Cybersecurity should not be an afterthought within industrial environments

The basics of cyber security are still not being practized regularly and new cyber security risks are emerging as more and more untested technologies are integrated within the critical infrastructures upon which society depends, according to Applied Risk.

An analysis of technical observations used to visualize the most common types of vulnerabilities within industrial control systems

“We’re seeing rapid proliferation of new and untested technologies finding their way into Operational Technology (OT) that is controlling and monitoring crucial processes within our society, with data increasingly being transmitted from the OT environment for processing in the cloud.

“Despite increased awareness, new technologies are still regularly developed and deployed in a way that prioritizes speed to market and costs over key security considerations,” says Applied Risk founder and CEO Jalal Bouhdada.

“Cyber security can no longer be treated as an afterthought within industrial environments. By placing it at the heart of their culture, organizations can mitigate the risk of operational, financial and reputational damage and safely harness the huge opportunities of digitalization,” Bouhdada adds.

OT and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) security awareness has been growing, partly fueled by growing pressure from regulators across the world and increasing occurrences of cyber incidents within industrial facilities, according to the new report.