Independent DIB implementation resource — not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Department of WarView the official DoW campaign ↗
Brilliant at the BasicsDIB Resource Center
OT-02OPERATIONAL TECHNOLOGYOFFICIAL INTENTEXPERT REVIEWED

Validated Asset Inventory

You cannot protect equipment you have not counted. A validated OT inventory is built passively, confirmed by physical walk-downs, and maintained through change control — not by scanning fragile devices.

AUTHOR inDirectIT EditorialREVIEW STATUS SME review completeUPDATED 2026-07-19SOURCE CHECKED 2026-07-19

Official intent

What the campaign asks for

Maintain a validated inventory of operational technology assets as the foundation for OT risk decisions. The official source remains authoritative.

Read the official campaign ↗

Why it matters

Unknown OT assets are unmonitored, unpatched, and often vendor-connected. Every later OT practice — segmentation, vulnerability management, and recovery — depends on this list being real.

Coordinate before touching production

Active network scanning can interrupt fragile OT devices. Use passive discovery and physical walk-downs first; schedule any active technique inside an approved maintenance window with the process owner present.

Minimum / Strong / Advanced

1
Minimum

A current list of OT assets exists and is validated by a physical walk-down.

2
Strong

Inventory includes firmware, connectivity, and criticality; it is updated through change control.

3
Advanced

Passive discovery continuously reconciles the inventory and drift is reviewed.

Implementation timeline

First 24 hours
  • Name an inventory owner
  • Collect existing vendor and project asset lists
Next 30 days
  • Walk down one production line
  • Record make, model, firmware, and connectivity
Next 60 days
  • Cover remaining lines and remote sites
  • Reconcile against passive observations
By day 90
  • Tie updates to every change window
  • Set an annual re-walk cadence

Implementation steps

  1. Assign an accountable inventory owner with plant authority.
  2. Start from vendor documentation, purchase records, and project files.
  3. Physically walk down each line and verify networked and serial-connected devices.
  4. Record criticality and process impact with the operators who run it.
  5. Feed the inventory into change review so it stays current.

Validation

  • Pick five random devices on the floor; all five must appear in the inventory.
  • Compare passive network observations to the list and investigate unknowns.
  • Confirm the inventory changed when the last plant change happened.

Evidence to retain

Governance

Inventory ownership and update policy

Configuration

Inventory export with firmware and connectivity fields

Operations

Walk-down worksheets with dates and signatures

Validation

Reconciliation report: observed versus recorded assets

Common failure modes

What looks done but is not

Treating a vendor spreadsheet as validated, scanning the OT network to save time, and omitting serial-connected or safety-instrumented devices.

Framework mappings

Independent mappings are aids, not authoritative equivalence or compliance determinations.

FrameworkRequirementRelationshipConfidence
NIST SP 800-82 Rev. 3§6.2.1DirectHigh
NIST CSF 2.0ID.AM-01DirectHigh
CIS Controls v8.11.1SupportingModerate