Planning and Preparing Defender for IoT Deployments

Securing operational technology (OT) and industrial networks requires a specialized approach to visibility and threat detection. Preparing your infrastructure before installing security tools is the most critical step to ensuring comprehensive coverage without disrupting vital physical operations. This text-based course guides you through the foundational steps of preparing a secure, well-architected deployment of Defender for IoT. You will learn to assess your existing OT network topology, design a monitoring strategy, and align your deployment with modern security architectures. What you'll learn: - Understand foundational OT security concepts, key terminology, and the modern threat landscape. - Analyze network topology and identify optimal traffic mirroring points for deep packet inspection. - Configure network pre-requisites including subnets, firewalls, and routing protocols for secure sensor connectivity. - Apply zero-trust architecture principles to segment and protect vulnerable legacy IoT and OT devices. - Plan the deployment of physical and virtual monitoring sensors based on site scale and bandwidth. - Determine integration requirements for centralized security operations and incident response. The course begins with essential definitions of OT networks and IoT security challenges, then transitions into practical, step-by-step written guides for site planning, network preparation, and sensor provisioning. Designed for IT and OT security beginners, network administrators, and systems engineers, this course requires no prior experience with IoT security tools. Start reading today to build a resilient foundation for your industrial security operations.