How a Mining Company Protects its OT and People

For more than a decade, the leadership team at a global mining company has recognized cybersecurity as critical to business continuity, operational efficiency, and worker safety. Its cybersecurity team plays a key role in supporting that goal. Securing the company’s digital assets, the team keeps operations running safely while meeting stringent security requirements worldwide.

The stakes are particularly high in mining. Operating teams work in hazardous environments and rely on technology to stay safe. Real-time location systems help track workers in the field. Gas detection and air quality monitoring systems help identify potentially dangerous conditions. These and other digital tools give operating teams the information they need to work safely.

According to the company’s cybersecurity incident response team manager, “Failure to secure these assets can lead to a loss of life, which is the worst-case scenario.”

Security incidents were common, occurring weekly, and sometimes daily. While worker safety was the most serious concern, incidents could also disrupt operations and divert resources from the company’s goals.

Every incident also took time and resources away from the company’s broader operational goals. “The more time spent recovering from a security incident means less time spent on becoming the world’s best operator,” the manager explained.

With so much at stake, the company set out to build a security operations center (SOC) that could protect its people and operations while supporting its pursuit of operational excellence.

OT Security Requires a Different Approach

The company’s reliance on Operational Technology (OT) introduces a broader challenge. OT environments often include specialized equipment, legacy technologies, and systems designed to run continuously. Taking a system offline for investigation or remediation can disrupt production or create safety risks.

Modernization adds another layer of complexity. Industrial systems increasingly connect with IT networks, cloud platforms, remote users, and other technologies. This creates security challenges that internal teams may not have the means or expertise to address.

Recent research shows how difficult that can be. Fortinet’s 2026 State of OT and Cybersecurity Report highlights a common challenge: many organizations are still establishing basic OT security, including asset visibility, network segmentation, secure remote access, monitoring, and incident response. The report also found that attackers are staying in OT environments for weeks or months, making fast detection and response increasingly important.

A 2026 study of IT/OT-converged oil and gas facilities points to another challenge: technical controls alone may not address the full range of risks in critical infrastructure. The study found that “existing standards such as ISO/IEC 27001 and IEC 62443 prioritize technical safeguards but underplay human, organizational, and environmental factors.” In industries such as mining and oil and gas, where safety and business continuity are closely connected, those gaps can lead to grave consequences.

As companies modernize their OT environments, they need security expertise that keeps pace with new technologies and connections. An experienced MSSP can help fill those expertise gaps, strengthen cyber resilience, and work alongside the internal security team.

Building 24/7 Security Without Doubling the Team

The mining company had an internal cybersecurity team of six professionals. To provide 24/7 internal monitoring and incident response, it would need to at least double the team.

That meant taking on added salaries, benefits, recruiting, and training costs. The economics did not make sense. “That would be quite an expensive endeavor when you compare it to what it costs us to outsource these services,” the incident response team manager explained.

SecureOps provided a dedicated team that included five Level 1 analysts with additional Level 1 coverage to maintain staffing during vacations, sick time, and other absences. SecureOps also supplied a dedicated Level 2 analyst, along with access to shared service delivery and SOC managers. The model gave the company continuous monitoring and incident response without requiring it to build and staff a larger internal operation.

The company also gained access to a broader pool of cybersecurity expertise. “Outsourcing to them also allows us to tap into a deeper pool of qualified cybersecurity experts, a critical advantage in today’s challenging job market,” said the manager.

Finding a Security Partner, Not a Black Box

Cost and coverage were only part of the equation. The company needed a partner that could work with its internal team and respond when no predefined procedure existed.

“With other providers, you get a black box of security,” the manager said. “There may be 100 incident responders assigned to our investigations, and we don’t get a chance to discuss the issue with them.”

SecureOps took a different approach. “We sit on the same teams. I meet with them regularly. So they are, for all intents and purposes, an extension of the team,” the manager continued.

That close working relationship gives the company access to experience and judgment when an incident does not fit neatly into an existing playbook. “We’re not getting a robotic person who just clocks in and out and only works on one procedure,” the manager said. “They’re willing to share and uplift our security capabilities together.”

The relationship also gives the company a familiar point of contact when something serious happens. “If we have a critical incident, I can call them up and ask, ‘What do you think? What is your experience here?’”

That flexibility matters when the safety of operating teams is on the line. “Their response is never, ‘We’re not contractually bound to do this.’”

Turning Incidents into Better Security

With incidents occurring frequently, responding quickly is only part of the job. The company also looks at what happened and how to prevent the same mistake from happening again.

SecureOps conducts root cause analysis and develops countermeasures as part of that process. “Another thing I look for in any vendor is if there’s an incident that is handled incorrectly, which is bound to happen, it doesn’t happen again, and what is the time to redirect that incorrect behavior?,” the manager said.

“And with SecureOps, it’s very quick. If there’s a mistake or you make a change, it’s rarely one made twice. And so the delta between getting it wrong and making sure we don’t get it wrong again is what’s important.”

The same experience and judgment also help SecureOps identify issues that might otherwise go unnoticed. “SecureOps has picked up incidents that we would not have picked up, because they use their mind creatively instead of just being policy and procedure driven.”

That proactive approach strengthens the company’s security operations over time, helping it build greater cyber resilience and address emerging issues before they become larger problems.

An MSSP Partnership That Adapts as Technology Changes

SecureOps’ flexible approach allows it to stay aligned with the company as its technology environment evolves. Over the past decade, the company’s security stack has moved from FireEye to Trellix to Microsoft. SecureOps has supported the company through each transition.

“Every part of our security stack has changed in the past 10 years, and SecureOps has been able to adapt to that, which not all MSSPs are willing to do.”

That environment-agnostic approach lets the company evolve its technology without rebuilding its security operation around a new provider each time. It also gives the company a partner it can turn to as new security challenges appear.

When the company expanded its security operations to include OT monitoring, it brought in a SecureOps SME to help integrate that monitoring into its SOC. The separate engagement gave the company specialized expertise to extend its security operations as the need arose.

Rather than limiting the relationship to a defined set of services, SecureOps works with the internal team to assess problems, share expertise, and determine the best path forward to build security maturity.

A Long-Term Security Partnership

After 11 years, the relationship still provides the coverage, expertise, and flexibility the company needs to protect its people and operations. For a mining company where digital systems can directly help keep people safe, that long-term partnership has become an important part of the company’s security approach.

“SecureOps has proven to be the most effective and economically sound strategy, and why they have been our trusted MSSP partner for more than a decade,” the incident response team manager concluded.