In this time of uncertainty, it’s our hope that the organizations that provide life-saving and life-critical services can stay operational. The conflict in Ukraine has shown us a new kind of cyber warfare, with targets including banks and the government. The mass interconnection of our technology and media has lead to a change in strategy as each opponent seeks to compromise or take control of resources and services. While cyber espionage between rival states has previously been common in international politics, this is a new kind of cyber aggression.
Specialized cyber attacks on Ukrainian government, non-profit, and information technology organizations were documented as early as January as Russia prepared for mobilization. The reality is that such organizations are often running incomplete or out-of-date cybersecurity that hackers can easily compromise. Once in, hackers will take advantage of operational technology to cause destruction, endanger human lives, or disrupt critical services.
The ability of cyber defenses to consistently prevent cyber attacks will be a major consideration in international conflict for the foreseeable future. How much work it takes to maintain such defenses will be critical, as well as whether or not those defenses can be effective without disrupting operations.
Enterprises and owners of critical infrastructures should now follow the OT zero trust methodology to protect their facilities. OT zero trust is a specialized approach to cyber defense that improves OT cyber defenses and makes those defenses cost less resources to configure and maintain. Learn more about how to secure facilities with OT zero trust here. We at TXOne offer the right technologies to prevent cyber incidents – get in touch with us for detailed advisory.
