Report: Q1 2021 Industrial Cybercrime Impact Report
More than a year after the World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic, and the crisis is far from over. The manufacturing and critical infrastructures industries were dramatically impacted by the pandemic – including operational disruptions, productivity loss and lower sales. As a result, most companies had to reevaluate their operating models and increase the use of digital enablers like automation, remote access solutions, IT-OT convergence, and cloud technologies.
Unfortunately, 2020 broke records when it came to sheer numbers of cyberattacks on industrial and critical infrastructure organizations, as well as on governments and individuals.
As OTORIO sadly predicted in our 2020 Industrial Cybercrime Impact Report, the challenges stemming from increased remote operations, alongside heightened hacker awareness of the inherent vulnerabilities of OT networks, have led to a steep rise in cyberattacks on industrial and critical infrastructure targets in the first quarter of 2021.
In this report update, we discuss the top trends of 2021: dramatic rise in disruptive industrial cyberattacks, ransomware, remote access vulnerabilities exploits and phishing attacks. We then review notable attacks in the most impacted sectors: water treatments, utilities, maritime, automotive and healthcare. We will then discuss the impact of the 2021 cyberattacks on production and operations. Finally, we will review recent remote access and VPN vulnerabilities.
