Cybersecurity company, Tenable Inc., has released the study, Cybersecurity in Operational Technology: 7 Insights You Need to Know. The report was conducted by the Ponemon Institute. The results identify the extent of cyberattacks experienced by critical infrastructure operators — professionals in industries using industrial control systems (ICS) and operational technology (OT). It found that 90% of respondents said their environments had been damaged by at least one cyberattack over the past two years, with 62% experiencing two or more attacks.
Experts Commented below:
Byron Rashed, VP of Marketing at Centripetal:
A cybersecurity expert from Centripetal weighed in on the results of the study. “As noted in the report, attacks continue to be successful due to the lack of cybersecurity teams to keep up with the attack surface,” said Byron Rashed, VP of marketing at Centripetal Networks. “Organizations and various verticals are under constant attack by threat actors and highly organized cybergangs that are looking to monetize their malicious actions. In critical infrastructure, the attacks can be truly devastating. In many cases, the attacks are nation-state driven or inspired.
Rashed offered suggestions on how to avoid or deflect cyberattacks. “Cybersecurity teams need to concentrate on the known threats,” said Rashed. “By blocking known adversary nation-states that target critical infrastructure – using geo blocking – as well as inbound and outbound traffic from known malicious sources, an infrastructure organization will greatly increase their cybersecurity posture. Most breaches come from sources that are known to be malicious. Shifting to a blocking strategy will greatly mitigate risk.”
