Security Awareness – Cyber Attacks on Critical Infrastructure with Physical Impacts Increasing

Waterfall Security Solutions, in cooperation with ICSStrive, has published its 2023 Threat Report, which is specifically focused on OT cyber attacks with physical consequences. A key takeaway from the document is the observed surge in cyber attacks on critical infrastructure.

According to the report, 2022 saw “a 140 [percent] surge in cyber attacks against industrial operations [that] resulted in more than 150 incidents,” the majority of which were ransomware attacks targeting IT, though some attacks targeting OT were also observed. However, the report noted even the IT-focused attacks had physical consequences, either because fast-paced operations relied on now-compromised IT systems or because OT systems were shut down alongside compromised IT systems out of an abundance of caution. Forty-two incidents were identified as causing physical consequences. With the increasing integration of IT and OT, both in terms of operations and consequences, members are encouraged to increase cooperation and communication between their IT and OT teams to be ready to respond to such events. Read more at Security Intelligence.