Securing the
Utilities Sector

Utility firms are being attacked by a range of threat actors. These include state-backed groups who are after ransom or a large scale disruption in power generation or supply.

 Background cyberattack rates (which refer to the average number of cyberattacks per day including weekends when examined over a long period of time such as an year) is the highest in the utility sector. Which means that the chances of a malware slipping through remains high throughout the year.
In the last few years, the interplay between physical and digital infrastructure in this sector has increased. This has led to an expansion in the attack surface area available for malicious actors to exploit rendering utility firms vulnerable to exploitation at every stage from power generation all the way to metering. OT systems could potentially be hijacked to shut down generation, cause surges or damage to sub-stations and other upstream and downstream infrastructure.