Through exposed industrial control systems, attackers could potentially gain control of physical infrastructure, threatening businesses and communities around the world.

BOSTON, Oct. 2, 2023/PRNewswire/ -- Bitsight, a leader in cyber risk management and monitoring, today released new research that found that nearly 100,000 industrial control systems (ICS) owned by organizations around the world are exposed to the public Internet. If exploited, threat actors could gain control of physical infrastructure, potentially including power grids, traffic light systems, security systems, water systems, and more. Such a serious attack has the potential to cause significant business disruptions, threats to human security, compromise of data and intellectual property, and threats to national security.

Exposed organizations span 96 countries and include several Fortune 1000 organizations. Additionally, sectors with the highest concentration of exposed ICS include education, technology, government and policy, and business services. While Bitsight saw a steady decline in the number of Internet-connected ICS from 2019 to 2023, significant risk remains for organizations, their partners, and their constituents.

“Industrial control systems play a critical role in helping organizations avoid social disruption, and exposure from these devices is a serious matter,” said Derek Vadala, chief risk officer at Bitsight. "This research shows that while the number of exposed ICS is trending downward, the overall threat level remains too high. An attack on a single ICS device would be a potentially catastrophic event that could have far-reaching consequences." .

Given the impact of a potential attack on an exposed ICS, Bitsight urges organizations to immediately engage in the following remediation efforts:

It is also critical that manufacturers of industrial control systems and other operational technologies take steps to increase the cybersecurity of the devices they create. Bitsight recommends manufacturers:

For more information, the full study can be viewed here.

About Bitsight

Bitsight is a global leader in cyber risk management, transforming how organizations manage exposure, performance and risk for themselves and their third parties. Enterprises rely on Bitsight to prioritize their cybersecurity investments, build greater trust within their ecosystem, and reduce their chances of financial loss. Built on more than a decade of market-leading innovation, its integrated solutions deliver value in enterprise security performance, digital supply chains, cyber insurance and data analytics.

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