Claroty, cyber-physical systems (CPS) protection company, reveals a new study that highlights the significant impacts of cyberattacks in environments with cyber-physical systems (CPS). The report "The Global State of CPS Security 2024: the Impact of Business Disruptions” (O Estado Global da Segurança de CPS 2024: Impacto nos Negócios das Interrupções) is based on an independent global survey with 1.100 information security professionals, OT engineering, clinical and biomedical engineering, and the management of facilities and plant operations regarding the impacts of cyberattacks on their organizations in the last 12 months
The research also includes data from interviews with executives of organizations in Brazil. The results revealed a significant financial impact, with three in five (62%) Brazilian organizations reporting a financial impact between US$ 100,000 and nearly US$ 500,000 due to cyberattacks that affected their cyber-physical systems. Several factors contributed to these losses, with the most common being: revenue loss (reported by 86% of the organizations surveyed in Brazil), recovery costs and attorney fees (42%), and regulatory fines (38%)
Ransomware continues to play an important role in recovery costs, with seven in ten (71%) Brazilian organizations having met demands for a ransom of nearly US$ 500,000 to regain access to encrypted systems and files, and resume operations. This problem is particularly serious in the global health sector – 78% of respondents globally reported ransom payments exceeding $500,000 – as ransomware and extortion attacks on hospitals and clinical settings continue to occur almost without interruption
Closely linked to financial losses are the operational impacts, with more than half of organizations in Brazil (54%) reporting one to twelve hours of operational downtime affecting their ability to produce goods or services. About half (48%) of organizations in Brazil said that the recovery process took up to six days, almost two in ten (18%) reported that recovery took up to a month. This is particularly noteworthy given that environments with cyber-physical systems, like manufacturing plants, prioritize the availability and the time of activities of critical systems –, even at the expense of the timely application of security updates and features
When considering the root cause of these cyber attacks, third-party exposures and remote access persist in organizations. More than half (52%) of Brazilian organizations reported experiencing one to five attacks in the last 12 months – while 48% reported between five and ten attacks – originated due to access by third-party suppliers to the CPS environment. However, half of Brazilian organizations (50%) admitted to having only some knowledge about third-party connectivity with the cyber-physical systems environment, but is worried about what she doesn't know about it
Although the results show that the last 12 months have been disruptive and costly for most organizations in Brazil equipped with cyber-physical systems, the interviewees also showed increasing confidence and improvements in their corporations' risk reduction efforts. The majority (56%) have greater confidence in the ability of their organizations' CPS to withstand cyber attacks today, compared to 12 months ago, and more than half (46%) expect to see measurable improvements in the security of cyber-physical systems in the next 3 months
The impacts of cyberattacks on organizations with heavy use of assets can be detrimental to operations and, in reality, "often require the level of loss we saw in our study for the necessary investments in cybersecurity to be made", says Grant Geyer, Chief Strategy Officerfrom Claroty. To evolve from a reactive process to a proactive one that will reduce losses, we also found that organizations are changing their mindset – they are starting to consider it essential for fulfilling the mission of an organization. The insights from this report validate that the fact of not investing in the very particular challenge of protecting cyber-physical systems, can lead to a serious impact on the organization's financial results and that, happily, corporations are starting to realize the return on this investment
Italo Calvino, Vice President of Claroty in Latin America highlights that: "CISOs have already understood that protecting the corporate environment is essential, but protecting the business is vital for the survival of the company. Preserving lives and ensuring business continuity connect CISOs directly to theboardthe organizations, increasing the relevance of cybersecurity. This movement is strengthened by market initiatives, how theGlobal CyberSecurity Outlook 2024World Economic Forum, that points to 'increasingly alarming attacks on critical infrastructure'. In Brazil, we have the ONS with its Operational Routine RO-CB.BR.01, that establishes minimum cybersecurity controls for the regulated environment in theutilitiesBrazilian. Another important milestone is Decree No. 11.856 of the Brazilian Government, that highlights 'the prevention of incidents and cyber attacks, especially those aimed at critical infrastructures and essential services to society
To know more, download the full reportThe Global State of CPS Security 2024: the Impact of Business Disruptions.
