The events of 2020 helped to accelerate the convergence between information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) for many organizations. As reported by Help Net Security, for instance, two-thirds of IT and OT security professionals said in a 2020 survey that their IT and OT networks had become more interconnected in the wake of the pandemic. More than three-quarters of respondents went on to predict that their organization’s networks would become even more connected in the years that follow.

Industrial organizations are More Connected, but Not Necessarily More Prepared

Notwithstanding the findings discussed above, many organizations aren’t prepared to face the challenges associated with the IT-OT convergence. These obstacles include the fact that nearly a third of organizations’ OT environments lack proper safeguards against digital threats, as reported by Help Net Security. They must also navigate the difficulties of having siloed teams under their employment. More than half (56%) of respondents in the survey said that collaboration between their IT and OT teams had become more challenging in recent years, for instance, thus complicating the task of securing Internet of Things (IoT) devices deployed in those environments.

Siloed teams and missing safeguards weigh on other security concerns facing industrial organizations, as well. In the first half of 2021, Kaspersky blocked more than 20,000 malware variants. Those attack attempts targeted almost a third of industrial computers protected by the security firm’s solutions, and they used various types of digital threats in the process. Specifically, Kaspersky’s researchers saw an increase of spyware and malicious scripts by 0.4% and 0.7%, respectively.

It’s a similar story with vulnerabilities affecting organizations’ industrial control systems (ICS). TechRepublic noted that the security community learned of 637 such weaknesses in the first half of 2021. That’s a 41% increase over the 449 flaws discussed (Read more...)