We do not expect rapid changes in the industrial cyberthreat landscape in 2024. Most of the below-described trends have been observed before, many for some years. However, some of them have reached a critical mass of creeping changes, which could lead to a qualitative shift in the threat landscape as early as next year.
Ransomware
Ransomware will remain the No. 1 scourge of industrial enterprises in 2024.
In 2023, ransomware attacks consolidated their hold on the top of the ranking of information security threats to industrial enterprises. As seen from the official statements of organizations affected by cyber incidents in H1 2023, at least one in six ransomware attacks caused a halt in the production or delivery of products. In some cases, the damage from the attack was estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars. At present, there appears to be no reason to believe the threat will decrease in the near future.
Ransomware attacks on large organizations, suppliers of unique products (equipment, materials), or big logistics and transport companies can have severe economic and social consequences.
Today, according to targeted companies, no less than 18% of ransomware attacks on industrial companies lead to disruptions in production and/or product delivery. Moreover, cybercriminals are clearly aiming “upmarket” in their choice of victims, preferring to target large organizations able to pay substantial ransom.
This is creating a situation where attackers, by design or accident, could again cross the line beyond which the attack consequences become infrastructural, as in the case of Colonial Pipeline. As a ..
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