Insights & Innovations Blog

Explore new products, news, expert perspectives, industry
trends, and more from the Comnet team.

Comnet
Compliance

What is NERC CIP compliance? A Network Engineer’s Guide (2026)

Electric utilities are the backbone of modern society, powering everything from hospitals to data centers. As the bulk electric system (BES) becomes more interconnected, it faces a growing array of cyber threats, including ransomware, supply chain attacks, and targeted intrusions that can disrupt entire regions. Regulatory oversight is intensifying, and the consequences of non-compliance are more severe than ever.

Comnet
SCADA

SCADA Networking Best Practices: Ethernet Switches for OT Environments

SCADA systems are the operational backbone of critical infrastructure — power plants, oil and gas pipelines, water treatment facilities, and manufacturing floors all depend on them to monitor and control industrial processes. When SCADA network infrastructure fails, the consequences extend far beyond downtime. For network engineers specifying or hardening OT environments, getting the switch architecture right is non-negotiable.

Comnet
ITS

Industrial Ethernet Switches for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS): Buyer's Guide

Intelligent Transportation Systems rely on communication networks that must perform without interruption. IP cameras at intersections, variable message signs along highways, traffic signal controllers, tunnel sensors — the data transmission linking this equipment has direct safety consequences. Choosing the right industrial Ethernet switch is one of the most critical network decisions an ITS engineer makes. The advantages of purpose-built, industrial-grade hardware over commercial alternatives are clear: greater reliability, secure communication, and availability when it matters most. This buyer's guide covers what makes an industrial Ethernet switch suitable for ITS, how managed and unmanaged models compare, the key features to evaluate, and which Comnet switches are purpose-built for transportation deployments.

Comnet
OT/IT Convergence

OT/IT Convergence in Power Utilities: What It Means for Your Network Infrastructure

Power grids are no longer the centralized, one-directional systems they were built to be. The rapid expansion of distributed energy resources, advanced metering infrastructure, and continuous remote monitoring requirements has made the traditional separation between field control systems and enterprise platforms unsustainable. For network engineers and system designers in the energy sector, IT/OT convergence is the defining infrastructure challenge of this decade — and how you architect the underlying network will determine whether your utility capitalizes on it or is constrained by it.

Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity Strategies for Critical Infrastructure

Cybersecurity Strategies for Critical Infrastructure

Advancements in technology also comes with an increased risk of increasingly complex and intelligent cyber-attacks, therefore it’s imperative that effective cybersecurity strategies are deployed, and this is extremely important in the case of critical infrastructure. In this article, we will look into what critical infrastructure is, and some of the cybersecurity strategies that should be implemented in order to prevent the risk of cyber-attacks.

Comnet
Network Security 101: Best Practices to Defend Against Modern Threats

Network Security 101: Best Practices to Defend Against Modern Threats

Introduction As technology continues to advance, so does the nature of cyber attacks. With organizations around the world relying on their IT infrastructure, any disruption to their networks can be catastrophic if not dealt with swiftly. In this article, we’re going to take a look at what network security is, and some of the best practices to defend against modern threats, along with a plan of action in case a security breach does occur.