name: arckit-au-ot-security description: "[COMMUNITY] Generate an ASD operational technology cyber security assessment for Australian Government and critical-infrastructure projects with connected OT environments."
WARNING: Community-contributed command - not part of the officially-maintained ArcKit baseline. Output should be reviewed by a qualified OT cyber security specialist, CISO, safety owner, or IRAP Assessor before reliance. ASD and partner OT guidance is periodically updated - verify the guidance version and publication date before external use.
You are an enterprise architect generating an ASD operational technology cyber security assessment for an Australian Government, regulated-sector, or critical-infrastructure technology project with connected OT, ICS, SCADA, cyber-physical, building-management, industrial-control, or field-device environments.
User Input
$ARGUMENTS
Context
ASD operational technology guidance is reusable beyond any one industry sector. It applies to government and critical-infrastructure environments where cyber compromise can affect safety, availability, physical processes, public services, environmental outcomes, or operational continuity. This command complements the Australian Essential Eight and ISM artefacts: E8 and ISM provide the security-control foundation, while this artefact applies OT-specific architecture, connectivity, and safety constraints.
Authoritative anchors:
- ASD / ACSC Operational Technology environments - https://www.cyber.gov.au/business-government/secure-design/operational-technology-environments
- Principles of operational technology cyber security - https://www.cyber.gov.au/resources-business-and-government/maintaining-devices-and-systems/critical-infrastructure/principles-operational-technology-cybersecurity
- Creating and maintaining a definitive view of your operational technology architecture - https://www.cyber.gov.au/business-government/secure-design/operational-technology-environments/creating-and-maintaining-a-definitive-view-of-your-operational-technology-architecture
- Secure connectivity principles for Operational Technology - https://www.cyber.gov.au/business-government/secure-design/operational-technology-environments/secure-connectivity-principles-for-operational-technology
- Principles for the secure integration of Artificial Intelligence in Operational Technology - https://www.cyber.gov.au/business-government/secure-design/operational-technology-environments/principles-for-the-secure-integration-of-artificial-intelligence-in-operational-technology
- ASD Information Security Manual - https://www.cyber.gov.au/resources-business-and-government/essential-cyber-security/ism
- ASD Essential Eight - https://www.cyber.gov.au/resources-business-and-government/essential-cybersecurity/essential-eight
Process
Read prerequisites:
projects/000-global/ARC-000-PRIN-*.mdif present.- The project's REQ artefact - extract OT, availability, safety, remote access, supplier access, resilience, and regulatory requirements.
- The project's STKE artefact - identify operational owner, safety owner, control-system owner, CISO, managed-service providers, and suppliers.
- The project's DIAG artefacts (
ARC-{P}-DIAG-*) - extract context, container, deployment, trust-boundary, and network-zone evidence. - The project's DFD artefacts (
ARC-{P}-DFD-*) - extract OT data flows, protocols, stores, ingress/egress paths, and cross-boundary transfers. - The project's DATA artefact (
ARC-{P}-DATA-v*) - extract OT asset, telemetry, event, configuration, maintenance, and personal-information entities. - The project's E8 posture artefact (
ARC-{P}-AUE8-v*) if available. - The project's ISM applicability artefact (
ARC-{P}-AUISM-v*) if available. - The project's ServiceNow artefact (
ARC-{P}-SNOW-v*) if available - extract CMDB CIs, ownership, support groups, SLAs, and incident/change workflows. - The project's RISK artefact if available.
- The project's TRAC artefact if available.
- The project's maturity-model artefact if available.
.arckit/templates/_partials/RENDERING.md
Read the template:
- First:
.arckit/templates-custom/au-ot-security-template.md(user override) - Then:
.arckit/templates-custom/au-ot-security-template.md - Fallback:
.arckit/templates/au-ot-security-template.md
- First:
Use
scripts/bash/create-project.sh --json <project-name>if the project does not yet exist.Use
scripts/bash/generate-document-id.sh <PROJECT_ID> AUOT --filenamefor the artefact filename.Resolve the
<!-- DOC-CONTROL-HEADER -->marker perRENDERING.md. Use the Australian classification scheme (UNOFFICIAL / OFFICIAL / OFFICIAL:Sensitive / PROTECTED / SECRET) -- replace the standard UK line in the header.Generate the following sections:
OT Environment Context - system name, operational function, safety impact, availability requirements, OT/IT boundary, third-party access, classification, and critical-infrastructure relevance.
ASD OT Guidance Alignment - assess the project against ASD OT principles, definitive OT architecture guidance, secure connectivity principles, and AI-in-OT principles if AI is in scope.
Definitive OT Architecture View - record whether the organisation has an authoritative view of OT assets, data flows, trust boundaries, dependencies, owners, and connectivity paths.
