In the last few years, executives overseeing energy, utility and other industrial organizations have begun to worry about the threat of cyberattacks on our nation’s most critical infrastructures. Ten years ago, their main concerns were focused on safety or environmental risks. Back then, operators believed the virtual barricades, or air gaps, between networks and technologies were sufficient enough to defend against malware and cyberattacks.
Over the years that’s gradually changed, and today the industrial C-suite is acutely aware that cybercriminals, hackers, corporate espionage and state-sponsored actors have critical infrastructure and industrial environments in their sights. Last December, the TRITON attack against a petrochemical processing plant in the Middle East drove home the need to strengthen industrial control security.