93% of companies faced cybersecurity threats, says study

Bengaluru: Barracuda Networks Inc. released key findings of a report, titled "The State of Industrial Security in 2022" on Wednesday. The research surveyed 800 senior IT managers, senior IT security managers, and project managers responsible for industrial internet of things (IIoT)/operational technology (OT) in their organization to get their perspectives on IIoT/OT security projects, implementation challenges, security incidents, technology investments, and a variety of issues related to cybersecurity risks.

The research as a whole demonstrates that critical infrastructure is being attacked, and despite widespread agreement that IIoT and OT security is crucial, organisations are still encountering substantial difficulties as the geopolitical landscape gets more chaotic. Security breaches have shown to have impacts beyond monetary losses as well, resulting in significant downtime with long-lasting breach impact.

The research has found out that 94% of organisations surveyed, acknowledged experiencing a security incident in the last 12 months; 89% of respondents are very or fairly concerned about the impact that the current threat, landscape and geopolitical situation will have on their organizations; 87% of organizations that experienced an incident, were impacted for more than one day.

"In the current threat landscape, critical infrastructure is an attractive target for cybercriminals, but unfortunately IIoT/OT security projects often take a backseat to other security initiatives or fail due to cost or complexity, leaving organizations at risk," says Tim Jefferson, SVP, Engineering for Data, Networks and Application Security, Barracuda.

"Issues such as the lack of network segmentation and the number of organizations that aren't requiring multifactor authentication leave networks open to attack and require immediate attention," he adds.

Organizations across the board have acknowledged the importance of investing even further in IIoT and OT security, with 96% of business leaders noting that their organization needs to increase their investment in industrial security. A full 72% of organizations signaled that they have either already implemented or are in the process of implementing IIoT/OT security projects, but many are facing significant challenges when it comes to implementation, including basic cyber hygiene.

"IIoT attacks go beyond the digital realm and can have real-world implications," says Klaus Gheri, VP Network Security, Barracuda. "As attacks continue to rise across industries, taking a proactive security approach when it comes to industrial security is critical for businesses to avoid being the next victim of an attack," he concludes.