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Half of ICS firms hit by cyber attack in past year

Published on: 5 Jul 2017

More than half of industrial control systems (ICS) companies have been the target of at least one cyber attack in the last 12 months (54 per cent), according to a new survey.

The research, conducted by Kaspersky Lab, also found that a fifth (21 per cent) of the sample had experienced two incidents in the past year, while almost three-quarters expected a cyber security attack on their infrastructure.

Some 369 industrial cyber security practitioners from 21 countries were quizzed as part of the survey, which indicated a gap in the reality and perception of ICS incidents.

While targeted attack and ransomware are key threats, conventional malware remains the biggest pain point for most ICS organisations (56 per cent).

Other concerning factors were threats from third parties following and sabotage, or other intentional physical damage by external actors.

Clint Bodungen, a senior researcher for critical infrastructure threat analysis at Kaspersky Lab, said ICS organisations should reassess their security strategies before it was too late.

He added: “Businesses managing ICS environments need to put the necessary policies, procedures, technology and training in place immediately to properly manage these risks before they have an opportunity to damage the business.”

A shortage of skills was a key concern too, with the hiring of appropriately skilled ICS cyber security employees being the main priority for 15 per cent of respondents.