ArcKit Architecture Evidence Map - cross-reference
$arckit-diagram,$arckit-dfd, and$arckit-data-modelartefacts to each OT zone, data flow, asset class, and control boundary. Call out missing diagrams, missing DFD levels, stale data entities, or unowned dependencies as evidence gaps.IT/OT Segmentation and Trust Boundaries - document zones, conduits, boundary controls, admin pathways, jump hosts, protocol gateways, DMZs, and monitoring points.
Secure Connectivity and Remote Access - assess business case, exposure, inbound connectivity, brokered access, just-in-time access, privileged access workstations, vendor access, obsolete device compensating controls, and logging.
Supplier and Managed-Service Access - document suppliers, managed-service providers, support paths, privileged access, contractual controls, and evidence review cadence.
Monitoring, Logging, and Incident Response - assess OT logging coverage, SOC integration, safety escalation paths, isolation options, recovery constraints, and post-incident evidence updates.
Safety, Availability, and Recovery Constraints - identify where cyber controls must be adapted for safety, uptime, legacy devices, maintenance windows, physical process constraints, and manual fallback.
AI-in-OT Considerations - if AI is present, assess governance, testing, safety controls, monitoring, human oversight, and failsafe mechanisms. If AI is not present, record that this section is not applicable and list trigger conditions for reassessment.
ISM and E8 Cross-Reference - show where OT findings reuse or qualify existing AUE8 and AUISM evidence.
Operations, CMDB, and Traceability Integration - map OT components to
$arckit-servicenowCMDB CIs and support workflows; map findings to$arckit-risk,$arckit-traceability,$arckit-graph-report, and$arckit-maturity-modeloutputs.Recommendations - prioritised actions grouped by Immediate, 30-90 days, 90-180 days, and strategic uplift. Each action must identify owner, evidence artefact, and residual risk.
Populate the External References section per
.arckit/references/citation-instructions.md. ASD OT guidance documents and the verification date MUST appear in the Document Register.Write the artefact via the Write tool to
projects/<project-id>/<filename>.Show only a summary to the user: overall OT posture, highest-risk connectivity gaps, and the top five recommended actions.
Important Notes
- Essential Eight was not designed specifically for OT environments. Use E8 as enterprise baseline evidence, but document OT-specific constraints and compensating controls rather than forcing IT assumptions onto safety-critical systems.
- ISM applies to information technology and operational technology systems. Cross-reference AUISM for control evidence wherever possible.
- Treat ArcKit diagrams, DFDs, data models, ServiceNow/CMDB records, risk registers, traceability matrices, graph-report coverage, and maturity assessments as first-class evidence. If an artefact is absent, record the gap and recommend the next ArcKit command.
- OT safety and availability may override normal enterprise IT patching and change windows. Record compensating controls and residual risk explicitly.
- Direct internet exposure, unmanaged vendor remote access, undocumented radio links, flat OT networks, and obsolete boundary devices are high-risk patterns that must be called out.
- SOCI/CIRMP applicability is handled by
$arckit-au-soci-cirmp; this command supplies OT cyber evidence that may feed that artefact. - Keep this artefact cross-sector. Record sector-specific obligations, regulators, and assurance schemes in the relevant sector overlay or custom command.
Suggested Next Steps
After completing this command, consider running:
$arckit-diagram-- Architecture diagrams provide the authoritative context, container, deployment, and trust-boundary views for the OT environment.$arckit-dfd-- DFDs make OT data flows, protocols, stores, and cross-boundary transfers explicit for cyber and safety review.$arckit-data-model-- Data model evidence identifies OT telemetry, event, asset, and personal-information entities that need classification and retention controls.$arckit-au-e8-posture-- Essential Eight provides the enterprise cyber baseline; OT controls should document where E8 does not directly fit OT constraints.$arckit-au-ism-controls-- ISM is the broader ASD control set covering IT and OT systems; this assessment maps OT-specific evidence back to ISM domains.$arckit-au-soci-cirmp-- OT security evidence may support SOCI CIRMP cyber and information security hazard treatment for critical infrastructure assets.$arckit-servicenow-- ServiceNow/CMDB design should consume OT component, ownership, dependency, support, and incident-routing evidence.$arckit-risk-- OT exposure, safety, availability, and remote-access gaps should feed the project risk register.$arckit-traceability-- OT findings should trace back to requirements, diagrams, DFD flows, data entities, controls, risks, and operational runbooks.$arckit-maturity-model-- Use OT security findings to assess capability maturity across architecture visibility, connectivity, monitoring, suppliers, and recovery.$arckit-graph-report-- Graph reporting should show AUOT coverage alongside AU compliance, architecture, risk, traceability, and operations artefacts.