Critical infrastructure is under attack in almost every country, but especially in the United Kingdom. The UK was the most attacked country in Europe, which is already the region most impacted by cyber incidents. The energy industry is taking the brunt of those cyberattacks, according to IBM’s X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2024.
The energy sector is a favorite target for threat actors. The complexity of systems and the reliance on legacy OT systems make them easy prey. Because of the critical nature of these systems, threat actors know that ransoms will be paid to keep downtime to a minimum.
A changing threat landscape
Ransomware is the top threat to the UK’s critical infrastructure, according to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). While some companies are hit with malware attacks directly, there is increasing risk to the OT supply chain, as suppliers and smaller companies that support energy and utilities are more likely to be victims of a cyberattack. These suppliers often lack good cybersecurity programs, making them an easy target for infiltrating larger critical infrastructure organizations.
The war in Ukraine has elevated the risk to the UK’s energy industry. The conflict has emboldened state-related threat actors, and the NCSC warned that the most significant threat to the critical infrastructure is malware launched by nation-state groups. The goal of these threat actors is disruption of operation, which can have a severe impact on the populations that critical infrastructure serves.
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