OPERATIONAL TECHNOLOGY THREATS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND POSSIBLE SOLUTION Faysal A. Ghauri #1 EC-Council University, USA 1 iam@faysalghauri.com Abstract— This particular research will involve proper analysis of several active threats about the operational technology existing within a number of various countries that are developing. The research will be depicting several issues that are mostly faced by some developing countries and will also comprise some recommendations that will help a lot in the mitigation of various recognised threats related to operational technology. The literature review will be comprising several resources that will be directly related to the key topic of research. The study will be capable of bringing out all of the various outcomes that are actually expected. This study will also involve a gap in the literature that will show all of the gaps that will be present in this study. A section of methodology comprises the opted research design, research philosophy, research approach, method of data collection, inclusion and exclusion criteria, analysis of data, and even the associated ethical issues. Lastly, there is a proper conclusion and also some recommendations for this study of research. I. INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND Background of the Study The Fourth Industrial Revolution is considered conjunction of all those technologies that blurs the prevalent lines between the physical and the digital worlds that come under cyber- physical systems or networks [1]. The awareness of operational technology and the severe and complicated infrastructure system and its security are rising. The path towards the protection and securing of operational technology systems is quite developed but requires proper watchfulness and understanding of the need to build the security. The very capability for implementing the security solutions that deliver quite a lot of perceptibility and control of the real-world awareness of the circumstance becomes the differentiators that help conduct safer and efficient operations. In a fast-changing world that is highly commercialised, important competitive advantage can be created with improved automation. OT networks operated independently in the past, which was entirely separated from the IT system in the same company [2]. However, data flow across the systems from customers to the manufacturers is essential as the data access in an operational technology network can affect everything from energy production to the output, thereby allowing the organizations to respond to the customer demands with greater efficiency [3]. Problem Statement With every possible interlinking and the resulting extension of the operating systems comes an added risk to the automated operational technology. Therefore, with the addition of every new function, there comes new risk. Whenever any system goes online, it is bound to become a probable target. Hackers are pretty quick nowadays and are very efficient in finding out all the details by taking advantage of the vulnerabilities. It cannot be denied that new threats evolve as soon as the counter technology for eradicating the previous threats is built [4]. All these issues become more prevalent in the developing countries, which are very new in applying these rules; therefore, how a developed country handles this is far different from a developing country. This implements an active network more complex than ever. However, this is important in bringing about and creating defense against hackers and protecting the systems from any impending structural damage [5]. Research Aims and Objectives Research Aim: The research aims at analyzing the threats to operational technology that exists in developing countries. The research will help understand the various issues that the developing countries face and will throw enough light into the recommendations to mitigate the recognized operational technology threats. Research Objectives: The research objectives are as follows:  To identify the operational threats of technology  To analyze and understand the impact of operational technology threats in the developing countries  To recommend ways that will help in mitigation of the identified issues about operation and technology Research Questions  The research questions are as follows:  What are the operational threats of technology? International Journal of Computer Science and Information Security (IJCSIS), Vol. 19, No. 4, April 2021 1 https://sites.google.com/site/ijcsis/ ISSN 1947-5500