Kaspersky Report: Targeted attacks against ICS sector on the rise

January 5, 2018 – According to the Kaspersky Lab, IT Security Risks Survey^[1], every fourth industrial company of over 900 surveyed faced a variety of cyberattacks in 2017. Of the evolving types of threats used by cybercriminals, one of the fastest growing types aimed at industrial organizations is targeted attacks, with 28 percent of those surveyed admitting they faced an attack in 2017, compared to 20 percent in 2016.

The survey also revealed that 48 percent ofindustrial businesses have insufficient insight into the threats specifically faced by their business. With a lack of network visibility, 87 percent of industrial companies responded affirmatively when asked if any of the informational technology/operational technology (IT/OT) security events they experienced over the previous year were complex. Given there is an unclear understanding of the threats they are facing, it’s no surprise that industrial organizations spend on average of several days (34%) to several weeks (20%) detecting a cyberattack.

Although industrial organizations lack insight and have difficultly identifying cyberattacks in their networks, they are fully aware of the need for high-quality protection against cyberthreats. In fact, 62 percent of employees at industrial companies firmly believe it’s necessary to use more sophisticated IT security software. However, software alone is not enough: almost half (49%) of industrial company respondents blame staff for not properly following IT security policies, which is 6 percent more than respondents surveyed that belong to other sectors.

“Cyberattacks on industrial control systems have become the indisputable number-one concern,” said Andrey Suvorov, head of critical infrastructure protection business development at Kaspersky Lab. “The good news is that the majority of industrial market players know which threats are coming to the forefront today and will be relevant in the near future. With this knowledge in mind, it’s critically important to implement a flexible, complex security solution that is designed to protect automated industrial environments and is configured in accordance with the technological processes of each organization.”

Due to the steady increase in complexity and number of attacks on the industrial market, the consequences of industrial organizations ignoring cybersecurity threats in 2018 could be disastrous. Cybersecurity awareness training is a must when it comes to cybersecurity in industrial organizations, given that all employees – from the administration side to the factory floor – play a key role in the safety of an enterprise and maintaining operational continuity.

The Kaspersky Lab survey findings further confirm the predictions of Kaspersky ICS CERT experts about the emergence of specific malware that will target vulnerabilities in industrial automation components this year.

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