Industrial control systems are fundamental to all industrial processes, from power generation to water treatment and manufacturing. ICS refers to the collection of devices that govern a process to ensure its safe and effective execution. These devices include Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, Distributed Control Systems (DCS)...

The distribution systems of the U.S. energy grid — the portions of the grid that carry electricity to consumers — are growing more susceptible to cyber-attacks, in part due to the advent of monitoring and control technology and their reliance on them. However, the magnitude of the possible consequences of such attacks is not fully understood. Reports...

The popularity of electric vehicles is partly a response to the desire of achieving sustainability and carbon footprint reduction. Automobile manufacturers are making substantial investments to tackle emissions issues, create environment-friendly vehicles, and align with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) requirements. To achieve brand edge...

It’s no surprise that industrial environments have become increasingly valuable targets for malicious behavior. The State of Security has featured many cybersecurity events across myriad industrial verticals, including but not limited to chemical manufacturing, transportation, power generation and petrochemical. Several of these industries have taken...

The healthcare industry has been a favored target for cybercriminals for many years. In the first half of 2022 alone, 324 attacks against healthcare organizations have been reported. Attackers have primarily focused on large hospitals in years past, but there has been a sudden switch to smaller healthcare companies and specialty clinics. There...

The Cross-Sector Cybersecurity Performance Goals (CPGs) are a new baseline released jointly by CISA, NIST, and the interagency community, with a goal of providing consistency across all critical infrastructure. The primary webpage for these goals gives us a great understanding of what they are (and are not). It is worth delving into those specifics...

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework was meant to be a dynamic document that is continuously revised, enhanced, and updated. These upgrades allow the Framework to keep up with technological and threat developments, incorporate lessons learned, and transform best practices into standard procedures. NIST created the Framework in 2014 and updated it with...

For most modern businesses, there’s a divide between Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT). The difference between these equally integral facets of digital manufacturing is a subject currently under debate. Ultimately, information technology deals with information and data. In contrast, operational technology handles the...

It is always said that security is never a one-size-fits-all solution. This is true not only because of the apparent infinite varieties of equipment in each individual organization, but also, and perhaps more importantly, the different ways that every organization views security. Some spend lots of time focusing on physical security, especially those...

Cybersecurity has, since its inception, been a corporate-based problem. Whether it is a public, or private corporation, these entities were the primary targets of most cybercrime. In recent years, the industrial sector has increasingly become the target of attack for malicious actors. The reasons include newly internet-connected devices that were...

The lack of healthcare cybersecurity is one of the most significant threats to the sanctity of the global healthcare industry. This is made evident by the fact that in 2020 more than 18 million patient records were affected by successful cyber-attacks on the U.S. healthcare system.Health professionals should not take this issue lightly, as financial...

Agencies of the US Government have issued a joint warning that hackers have revealed their capability to gain full system access to industrial control systems that might help enemy states sabotage critical infrastructure. In a joint cybersecurity advisory issued by the Department of Energy, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA...

In recent years, cyber espionage has been growing in magnitude and complexity. One of the most common targets is Industrial Control Systems (ICS) within critical infrastructure sectors. With many organizations relying more heavily on ICS networks, there has been an increase in threats and cyberattacks aimed at these systems. Not only do these...

Cloud adoption has come a long way from its early days where corporate executives questioned the stewardship of their data. The initial suspicions of “where’s my data” have been laid to rest, as administrative tools and contractual obligations have emerged to give better visibility to, and accountability of, data custodianship. Even the capabilities...

Industrial control systems (ICS) are specific kinds of assets and associated instrumentation that help to oversee industrial processes. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, there are three common types of ICS. These are supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, which help organizations to control dispersed...

Which Flavor of the Purdue Model Should You Follow? If you enter the term "Purdue Model" into your favorite search engine, the resulting images will vary considerably. There's almost no better way to stir up an Operational Technology (OT) security conversation than to begin debating what belongs on Level 1 or Level 3 of the model. You might even...

It seems that the most popular topics in cybersecurity for the last year have been zero trust as well as the convergence of Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT). These developments are good, as they signal some positive motion towards better overall security. Some of the current risks are worth noting, with a forward glance to...

In this episode, Patrick Miller, Founder of Ampere Industrial Security, discusses what utilities and other industrial companies need to consider when it comes to the goldmines of data they're collecting from their machines and customers. He also explains why security and privacy needs to be incorporated in these operations by design. https://open...

Throughout this blog series, I have examined real-world ICS cyber-related incidents as a way of looking back to predict what the next attack may look like. The three categories of attacker that I have considered so far are disgruntled insiders, ransomware groups, and APT. Knowing about past events, their impact, and how they unfolded can be critical...