Countries will need to strengthen the security of their Critical Information Infrastructures (CII) and Operational Technology (OT) systems, as the adoption of common standards enables hackers to escalate their attacks.
Furthermore, increased digitalization and connectivity have driven automation in OT industrial sectors, such as power, oil and gas, water, and manufacturing. Importantly, these industries are also gaining in efficiency by adopting common protocols and operating systems.
However, as these industries move from heterogeneous environments to standardized software stacks, consistency enables hackers to perform better, says Robert M. Lee, CEO of cybersecurity provider Dragos, which specializes in industrial control systems. and telecommunications.
Consequences of compromised OT systems are more costly
And predict the coming of more repeatable, cross-industry OT attack toolkits, he notes. Combined with a wider attack surface due to increased connectivity, OT networks are more likely to be attacked, warns Lee, who was speaking at the Expert Group Forum on Tuesday. cybersecurity OT held in Singapore.
Just five years ago, in 2018, Dragos identified six to seven state actor groups that focused on OT and industrial control systems. That number has since swelled to at least 22 groups, and more and more networks of state actors are realizing the viability of targeting OT sectors.
Although the frequency of attacks in the IT domain is higher than in the OT sector, the consequences of compromising OT systems are more costly and can affect people’s lives and the economy, a he added.
According to Dragos, 605 ransomware attacked industrial companies last year, an increase of 87% over the previous year. The Stuxnet worm, discovered in 2010, the attack on the Ukrainian power grid in 2015, and the discovery of a Pipedream malware toolkit last year illustrate this development.
What works in IT may not work in OT
Noting that IT security best practices don’t necessarily work as well in OT environments, Lee cautions OT organizations against blindly “cutting and pasting” IT security measures. In doing so, they risk causing significant disruption and disabling OT systems.
Source: “ZDNet.com”