The importance of operational technology cybersecurity
Rockwell Automation has partnered with cyber-physical systems protection company, Claroty, to release a white paper on safeguarding Australia and New Zealand’s industrial systems. In the face of an ever-growing climate of cybersecurity attacks, operational technology (OT) security specialists bear the weight of safeguarding Australia and New Zealand’s most critical infrastructure. Ensuring uninterrupted essential services such as energy, food and beverage, healthcare, data processing, and mining industries demands utmost vigilance. However, the recent Rockwell Automation and Claroty survey of 42 C-suite executives and heads of security exposes a concerning truth – many OT systems remain exposed and vulnerable. “A lot of the challenges organisations face today can be traced back to the fact that OT has traditionally been operated and managed as a separate entity from conventional information technology (IT) environments,” says Anthony Wong, regional director, South Pacific, for Rockwell Automation. The survey bears this out with 26% of respondents admitting that there is a low or medium level of collaboration between OT and IT, and the two units could do better. “Increasingly, cybercriminals are exploiting sometimes lax OT security as springboards to launch a wider attack across an organisation,” says Wong. For example, a recent cyber-attack on a major Australian meat packing company, forced the temporary shutdown of 47 sites across Australia and a ransom demand of $14.2 million. Key Findings: A Wake-Up Call 65% of respondents detected at least one OT-related cybersecurity incident in the last 12 months. 60% of cybersecurity leaders believe their budget is not enough to protect their operations 29% of respondents were concerned that an OT security incident could disrupt their production. 26% of respondents admitted having low or medium levels of visibility into the operations of their network. 26% of respondents worry that attacks could compromise the safety of their employees or others Just […]