News brief: Rising OT threats put critical infrastructure at risk

<p>One of the most notorious ransomware incidents in history happened in May 2021, when malicious hackers held the Colonial Pipeline hostage, causing gas shortages and widespread panic. The high-profile incident underscored the vulnerability of U.S. critical infrastructure and operational technology (OT) to cyberattacks.</p>
<div class=”ad-wrapper ad-embedded”>
<div id=”halfpage” class=”ad ad-hp”>
<script>GPT.display(‘halfpage’)</script>
</div>
<div id=”mu-1″ class=”ad ad-mu”>
<script>GPT.display(‘mu-1’)</script>
</div>
</div>
<p>Today, OT — which we rely on for water, transportation, food, electricity and more — faces escalating threats. According to <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.fortinet.com/resources/reports/state-ot-cybersecurity” rel=”noopener”>recent research</a> from Fortinet, 82% of organizations saw intrusions affect their OT systems in the past year, an increase from 73% in 2024 and 49% in 2023.</p>
<p>This week’s featured articles explore the global financial stakes of OT security, vulnerabilities opening critical infrastructure to attack and new guidance from the federal government for securing OT assets.</p>
<section class=”section main-article-chapter” data-menu-title=”OT cyber threats put more than $300B at risk annually”>
<h2 class=”section-title”><i class=”icon” data-icon=”1″></i>OT cyber threats put more than $300B at risk annually</h2>
<p>Catastrophic cybersecurity events involving OT have the potential to cost nearly $330 billion in a single year, according to a new report by security vendor Dragos and risk services firm Marsh McLennan, with business interruption accounting for $172 billion of those losses. The researchers said there is a .4% likelihood of such a scenario unfolding in 2026.</p>
<p>In contrast, the average annual global risk is $12.7 billion, while the 12-month aggregated risk is $31 billion.</p>
<p>According to Dragos researchers, many companies underestimate the risk that OT disruptions pose to business continuity. As a result, they focus their cybersecurity budgets primarily on IT rather than OT.</p>
<p>The report suggested reducing OT risk with the following strategies:</p>
<ul class=”default-list”>
<li>Maintain comprehensive <a href=”https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/feature/5

[…]
Content was cut in order to protect the source.Please visit the source for the rest of the article.