The connection between cybersecurity and worker safety

Governments from the United States to Australia are shoring up their cybersecurity controls with a renewed focus on their technology assets, including operational technologies (OT). Preserving the integrity of these systems is a pillar of the U.S.’s national cybersecurity strategy and Australia’s national risk management program. These announcements capped a year of record-breaking threats, with 91% of organizations worldwide reporting at least one cyber incident in 2022, up from 88% in 2021. Cyberattacks on Ukraine’s critical systems throughout the Russia-Ukraine war demonstrate how exploitable vulnerabilities in OT and other systems can threaten both the digital and physical world. Cybersecurity should be a top priority for businesses across industries because, aside from providing improved resiliency in business operations, cybersecurity measures can improve an organization’s ability to protect the safety of employees and the end consumers of their products. 

OT cybersecurity breaches are increasingly compromising the potential physical safety of workers. OT systems coupled with industrial internet of things (IIoT) devices being used within industrial networks to collect and exchange data are not always well protected. When increased network connectivity is introduced to enable business operation strategies, the lack of protection can lead to both loss of productivity and safety events as bad actors can more easily attack vulnerable systems that are used to control the physical processes.