Solution Brief
Industrial / OT Security

Passive Protocol Intelligence for Industrial Networks

WireTrace reads the actual commands flowing between PLCs, RTUs, HMIs, and SCADA systems — not just traffic metadata. Security and operations teams gain continuous visibility into what industrial controllers are doing, who is communicating with them, and whether that activity is authorized. Deployed passively with zero impact on safety-critical operations.

The Challenge

Industrial Assets Operating in the Dark

Legacy PLCs and RTUs were never designed to be inventoried by IT tools. Many have been running for years without appearing in any asset register. Shadow connections between Purdue levels go unnoticed until an incident exposes them.

Port-Level Tools Cannot Read Industrial Commands

Generic security tools see "traffic on port 502" but cannot distinguish a routine register read from an unauthorized write to a safety-critical setpoint. Without protocol-level context, real OT threats are invisible.

Active Scanning Disrupts Industrial Operations

Active network discovery tools have caused PLC faults, safety system trips, and production outages. In OT environments where uptime is measured in years, active interrogation is an unacceptable risk. Visibility must be entirely passive.

How WireTrace Solves It

Command-Level Protocol Dissection

WireTrace decodes Modbus function codes and register values, S7Comm PLC parameters, DNP3 control commands, EtherNet/IP CIP messages, and IEC 104 telecontrol sequences. Security teams see the actual operations being performed on controllers — not abstractions.

Passive Industrial Asset Discovery

Every PLC, RTU, HMI, engineering workstation, and protocol gateway is identified from observed traffic alone. Vendor, model, firmware version, and network role are assigned automatically — without sending a single packet into the OT network.

Operational Behavioral Baselines

WireTrace learns normal command patterns per device and per protocol. Deviations — an unexpected Write command to a PLC, a new communication peer, a change in polling frequency — are detected and surfaced with full protocol context.

Cross-Zone Communication Detection

Real-time visibility into which Level 1 field devices communicate with Level 3 systems. Unauthorized lateral movement, engineering station activity from unexpected sources, and zone boundary violations are identified automatically to help enforce segmentation policies.

Industrial Protocol Intelligence

Modbus TCP/RTU S7Comm EtherNet/IP CIP PROFINET BACnet DNP3 IEC 60870-5-104 OPC-UA GOOSE Sampled Values EtherCAT HART-IP FINS MELSEC SLMP CODESYS KNXnet/IP LonTalk Synchrophasor FF-HSE DLMS/COSEM MMS and more+

Representative examples. WireTrace supports proprietary and vendor-specific industrial protocols beyond this list, with continuous expansion.

Protocol Depth (Examples)

Modbus

Unit ID, function codes, register addresses and values, Read vs. Write discrimination, request/response correlation.

S7Comm

PLC model identification (S7-300/400/1200/1500), programming activity detection, diagnostic access, vendor and firmware extraction.

DNP3

Master/outstation role identification, control relay commands, analog and binary monitoring data, unsolicited responses, outstation addressing.

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Solution Brief — OT/ICS

Industry Applications

Energy & Utilities

Continuous SCADA visibility across substations, distribution networks, and generation facilities. DNP3, IEC 104, and GOOSE/SV protocol intelligence for power grid operations. Detect unauthorized control commands and generate IEC 62443 and NERC CIP evidence from observed traffic.

Manufacturing

Monitor PLC communications across production lines and robotic cells. Detect unauthorized programming activity, firmware changes, and lateral movement between OT zones. Reduce unplanned downtime by identifying unsafe configuration changes before they cause failures.

Oil & Gas

Pipeline SCADA, refinery DCS, and offshore platform monitoring with Modbus, HART-IP, and FF-HSE protocol visibility. Identify unauthorized access to safety instrumented systems and maintain operational awareness across geographically distributed sites.

Water & Wastewater

Treatment plant and distribution network visibility with DNP3 and Modbus command-level inspection. Detect unauthorized setpoint changes to pumps, valves, and chemical dosing systems — the kind of activity that active scanning tools cannot distinguish from normal operations.

Compliance & Audit Evidence

WireTrace generates continuous compliance evidence from observed OT network traffic. Asset inventories, zone boundary communications, access control validation, and protocol usage documentation are always current — replacing periodic manual assessments that go stale between audits.

IEC 62443

Zone and conduit mapping from observed traffic. Access control evidence and communication flow documentation generated continuously.

NCA OTCC

Saudi OT Cybersecurity Controls. Asset inventory, continuous monitoring, and incident detection evidence from wire-level observations.

ISO 27001

Information security controls applied to industrial environments. Asset management, network security, and operational evidence.

Deployment

A single WireTrace sensor on a SPAN port or network TAP captures all OT traffic in a zone. The sensor is 100% passive — it never transmits on the monitored network. Multiple sensors cover multiple segments and report to a centralized server. Fully air-gap deployable. First industrial assets classified in under 30 seconds.

See What Your Controllers Are Actually Doing

Request a proof-of-value deployment. No agents. No active scanning. No disruption to operations. Connect a sensor to a SPAN port and gain command-level visibility into your industrial network.

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