• How excessive video traffic from IP security cameras can overwhelm OT monitoring sensors and inflate IDS licensing costs.

• Why most OT teams don’t need full video payloads – only camera status – and how this mismatch creates noise instead of visibility.
• How packet filtering with Network Packet Brokers eliminates unnecessary video streams before they hit sensors.
• The measurable benefits: faster detection, fewer false positives, lower throughput costs, and preserved camera health visibility.

Introduction

Operational Technology (OT) environments are built for reliability and uptime, but as networks scale, visibility can quickly become a double-edged sword. More data isn’t always better. In fact, without precision, it can become a burden.

Here’s a practical example and a takeaway you can apply immediately if you’re dealing with monitoring and security sensors that don’t need video traffic.

The Challenge: When Visibility Becomes Noise

A large global exporter was dealing with exactly the kind of problem many OT network engineers quietly struggle with: too much of the wrong traffic. Their environment included thousands of daily moving assets and a rapidly expanding network footprint. Like many modern industrial operations, the company deployed extensive IP-based security cameras across facilities.

The issue wasn’t the cameras themselves. It was the video traffic.

Yet, the actual requirement was simple: know whether the cameras are online, not analyze every frame of video. This is a classic OT visibility mismatch: collecting data you don’t need, at the expense of the data you do.

The Solution: Precision Packet Filtering

Instead of scaling up sensors and increasing spending, the smarter move was to reduce the problem at the source. Using Network Packet Brokers (NPBs) with advanced filtering helped the exporter accomplish the following:

1. Traffic Identification: video streams were programmatically identified based on defined characteristics.
2. Selective Packet Filtering: The NPBs were configured to strip out video packets before they reach the IDS.
3. Signal Preservation: Crucial camera connectivity and status are preserved.

The result? A data stream tailored to actual operational needs.

Benefits

This approach delivered immediate, measurable improvements across the OT monitoring environment. By reducing unnecessary traffic, the IDS was able to operate more efficiently, processing only relevant data and improving both detection speed and accuracy. At the same time, lowering the volume of traffic helped the organization stay within existing licensing thresholds, avoiding additional costs.

Importantly, operational visibility was not compromised because camera uptime and health remained fully visible without the burden of transmitting video payloads. With less noise in the system, threat detection became more precise, reducing false positives and allowing analysts to focus on what truly mattered. Additionally, the use of Packet Brokers provided long-term value, eliminating the need for recurring subscription fees (due to Garland Technology’s perpetual hardware model).

The Takeaway: Filter First, Then Analyze

The key lesson for OT network engineers is that not all traffic deserves equal visibility. Rather than sending every packet to monitoring sensors, it’s critical to evaluate whether the data actually supports a meaningful security or operational use case. In many scenarios, specifically defined data is sufficient, and full payload inspection only adds unnecessary strain on systems and budgets.

By implementing packet filtering, organizations can significantly reduce processing overhead, extend the lifespan of existing sensors, and improve overall detection outcomes. Ultimately, the goal is not to capture everything, but to focus on the data that delivers the most value.

Conclusion

In OT environments, precision beats volume every time. The goal isn’t to see everything, it’s to see what matters most. The Benefits: less data with more insights.

Looking to eliminate unwanted traffic sent to your OT monitoring sensors, but not sure where to start? Join us for a brief network Design-IT consultation or demo. No obligation - it’s what we love to do.