As part of a penetration test, a tester needs to discover systems in the OT-segmented...

In operational technology environments, safety, availability, and process stability are the highest priorities. Because the requirement says the tester must not disrupt OT services and must minimize device interaction, passive network capture is the best approach. Passive capture allows the tester to observe traffic flows, protocols, device communications, and asset relationships without directly probing or interrogating the systems. This greatly reduces the risk of causing faults, crashes, or unintended behavior in fragile industrial devices. Low-impact scanning may still generate traffic that certain PLCs, RTUs, or legacy controllers cannot safely handle. Physical assessment can help with inventory, but it is not the best method for network-based system discovery. Deploying agents is intrusive and operationally risky. Therefore, passive capture is the most appropriate and safest discovery method in a segmented OT environment.

==============