safety or performance.”
Supporting long-term resilience amid growing pressure
The capability is delivered in partnership with Tenable, combining Thales’ expertise in industrial environments with Tenable’s exposure management technology to provide a comprehensive, end-to-end solution.
Beyond cybersecurity, the visibility provided by OT XDR also enables organisations to gain broader operational insights, including asset performance, network efficiency and maintenance planning – helping to improve resilience, efficiency and long-term operational outcomes.
The launch comes at a time of increasing regulatory and geopolitical pressure on critical national infrastructure, with frameworks such as NIS2 and the NCSC Cyber Assessment Framework placing greater emphasis on demonstrable resilience and risk management.
