As the world transitions towards Industry 4.0, cyberattacks are no longer limited to the IT infrastructure of organizations. Threat actors are increasingly targeting critical infrastructure and operational technology (OT) in organizations from different industries. For instance, The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) has warned that ransomware groups will likely target and disrupt OT operations in the transport sector, in the foreseeable future.
One reason is that IT and OT networks have historically operated in siloes with limited collaboration. This has resulted in the lack of a cohesive strategy for organization-wide security risk management. While IT security teams are often adept at handling the latest threats, risks on the OT plant network side usually go undiscovered and unnoticed.
Industrial Control Systems (ICS) often prioritize the ability to deliver uninterrupted services and lack security by design. Sectors such as oil and gas, transport, energy, and maritime tend to rely on legacy OT systems with outdated hardware and software. They grapple with issues ranging from dated and insecure passwords to a lack of remote monitoring to detect suspicious…
