From Volume 3 Issue 2 of Connected.
Cyberattacks have been rapidly escalating worldwide, and projections indicate a persistent increase is expected to continue.
There was nearly a 20 percent increase in data breaches in the U.S. alone within the short timeframe of the first nine months of 2023, according to Apple. The growing number of cyberattacks is causing an increase in cybersecurity expenditures. Harvard Business Review estimates a whopping $150 billion per year is spent globally on cybersecurity products and services. The issue of cyberattacks remains an area of concern, resulting in the need to remain vigilant.
There has been exponential growth in the number of applications and IoT devices used by the average company. Projections from Harvard Business Review show that there will be 41.6 billion IoT devices by 2025. The continuous challenge of ensuring protection from cyberthreats is becoming more uncontrollable as the number of devices expands. With the progression of technology and organizations relying more on applications and devices, the attack surface expands, providing cybercriminals with greater incentives to exploit vulnerabilities. Hackers are becoming more capable of executing creative, malicious cyberthreats, leading to a wider array of cyberattacks and exacerbating the challenge of achieving robust cybersecurity.
Organizations must commit to ensuring a safe operating environment for their employees and safeguarding the communities in which they operate through adequate investments in cybersecurity. Cybersecurity is crucial not only for protecting sensitive data and intellectual property but also for avoiding substantial financial loss. As reported by Statista, the average cost of a data breach in the United States in 2023 amounted to $9.48 million. A cyberattack is an expensive expenditure and has the potential to lead an organization into a downward spiral.
It is imperative to play a game of defense to stop cybercriminals. Numerous organizations allocate as little as 5 percent of their resources to the detection, response, operation and recovery aspects in the event of a cyberattack, according to SANS Institute. Organizations must actively take part in their own defense for protection against known cyberthreats. Cybersecurity defense mechanisms reduce agreed-upon risk factors while guiding the human defenders. The human factor in cybersecurity plays a pivotal role in defending an organization from outside threats. Cyber incidents often stem from human error that could be improved upon through education and training.
The Vulnerability Discovery Service provided by Rockwell Automation can help an organization face the escalating and costly cybersecurity threats prevalent in industrial infrastructure. This service offers visibility into your industrial network assets without the need for additional hardware, configuration or risk of disruption, providing comprehensive information to assess and prioritize operational technology (OT) network security risks. The tools used within this service are sensitive to OT device behavior.
Prioritizing cybersecurity in OT is crucial for alleviating safety concerns for those in the plant and the community around them. This vulnerability detection service provides an intuitive defense game plan by discovering your vulnerabilities, identifying assets across your network and constructing a strategic plan to address your hidden cyberthreats. Leverage this Rockwell Automation service to remediate high-risk cyberthreats to company assets, minimizing any potential impact on production.
“It is really hard to defend what you don't know,” says Aaron Read, General Manager of Kirby Risk's Intelligent Industry Solutions team. “This is a service I would recommend that people run annually to get a continued understanding and visibility into their environment.”
Kirby Risk's certified network engineers are proficient in executing, constructing and analyzing the Vulnerability Discovery Service, guiding clients toward cybersecurity improvement.