While industries like financial services and healthcare tend to dominate in IT attacks, the tables are turned when looking at Operational Technology (OT) cyber attacks – and the energy sector is the clear “winner.”
We spend a lot of time talking about attacks that largely impact IT systems. But OT environments are a growing concern as new targets for cybercriminals.
Containing plenty of intellectual property and a clear opportunity for threat actors to hold operations hostage as part of an OT-centric ransomware attack, OT environments are just as critical and require the same level of cybersecurity focus.
According to Rockwell Automation’s Anatomy of 100+ Cybersecurity Incidents in Industrial Operations report, one specific industry stands out from the rest as the largest target of cyber attacks. The Energy sector experienced 39% of all OT cybersecurity incidents, dwarfing the other sectors with the next largest sector (Critical Manufacturing) only experiencing 11% of incidents.
According to Rockwell, these incidents have some common factors:
- 84% of attacks began with the compromise of an IT system
- 60% of attackers are nation-state affiliated groups
- Insiders play an “indirect” role in more than one-third of incidents, which Rockwell attributes to “becoming a victim of a phishing attack”
- The number one initial attack vector is spear phishing attachments (experienced in 34% of attacks)
In the report, Rockwell makes a few recommendations to minimize the risk of attack based on the report data – these include:
- Keeping IT and OT networks segmented and air-gapped
- Leverage Zero Trust technologies
- Monitor for threats 24/7
- Providing ongoing employee security awareness training
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