Manufacturers invest heavily in backup systems, yet many discover during a crisis that their recovery plan doesn’t actually work. Here’s the critical validation step most are missing.
Operational technology environments were once protected by isolation. Production lines ran on air-gapped PLCs and SCADA networks that rarely interacted with external systems. That protection no longer exists.
Smart manufacturing has connected OT to IT through remote monitoring, predictive maintenance and cloud analytics. These capabilities have delivered efficiency gains, but they have also introduced the same weaknesses that IT environments have faced for years. In 2024, ransomware groups listed 1,693 industrial organisations on leak sites. That figure represented an 87 percent year-on-year increase, and one in four cases resulted in a full shutdown.
Legacy systems are particularly vulnerable. Many cannot be patched without halting production. Others rely on outdated operating systems with limited authentication. Attackers increasingly use stolen IT credentials to move into OT environments where older equipment has few built-in defences.
The consequences can be severe. When Jaguar Land Rover experienced a cyber incident in 2025, assembly lines producing more than 1,000 vehicles each day stopped. The disruption affected a supply chain supporting more than 100,000 jobs.
As IT and OT systems continue to converge, backup and recovery have become essential to operational resilience. Preventive controls reduce risk but cannot eliminate it entirely. Software updates fail. Human error occurs. A tested and reliable recovery process is what ultimately restores operations.
The validation gap
The difference between having backups and being able to restore from them often becomes clear only during a crisis. Manufacturing is now among the most frequently targeted sectors. Dragos reports that 70 percent of industrial cyber incidents affect manufacturers, and one in four results in complete operational downtime. Regulatory frameworks such as NIS2 and NIST SP 800-82 require organisations to demonstrate recovery capability, not simply assume it.
Yet many manufacturers have never validated a full restore.
Many organisations rely on the fact that backup jobs complete successfully and logs show no errors. But this confidence can be misleading. As Dave Joyce, CEO of Macrium Software, explains: “We often meet organisations that feel protected simply because they have a well-structured backup routine. The reality is that a backup is only as good as the last time it was properly validated. In OT environments, configurations change, hardware behaves unpredictably and dependencies shift over time. Without regular testing, you’re relying on assumptions rather than certainty when an incident occurs.”
Why backups fail when they’re needed most
Backups can fail for reasons that are not obvious in day-to-day monitoring:
- Silent file corruption
- Inability to restore older OT systems onto modern hardware
- Offline copies falling out of sync due to inconsistent rotation
- Configuration drift between backups and live systems
- Missing dependencies in file-level backups
- Malware destroying online repositories
- Unclear or outdated internal documentation
The recognised 3-2-1-1-0 model provides a strong foundation: three copies of data, two media types, one copy offline or air-gapped, one copy off-site and zero errors verified through testing. For many OT environments, air-gapped storage remains the most reliable way to protect a clean recovery point.
Reaching zero errors depends on whether your backups have been validated.
Five validation methods every manufacturer should use
Validation does not need to be complex or disruptive. A structured validation plan increases confidence over time.
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Hash checks and integrity verification
Start with basic integrity checks. Hash comparisons or checksums confirm that backup data matches the source. These checks detect silent corruption and verify that retention policies are being followed.
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Virtual restore testing
Boot a backup in an isolated virtual environment. This confirms that operating systems load correctly and critical software behaves as expected. Virtual restore testing is one of the most efficient ways to uncover issues without needing spare hardware.
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Offline and air-gapped backup verification
If your resilience strategy includes removable drives or rotation-based storage, regularly confirm these offline copies are accessible and complete. Air-gapped backups often provide the cleanest recovery point after a cyber incident, but only if they are checked consistently.
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Hardware restore drills
Restore a backup image onto hardware that matches your production environment. This reveals problems that virtual testing may not expose, such as firmware issues, device-specific drivers or subtle configuration differences.
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Full disaster recovery exercises
Simulate a complete outage and run your recovery plan from start to finish. These exercises test technology, documentation and team readiness. After each drill, record what worked well and what needs improvement.
Building validation into everyday operations
A practical schedule might include monthly integrity checks, quarterly virtual restore tests and a full disaster recovery exercise twice per year. Each test strengthens resilience, supports regulatory requirements and builds confidence in recovery capability.
Recovery during a real incident relies on muscle memory. Teams must know which backups are clean and how to isolate affected systems. Familiarity only comes through regular practice. Organisations that treat validation as continuous work rather than a one-off project are consistently the ones that recover fastest.
From backup to genuine resilience
Validation is what turns a backup from a precaution into a functioning recovery strategy. As IT and OT environments continue to converge and regulatory focus intensifies, manufacturers that can prove their resilience will benefit most.
The question is no longer whether disruption will occur. The real question is whether operations can be restored quickly when it does.
Before you face a crisis, review your validation plan. Key steps include:
- Check when your last successful restore test was completed
- Protect one copy using immutable storage or offline, air-gapped media
- Identify which systems would cause the greatest impact if recovery failed
- Establish a repeatable schedule for validation
- Document every test, outcome, and improve as needed.
Looking to strengthen your recovery capabilities?
Macrium’s Best Practice Guide for IT/OT Backup & Recovery outlines how to assess your environment, set realistic RPO and RTO targets, select the right backup approach and embed validation into ongoing operations.
Download the full guide here .
Dave Joyce, CEO at Macrium
Dave Joyce has 25 years’ leadership experience across software, technology and fintech organisations. He now leads Macrium, focusing on dependable backup and recovery solutions that strengthen resilience for operational technology environments.
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