By 2026, secure remote access (SRA) for industrial control systems (ICS) will no longer be viewed as a tactical tool for maintenance and vendor support. It will be recognized as one of the primary control planes for industrial cybersecurity-sitting at the intersection of identity, network segmentation, monitoring, and compliance. This shift will be driven by two converging forces: the accelerating convergence of IT and OT environments, and the growing sophistication and frequency of cyberattacks directly targeting critical infrastructure.
Prediction 1: Cyberattacks on Critical Infrastructure Will Increase in Frequency and Precision
Attacks against energy, water, manufacturing, and transportation systems will continue to rise through 2026, but the defining change will be precision rather than volume. Threat actors ranging from nation-states to ransomware groups are becoming more adept at exploiting legitimate access paths instead of blunt-force network intrusions. Remote access channels, particularly those used by third parties and OEMs, will remain one of the most targeted entry points.
Traditional VPN-based approaches, which often grant broad network access once connected, will be increasingly recognized as incompatible with modern ICS threat models. Attackers do not need full network compromise when a single exposed engineering workstation or HMI session can disrupt operations. As a result, organizations will prioritize access models that minimize lateral movement, enforce session-level controls, and provide continuous visibility into user activity-capabilities that purpose-built SRA platforms already emphasize
Prediction 2: IT/OT Convergence Will Force a Rethink of Access Governance
The long-discussed convergence of IT and OT will materially accelerate by 2026-not because of ideology, but because of necessity. Centralized security operations, shared identity providers, unified monitoring, and regulatory reporting will increasingly span both domains. However, this convergence will not mean uniform controls. (I discussed this very topic on a SANS ICS Panel in September).
ICS environments will continue to require access mechanisms that respect operational constraints: legacy protocols, unpatchable systems, deterministic uptime requirements, and segmented architectures based on models such as Purdue. The result will be a hybrid governance model in which identity, policy, and monitoring are centralized, while enforcement remains purpose-built for OT realities.
Secure remote access will serve as a practical bridge between IT identity systems and OT assets. Rather than extending IT security tools directly into fragile control environments, organizations will rely on SRA gateways to proxy, isolate, and audit interactions with ICS assets preserving operational safety while enabling centralized governance
Prediction 3: SRA Will Replace Network Access as the Default Model for Third Parties
By 2026, secure remote access will largely replace network-level connectivity for vendors, integrators, and contractors. This is not simply a security decision-it is an operational one. Organizations can no longer afford persistent access, unmanaged credentials, or undocumented maintenance activity in environments where downtime carries safety and economic consequences.
Instead, third-party access will increasingly be:
- Time-bound and task-specific
- Limited to individual assets or protocols
- Fully recorded and auditable
- Automatically revoked when no longer needed
This model reflects a broader Zero Trust shift, but adapted for OT rather than copied from IT. The emphasis will be on session mediation and protocol isolation rather than endpoint agents or network microsegmentation-approaches that often fail in industrial settings.
Prediction 4: Compliance Will Move from Checkbox to Architecture
Regulatory frameworks such as IEC 62443, NERC CIP, and NIS2 will continue to expand both in scope and enforcement. By 2026, compliance will no longer be treated as an overlay of policies and documentation, but as a byproduct of system architecture.
Organizations will favor technologies that produce audit-ready evidence by design: session recordings, immutable logs, enforced least privilege, and demonstrable separation of duties. Secure remote access platforms will increasingly function as compliance accelerators by embedding these controls directly into how access is granted and monitored, rather than relying on after-the-fact reporting
Prediction 5: SRA Platforms Will Evolve into Security Integration Hubs
Looking ahead, SRA platforms will not operate in isolation. By 2026, they will increasingly integrate with OT asset visibility tools, SIEM and SOAR platforms, and identity providers to enable richer context and faster response. While many SRA solutions already integrate externally for analytics and automation, the industry trend points toward tighter coupling between access events and threat detection workflows.
This evolution reflects a broader realization: in ICS environments, access activity is one of the strongest indicators of compromise. The ability to observe, analyze, and respond to anomalous access behavior will become as important as traditional network monitoring.
At Xona we have partnered with three major OT asset visibility platforms, Forescout, Nozomi, and Dragos to fuel this critical integration and provide a holistic uniform solution to tightly couple SRA and OT visibility.
The Road Ahead
Secure remote access is no longer just about enabling connectivity, instead it is about governing trust in environments where failure is not an option. As IT and OT continue to converge and attackers increasingly exploit legitimate access paths, SRA will become one of the most strategic layers in the industrial cybersecurity stack.
Vendors like Xona Systems, which focus on session isolation, legacy compatibility, and operational simplicity, illustrate where the market is heading: toward access solutions that are security-enforcing by design, rather than security-bolted after the fact. By 2026, organizations that treat secure remote access as foundational infrastructure not just a convenience will be best positioned to operate safely, comply confidently, and withstand the evolving threat landscape.