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The International Society of Automation (ISA), a professional society for automation, announced that Agilicus has officially joined the... The post Agilicus joins ISA Global Cybersecurity Alliance to boost adoption of ISA/IEC 62443 standards appeared first on Industrial Cyber.
Analysis Summary
# Industry News: Agilicus Joins ISAGCA to Advance Global OT Standards
## Summary
Agilicus, a Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) provider, has officially joined the ISA Global Cybersecurity Alliance (ISAGCA). The partnership aims to accelerate the global adoption of the ISA/IEC 62443 standards by integrating modern zero-trust principles into industrial automation and control systems (IACS).
## Key Details
- **Date:** October 5, 2026
- **Companies Involved:** Agilicus, International Society of Automation (ISA)
- **Category:** Partnership / Industry Membership
## The Story
The International Society of Automation announced that Agilicus has joined the ISA Global Cybersecurity Alliance (ISAGCA), a collaborative forum dedicated to strengthening operational technology (OT) security. As critical infrastructure faces increasing threats, this move signals a push toward bridging the gap between modern cloud-native security and traditional industrial environments.
Agilicus brings its **AnyX Zero Trust Network Access** platform to the table, which replaces traditional VPNs with identity-based, least-privilege access. The company’s focus is on simplifying secure remote access to SCADA and OT environments—a historically complex challenge. By joining ISAGCA, Agilicus intends to align its technology with the **ISA/IEC 62443 series of standards**, focusing specifically on network segmentation, restricted data flows, and secure access for regulated sectors like NERC CIP.
## Business Impact
### For the Companies Involved
- **Agilicus:** Gains significant market credibility and a seat at the table with global industry leaders, facilitating easier entry into highly regulated industrial sectors.
- **ISA/ISAGCA:** Benefits from Agilicus’s specialized knowledge in cloud-native ZTNA and AI-powered threat protection, modernizing the alliance’s technical breadth.
### For Competitors
- Traditional VPN providers and legacy remote access vendors in the OT space face increased pressure to align with ISA/IEC 62443 and adopt Zero Trust architectures to remain competitive.
### For Customers
- End users in critical infrastructure (utilities, manufacturing, energy) gain more validated, standards-compliant options for secure remote management, potentially reducing the risk of lateral movement during a breach.
### For the Market
- This membership reinforces the industry trend of moving away from "perimeter-only" security toward granular, identity-centric models within OT environments.
## Technical Implications
The partnership highlights a technical shift toward **Identity-based Least Privilege Access** for SCADA systems. By mapping ZTNA capabilities directly to ISA/IEC 62443 requirements (such as zones and conduits), Agilicus is attempting to prove that modern web-scale security can be safely applied to sensitive, low-latency industrial hardware without compromising safety or availability.
## Strategic Analysis
- **Market Positioning:** Agilicus is positioning itself as a "bridge" between IT security innovation and OT operational requirements.
- **Competitive Advantage:** By championing a standards-based approach (IEC 62443), Agilicus differentiates itself from "black box" security startups that often ignore the rigorous compliance needs of industrial operators.
- **Challenges:** Overcoming the inherent "OT security debt"—where decades-old legacy hardware may not easily integrate with modern identity providers.
## Industry Reactions
- **Michelle Ritterskamp (ISAGCA):** Highlighted the milestone as a win for the community, citing Agilicus’s commitment to "measurable, standards-based cybersecurity."
- **Don Bowman (Agilicus CEO):** Emphasized the importance of protecting against AI-powered threats and meeting NERC CIP requirements.
## Future Outlook
- **Standardization:** Expect more ZTNA vendors to seek ISAGCA membership as "Zero Trust" becomes a mandatory requirement in federal and industrial security RFPs.
- **What to watch for:** New technical whitepapers or reference architectures released by ISAGCA that specifically detail how to implement ZTNA within the ISA/IEC 62443 framework.
## For Security Professionals
Practitioners should note that the "VPN-first" approach for OT remote access is rapidly losing favor with standards bodies. If your organization relies on ISA/IEC 62443 for compliance, look for ways to transition toward identity-defined access controls that limit lateral movement, as this is where the industry’s regulatory and technical momentum is currently headed.