Kaspersky Lab’s New Survey Found 65 Percent Of Companies Are Worried About IoT

Kaspersky Lab, the security company, announced Tuesday (June 26) a new “State of Industrial Cybersecurity 2018” survey, which found that 65 percent of organizations globally believe that OT/ICS security risks are more likely with IoT over the next year.

In a press release, Kaspersky Lab said that, with organizations realizing the risk with IoT use cases, managing connected devices is a major priority of 53 percent of survey respondents. What’s more, 77 percent of industrial organizations surveyed said they feel unsafe, with respondents saying that their organizations are likely to become the target of a cybersecurity incident involving industrial control networks.

As for concerns related to IoT, 54 percent claim the increased risks associated with connectivity and the integration of IoT ecosystems is a major challenge, as are new types of IoT security measures that need to be implemented.

“With the sector embracing more digital trends, such as cloud and IoT to further drive efficiencies, the challenge and importance of cyber security becomes even more vital to keep critical systems running and businesses operational,” said Georgy Shebuldaev, brand manager of Kaspersky Industrial Cybersecurity. “The good news is that we are seeing more and more businesses improving their cybersecurity policies to include dedicated measures toward safeguarding their industrial control networks. While this is a step in the right direction, action needs to go further to keep up with the pace of digitalization. This includes updating incident response programs to cover specific ICS actions and using dedicated cybersecurity solutions to help meet the challenge.”

Companies relying on ICS are still falling victim to more conventional threats, including malware and ransomware, the survey found. It said that 64 percent of companies experienced at least one malware or virus attack on their ICS in the last year, while 30 percent of companies suffered a ransomware attack and 27 percent had their ICS breached due to the errors and/or actions of the employees.